AAF Pathway Resources

Acquisition Policy & Framework

Curated courses, credentials, and workshops organized by pathway.

Live — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026.

AAF Pathways

Acquisition Policy & Framework

Urgent Capability, Middle Tier, Major Capability, Software, Defense Business Systems, and Services.

Live — page loaded and confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026, WarU-branded.

Adaptive Acquisition Framework portal

Acquisition Policy & Framework

Pathway-by-pathway policy, guides, and tools. The practical entry point.

Live — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026. Resolved 7 Sep 2026 and unchanged since: aaf.dau.edu redirects to aaf.waru.edu, so the WarU host recorded here is canonical and the dau.edu form cited in DoWI 5000.02 Change 2 paragraph 4.3.a still works as an alias.

DoWI 5000.02 — Operation of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework

Acquisition Policy & Framework

The governing instruction for the six acquisition pathways.

Effective 23 January 2020; Change 2 effective 8 April 2026 — document header re-read from the PDF on 14 Sep 2026, no newer change. Change 2 is administrative: JCIDS disestablishment, DoW naming, reference currency.

ESD/WHS Issuances Library

Acquisition Policy & Framework

Authoritative source for all DoW/DoD instructions. Always pull from here rather than a mirror.

Live — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026. Page is JavaScript-rendered and takes a moment to populate its issuance table; a plain fetch can return an empty shell.

OSD DPC Policy & Guidance

Acquisition Policy & Framework

Pricing and contracting policy memoranda.

Live — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026. OPEN ITEM, carried from 7 Sep: the scope is narrower than the title suggests. This is the Integrated Program Management page (EVM in OMB Circular A-11, FAR and DFARS; DIDs, CDRLs and standards; the 27 EVMS guidelines), not general pricing and contracting policy memoranda. Recommend retitling this entry and adding the DPCAP class deviation index at acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/dfars_far_overhaul_class_deviations.html as a separate row, since that is where the class deviations actually post.

Comptroller Budget Materials

Budget & Financial Management

President's Budget justification books by fiscal year.

Updated annually — loaded 14 Sep 2026, still defaulting to FY2027. No change since last week.

DoD Financial Management Regulation (7000.14-R)

Budget & Financial Management

The FMR. Appropriations, cost, and accounting policy.

Live — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026. Domain moved from comptroller.defense.gov to comptroller.war.gov.

Inflation and Escalation Rates (Comptroller)

Budget & Financial Management

Official escalation indices for constant-year dollar conversion. Published with the annual budget materials by fiscal year.

Confirmed resolving 14 Sep 2026. STILL NEEDS A DECISION, unchanged from 7 Sep: this entry points at the Budget Materials landing page rather than a specific indices file, and a direct read of the FY2027 budget materials page on 14 Sep 2026 again found no inflation or escalation guidance file — neither word appears on the page. The Financial Management > Reports > rates2027 page is DoW reimbursable and composite pay rates, not escalation indices, so it remains the wrong substitute. Recommend leaving the landing-page pointer until an FY2027 inflation guidance file actually posts.

OMB Circular A-11

Budget & Financial Management

Preparation, submission, and execution of the budget.

Updated annually — page loaded 14 Sep 2026 and A-11 is listed on it. Link updated 5 Aug 2026; the former /information-for-agencies/ path redirects here.

Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)

Contracting & Regulation

The defense supplement to the FAR.

Live — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026. Link updated 5 Aug 2026; former /browse/index/dfars path returns 404.

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

Contracting & Regulation

Current FAR text.

Live — undergoing overhaul. Confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026.

Open FAR Cases

Contracting & Regulation

What is in the rulemaking pipeline. Useful for anticipating change rather than reacting to it.

Updated continuously — file confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026 and its first page reads 'Open FAR Cases as of 9/11/2026', so the posted list is current to within the week.

Revolutionary FAR Overhaul hub

Contracting & Regulation

Model deviation text and rewritten parts as they publish. Under EO 14275.

