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The Defense Systems Management College (DSMC), under the organizational alignment, sponsorship, and leadership of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), published the inaugural issue of the Defense Acquisition Research Journal in the winter of 1994. The journalthen entitled Acquisition Review Quarterly (ARQ) and later, Defense Acquisition Review Journal (Defense ARJ)-was conceived and published to specifically meet the requirements of the Defense Acquisition Workforce by giving Defense Acquisition professionals a forum to publish scholarly research pertaining to subject matters relevant to the defense acquisition community. Toward that end, the journal has stayed true to the publisher's original mandate, garnering multiple awards for publication excellence and recognition as the premier academic journal for Defense Acquisition practitioners. This article chronicles the 25-year journey of today's Defense ARJ-a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal published by the DAU Press at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Background
In the winter of 1994, then-U.S. Secretary of Defense John M. Deutch, along with then-DAU Executive Director Gerald E. Keightley, wrote inaugural memorandums addressed to Defense Acquisition professionals introducing the first edition of the ARQ journal.
Secretary Deutch described the journal as "the first publication specifically designed to address the needs of professionals across the full spectrum of defense acquisition" (Deutch, 1994, p. 4). The original intent of the publication was to complement the 1990 Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) by creating a forum where members of the Defense Acquisition Workforce could publish scholarly research pertaining to issues impacting the defense acquisition community.
From the beginning, DAU envisioned the ARQ as a tool acquisition professionals could consult and leverage "to integrate the professional interests of the varied and diverse acquisition career fields, to infuse senior managers with a sense ofcommunity and common purpose" (Deutch, 1994, p. 4). Director Keightley encouraged members of the Acquisition Corps and interested readers "from the Department of Defense, Congress, industry, and academe to use the journal as a platform for discussion and exchange of policies, research, information, and opinions" (Keightley, 1994, p. 5). He not only encouraged acquisition professionals to write and submit their research to be considered for publication in the ARQ, but also stressed the importance of having the professional participation of "policy makers, decision makers, managers and specialists" to ensure the success and longevity of the journal going forward...