History and Mission

The Defense Assisted Acquisition (DA2) Cell serves as the single entry point to the DoD acquisition enterprise, providing policy and oversight to drive awareness and unity of effort for interagency requests for DoD-assisted acquisition. The DA2 has assumed the interagency efforts for COVID-19 medical resource acquisition previously coordinated by the DoD’s Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF). Nested within the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC), the DA2 is poised to rapidly respond to the nation’s most urgent acquisition needs in current and future national emergencies.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 national health emergency, the Honorable Ellen Lord, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, established the JATF to synchronize the acquisition execution of DoD’s support to interagency (Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Health and Human Services) requests for COVID-19 medical resources. The links below reference the policies and authorities that enabled the JATF, and now DA2, to support the interagency.

• The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
• Executive Order 13909
• Executive Order 13911

After the incredible success and lessons learned during the COVID-19 emergency response effort, the DoD recognized the need for an enduring policy and oversight acquisition assistance office. On October 13, 2020, Ms. Lord established the DA2 Cell within the JRAC to serve as the DoD’s enduring office for acquisition assistance.