Defense acquisition happens in the space between functional areas.
Participants take over the Meridian Ground Vehicle Program, an ACAT I Army program in the EMD phase. The estimate at completion is already $87 million above baseline, the schedule has slipped two months, and the program is on Nunn-McCurdy watch. Programs succeed or fail in the space between functional areas, and this simulation puts participants there. Six AI advisors help participants think each decision through, and the final call stays with them.
A program that lands on someone else's desk.
Defense acquisition programs succeed or fail in the space between functional areas. A contracting decision ripples into cost reporting. An engineering shortcut shows up months later as a test failure. A program manager's optimistic schedule eventually forces the logistics team to plan around a system that isn't ready.
The scenario is the Meridian Ground Vehicle Program, an ACAT I Army program in the EMD phase with Vanguard Defense Systems as prime contractor. The EMD phase is worth $1.4B of an $8.2B total program. Participants inherit the kinds of conditions real program offices face: EAC $87 million above APB, a two-month schedule slip, TRL at 5, MTBF at 380 hours against a 450-hour requirement, and a Nunn-McCurdy watch condition.
Every decision lands on someone else's desk, so participants build the cross-functional accountability that program offices require.
From single FA depth to full program integration.
Faculty choose one of three levels based on course scope, participant experience, and available time. Higher levels add cross-functional mechanics, so decisions in one functional area carry into others.
Six functional areas, each with its own decisions.
Five moments that define the whole program.
At Level 3, participants face a sequence of critical events where cross-functional decisions come due. Weak decisions made earlier show up here, with consequences participants can trace back to their source.
Decision-making under program pressure.
Flexee Defense Acquisitions Specialist matches the federal defense acquisition training curriculum and is available for DoD program office training, defense contractor development programs, and civilian agency acquisition training. Talk to Chuck about deployment.