All About The DAWIA

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The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) was enacted in 1990, following an internal review of the Department of Defense, commissioned by President Reagan, after the review indicated a great deal of mismanagement in the Department of Defense. Thus, the purpose of the bill was to ensure that future employees of the DoD were well equipped with the knowledge and the management skills to tackle future problems effectively. The requirements and details within the certification requirements are tedious and time consuming, yet they provide an important purpose. The Department of Defense is constantly under the microscope of the public and the press, and therefore mismanagement can soon become a public relations nightmare. Therefore, the difficulty of obtaining this certification is imperative to prevent these kinds of situations.

The benefits of getting DAWIA certified essentially are the fact that people with the certification are able to work in new fields and do more work in higher acquisition positions within the DoD. An additional benefit for people is that by taking the courses required for the certification, it is also possible to receive college credit for those courses and the time spent working on them. Essentially, obtaining this certification opens the door to new opportunities in the career field, and provides people with further knowledge and skills needed in public management.

Sources:

https://www.dau.mil/faq/Pages/Certifications-Programs.aspx

https://www.dau.mil/training/career-development/logistics/blog/DAWIA-Certification-Requirements

The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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On January 21st, America will be celebrating perhaps its greatest social hero, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In that interim since his untimely death, we as a nation have achieved many of his goals, yet his work remains unfinished. On the holiday commemorating the achievements of this great leader, we should also remember all of his timeless teachings, and consider how we can apply these lessons to modern society.

Dr. King’s most profound position regarding social change was nonviolence. He asserted that we must remain peaceful in our protest. Peaceful protest was King’s demonstration that he shall not bow to the ways of his oppressors, that he would display love and respect for those around him, and if his protests meant getting into trouble, it was worth it. Following the protests of Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, it seems that nowadays protests are becoming less and less nonviolent. We must be mindful that violence can hurt our cause, and we must raise ourselves above those who act unjustly towards us.

However, aside from these social stances, Dr. King’s other opinions seem to be often overlooked by society. The environmental movement we see today used Dr. Kings lines of argument when their campaign to address climate change took off shortly after his death. Dr. King often spoke of how all life is interconnected, and we therefore should be taking care of all of it. In addition, he also discussed economic transformation. He distrusted the American economic system, and, towards the end of his life, began discussing ways to address economic disparity. He argued for universal healthcare and education, and more public spaces and the nationalization of certain industries. He witnessed the segregation of his fellow protesters in the economy, and saw these as ways to address it.

Whether you agree with all of his points, or only a select few, Martin Luther King Jr. was perhaps the most influential figure of the twentieth century, and his speeches touched the hearts of millions. His presence the American story is so pivotal that we have a national holiday to remember his lessons. So, staying true to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, we should all be asking ourselves if his dream came true. Furthermore, we should be thinking about how each of us plays a part in making that dream a reality, and what we can do to play that part more effectively.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/12/us/mlk-relevance-today

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/learning/lesson-plans/teaching-martin-luther-king-jr-day-new-york-times

Economic Growth & Consumer Confidence

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As of the month of October 2018, U.S markets have taken a massive hit going from “all time highs” to losing all gains in the entire year. While this is concerning to investors, most of Americans who do not own Stocks feel little to no change in their lives. In fact, most of the other economic indicators i.e. unemployment rate, wage growth, and job creation do not provide any sign of an economic recession or stagnation. While these indicators are important to understand the stability an economy, however one indicator which is normally not taken into account is consumer confidence.

Consumer confidence can be summarized as how confident people are in the economy based on how economically strained, they are. Majority of Americans, if they do not feel very economically strained tend to buy more goods/services. However, if times are very difficult similar to that of the 2008 recession, Americans tend to be more conservative with their money and spend less.

Following one of the worst trading days ever recorded on December 24th, 2018; December 25th however, showed a peculiar phenomenon. According to Amazon, “a record-breaking holiday season shopping spree” occurred where shoppers loaded their online shopping carts with a plethora of items ranging from top brand apparels to Amazon’s own devices. Amazons’ report also showed that in the U.S alone “more than 1 billion items were shipped for free using Prime”.

In addition, Amazon was not the only company which reported a massive increase in consumer spending for the holiday season. Other companies like Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Nike, also had very similar reports which showed a very drastic increase in sales on December 25th. Aside from retailers, Credit Card companies also saw an increase in sales during the holidays. Companies such as Mastercard and Visa reported an increase of “holiday sales of 5.1 % to more than $850 billion this year, the strongest growth in the last six years”.

This increase of holiday sales enigma demonstrated that even though there was a massive sale off in the markets, the population as a whole do not feel an economic strained. On the contrary, these reports not only show that the U.S economy is still very much healthy, but also bolsters the information the other economic indicators showed.

Source:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-26/amazon-s-record-holiday-shows-consumers-appetite-for-spending