Innovation is key to contracting exam success for PaCE trainees

The Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support (Columbus) Pathways to Career Excellence program has a history of innovation to further training excellence.

To improve test scores and boost passing rates for the Defense Acquisition University's Contract Foundational Skills contracting course, program managers developed a specialized preparatory course for contract specialist PaCE trainees in 2012 and have continuously updated the curriculum to reflect the latest advancements.

CON 1100V, the current required course for all contracting personnel, equips students with the skills to confidently navigate Federal Acquisition Regulation research process. The course teaches general principles like an overview of the acquisition process and hands-on exercises necessary to locate, cite, interpret and determine the applicability of regulations like the FAR, Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement and class deviations relevant to Department of War acquisitions.

Each session of the prep course is tailored to the current acquisition environment and fosters collaboration. By leveraging the talents and expertise of current PaCE trainees to lead their peers, the course has significantly reduced the CON 1100V course failure rate from 25% to 1%.

Over the years, dedicated volunteers like Chrissy Geobert, Sam Freidet, Rachel Earles, Chris Drake, Spencer Hanson, Maggie Smith, Adam Hinton, and Jill Marchky, among others, have lent their talents to lead the prep course.

Marchky's instruction, which enabled more than 120 PaCE trainees to achieve a 100% first attempt pass rate in the past year, earned her Top 10 honors in DLA's 58th Annual Employee Awards Program.

Before each session, significant time is invested in updating the instructional materials, including the PowerPoint presentation and question sets, to ensure they remain current. Offered twice a year, the prep course sets each cohort of PaCE contracting trainees to successfully navigate this challenging course.

This initiative highlights the PaCE program's focus on ensuring the workforce is prepared to meet future challenges in a contested logistics environment.