Actively changing — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026; site footer now shows Last Updated 09/14/2026, moved on from 07/28/2026. FAR Companion still at Version 2. The FAR Part Deviation Guidance page shows no model deviation text updated in September 2026; the most recent part updates are dated 1 July 2026.

eCFR Title 48

Contracting & Regulation

Point-in-time citable regulation text.

Live — loaded 14 Sep 2026 as 'Title 48 of the CFR — Federal Acquisition Regulations System'.

Analysis of Alternatives Cost Estimating Handbook (OSD CAPE)

Cost Estimating & Analysis

Cost estimating methodology specific to AoA studies.

July 2021 edition — direct file link confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026. CHANGED THIS WEEK: now listed again on the CAPE reports index Guides tab, where CAPE dates it 'Released January, 2022'. Our note records a July 2021 document date; the two are probably document date versus release date, but the discrepancy is unresolved. DoWI 5000.02 Change 2 still cites the handbook as the current edition and points to cape.osd.mil/reports.

CAPE Annual Report on Cost Assessment Activities

Cost Estimating & Analysis

CAPE's yearly report to Congress under WSARA. Useful for seeing which programs drew independent cost estimates and where CAPE and component estimates diverged.

FY 2023, released May 2024 — file returns HTTP 200 and the CAPE reports index Annual Report tab was enumerated directly on 14 Sep 2026 (15 entries, FY2009 through FY2023). FY2023 is still the most recent annual report listed; no FY2024 or FY2025 edition has posted.

DoD Operating and Support Cost-Estimating Guide (CAPE)

Cost Estimating & Analysis

O&S methodology and the CAPE O&S cost element structure.

January 2025 edition (title page date) — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026 and still the top entry on the CAPE reports index Guides tab.

DoDI 5000.73 — Cost Analysis Guidance and Procedures

Cost Estimating & Analysis

Policy for cost estimation, analysis, and data collection, including ICE requirements at milestones.

Effective 24 October 2024; reissues and cancels the 13 March 2020 version. Document header re-read from the PDF on 14 Sep 2026, still current. Note the CAPE reports index links this document with a malformed URL; use this ESD/WHS link.

DoW Cost Estimating Guide (OSD CAPE)

Cost Estimating & Analysis

CAPE's methodology guide — the how, to GAO's what.

Version 3, September 2025 — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026. This exact URL is the link behind 'DOD Cost Estimating Guide' on the CAPE reports index Guides tab, listed as released September 2025. It is the current edition; the older v1 (Dec 2020) and v2 remain on the site at /files/Reports/ paths.

GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide (GAO-20-195G)

Cost Estimating & Analysis

The twelve-step best-practice framework, and the yardstick GAO audits against.

GAO-20-195G, published 12 March 2020 — product page re-read 14 Sep 2026, still the current edition with no successor or supersession notice.

GAO Schedule Assessment Guide (GAO-16-89G)

Cost Estimating & Analysis

Companion to the cost guide. Integrated master schedule best practices.

GAO-16-89G, published 22 December 2015 — product page confirmed 14 Sep 2026. Still current; no successor or supersession notice.

GAO Technology Readiness Assessment Guide (GAO-20-48G)

Cost Estimating & Analysis

TRL assessment best practices.

GAO-20-48G, published 7 January 2020, reissued with revisions 11 February 2020 — product page confirmed 14 Sep 2026. Still current; no successor listed.

Inflation and Escalation Best Practices for Cost Analysis (OSD CAPE)

Cost Estimating & Analysis

The distinction between inflation and escalation, and which indices to use for which conversion. Supersedes the 2016 and 2017 CAPE publications.

December 2021 edition — direct file link confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026. CHANGED THIS WEEK: the handbook is now listed again on the CAPE reports index under the Guides tab, as 'Inflation and Escalation Best Practices for Cost Analysis, Released December, 2021'. It had been absent from the index on 7 Sep 2026, so the direct file link is no longer the only route.

OSD CAPE Reports and Guides (landing page)

Cost Estimating & Analysis

CAPE's own index of published guides, handbooks, and annual reports on cost assessment activities. Check here first when a direct file link breaks — CAPE moves file paths.

