14 U.S.C. § 308 — Chief Acquisition Officer

(a) In General. The Coast Guard must have a Chief Acquisition Officer, chosen by the Commandant^*. This person must be a Rear Admiral or a career civilian from the Senior Executive Service, and must meet the qualifications in (b). The Chief Acquisition Officer serves at the Assistant Commandant level, with acquisition management as the main job.

(b) Qualifications. (1) The Chief Acquisition Officer, and any flag officer serving in the Acquisition Directorate, must be a certified acquisition professional (Level III) with at least 10 years of acquisition experience, including at least 4 years as: (A) a program executive officer; (B) the program manager of a Level 1 or Level 2 acquisition; (C) the deputy program manager of one; (D) the project manager of one; or (E) another acquisition job with real supervisory or management responsibility. (2) The Commandant must regularly publish the list of positions that count under (1). (3) "Level 1 acquisition" and "Level 2 acquisition" mean what chapter 11 of this title says they mean.

(c) Functions of the Chief Acquisition Officer. The job includes: (1) tracking how acquisition projects and programs are performing and advising the Commandant on the right business strategy; (2) pushing for full, open competition in prime contracts and subcontracts by setting up policies that ensure the Coast Guard gets enough competitive bids to get the best value at the lowest cost; (3) making acquisition decisions together with the Coast Guard's designated technical authorities, following other applicable laws; (4) making sure detailed performance specifications are used whenever performance-based contracting is used; (5) directing overall acquisition policy, including the Coast Guard's own unique rules and standards; (6) building and running a career program to keep the acquisition workforce strong; (7) checking whether Coast Guard personnel have the right acquisition knowledge and skills to hit performance goals; (8) planning how to hire, train, and develop acquisition staff; (9) reporting to the Commandant on progress improving acquisition management; and (10)(A) keeping the Commandant updated on major acquisition programs; (B) continuously telling the Commandant about anything that might require new trade-offs among cost, schedule, feasibility, and performance -- including (i) big cost increases or schedule delays, and (ii) "requirements creep" (scope growing beyond the original plan); and (C) making sure program managers and executive officers seriously consider the Commandant's views on those trade-offs at every stage of the acquisition process.