Live — index loaded and all three tabs enumerated 14 Sep 2026 (JavaScript-rendered, needs a browser; the tabs are buttons, not links). Annual Reports 15 items, Budget Requests 14 items (IT budget requests, FY2013-FY2026, no FY2027 yet), Guides 7 items. The Guides tab now lists both the Escalation Handbook and the AoA Cost Handbook, which were absent a week ago. Two hrefs on the Guides tab are malformed on CAPE's side, with the CAPE host prepended to an absolute URL: the DoD Instruction 5000.73 link and the 2012 'Study of DOD's Cost Indices' link. Use the ESD/WHS entry for 5000.73 instead.

Defense Acquisition Magazine

Professional Development & Community

Practitioner articles from across the acquisition community.

Live — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026.

GAO Reports — National Defense

Professional Development & Community

Where estimating failures get documented. Useful lessons-learned material.

Live — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026.

ICEAA — International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association

Professional Development & Community

Professional body and CCEA certification. The annual conference proceedings are an underused data source.

Live — loaded 14 Sep 2026.

WarU iCatalog

Professional Development & Community

Full course catalog.

Live — loaded 14 Sep 2026, course listing renders.

Warfighting Acquisition University (WarU)

Professional Development & Community

Certification, credentials, and continuous learning. Formerly Defense Acquisition University.

Live — confirmed HTTP 200 on 14 Sep 2026; dau.edu links still resolve and redirect. Note for citation purposes: the WarU Revolutionary FAR Overhaul announcements page mislabels its 24 July 2026 entry as 'Class Deviation 2026-O0046, Revision 1 for RFO Part 15/215' while the link behind it is Class Deviation 2026-O0048, Revision 1 for Part 215. Cite DPCAP, not WarU, for deviation numbers.

CSDR Standard Plans

WBS & Data Reporting

Standard plans derived from MIL-STD-881. The starting point for tailoring.

Live — path loaded 14 Sep 2026 and reached the DoW warning banner and CAC gate, which is expected behavior. Cited by this exact URL in DoDM 5000.04 paragraph 5.1.c. Note when checking: a fetch issued from an already-gated session returns a misleading 404, so load the path in a fresh session rather than fetching it.

CSDR Tools

WBS & Data Reporting

cPet and related validation tooling.

Live — path loaded 14 Sep 2026 and reached the DoW warning banner and CAC gate, which is expected behavior. Cited by this exact URL in DoDM 5000.04 paragraph 5.1.b. Same caveat as the CSDR Standard Plans entry: fetch from a gated session returns a misleading 404.

Cost Assessment Data Enterprise (CADE)

WBS & Data Reporting

The authoritative repository for CSDR submissions and historical cost data.

Live — host responding 14 Sep 2026; unauthenticated requests redirect to the DoW warning banner and CAC login gate at /my.policy, which is expected behavior.

DoDM 5000.04 — Cost and Software Data Reporting

WBS & Data Reporting

CSDR policy and procedures.

Effective 7 May 2021 — document header re-read from the PDF on 14 Sep 2026, still current. Reissues and cancels the 4 November 2011 CSDR Manual.

MIL-STD-881 record (DLA ASSIST)

WBS & Data Reporting

Same ASSIST record, kept as the check-the-revision-status entry: document date, Active/Inactive status, next review date, and change history.

Live — re-read 14 Sep 2026, ASSIST data current as of 11 Sep 2026. Next review due 12 May 2027; no revision beyond F. Duplicates the URL above; collapse the two entries if you prefer a single row.

MIL-STD-881F — Work Breakdown Structures for Defense Materiel Items

WBS & Data Reporting

The mandatory WBS standard. Appendices A–J by commodity, K for common elements, L for sustainment. Download the current document from the DLA ASSIST record — scroll to the document images section.

Revision F, document date 13 May 2022, Status Active on ASSIST. Record re-read 14 Sep 2026; ASSIST data current as of 11 Sep 2026. No revision beyond F; next review due 12 May 2027.