DAFI 63-138: ACQUISITION OF SERVICES

DAFI 63-138 — index record

Number	DAFI 63-138
Title	ACQUISITION OF SERVICES
Published	January 2, 2024
Certified current	January 2, 2024
Office of primary responsibility	SAF/AQ
Issued by	Headquarters, Department of the Air Force
Status on the index	Current
Last index action	UpdateContact, May 21, 2025
Source index	Air Force e-Publishing
Index last read	October 20, 2026

Copied from Air Force e-Publishing (index). The publication itself is the authority; this page does not summarize or interpret it. Verify the current edition on the index before acting.

From the publication itself

Text below is lifted mechanically from the official PDF (31 pages, read October 20, 2026) with no editing or interpretation. Quote the document, not this page.

Purpose, in the publication’s words

1.1.1. The purpose of this DAFI is to ensure DAF services acquisition programs are managed effectively, efficiently, and timely to meet mission needs. This instruction seeks to encourage synergy within the services acquisition community, which consists of Program Managers/Services Acquisition Leads, contracting professionals, functional representatives, contracting officer representatives, quality assurance program coordinators, financial managers, small business professionals, requiring activity personnel, contract attorneys, and any other stakeholder charged with any part of developing, executing, or monitoring a services requirement from identification to contract close-out. A services acquisition program (hereafter referred to as “program”) is a set of services requirements executed through one or more contract actions, interagency agreements, and/or other types of acquisitions with a common mission or objective. 1.1.2. Organizational entities employ requirements approval and acquisition approval authorities based on their assigned delegations.

Summary of changes, as printed

This document has been revised and should be completely reviewed. Changes include updating and clarifying implementation of DoDI 5000.74 resulting from changes to that DoD Instruction, addressing organizational changes resulting from the creation of the United States Space Force (USSF), changes to roles and responsibilities, and changes to reflect two DAF Service Acquisition Executives (SAEs). Removed the term Headquarters Air Force (HAF). HAF now represents the Headquarters of the Department of the Air Force which includes the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force (known as the Secretariat), Air Staff, and the Office of the Chief of Space Operations (known as the Space Staff). For clarity, the instruction uses the terms Secretariat, Air Staff, and Space Staff to describe the three specific components within the HAF. Instructions for post-award program management have been strengthened. Names and acronyms for two positions have been changed to align with their roles and responsibilities more clearly; Services Designated Official (SDO) is now Services Acquisition Decision Authority (SADA) and Functional Services Manager (FSM) is now Services Acquisition Lead (SAL) (see paragraph 2.11.). A table has been added to establish Program Manager (PM)/SAL certification/credentials by Services Category level (see Table 2.3.).

Chapter 1—OVERVIEW AND APPLICABILITYp. 5
Chapter 2—ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND AUTHORITIESp. 8
Chapter 3—REQUIREMENTS APPROVAL PROCESSp. 20
Chapter 4—SERVICES ACQUISITION PROCESSp. 26
Chapter 5—GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENTp. 31
Chapter 6—QUALITY OVERSIGHTp. 33
Attachment 1—GLOSSARY OF REFERENCES AND SUPPORTING INFORMATIONp. 35

All 46 contents entries

Chapter 1—OVERVIEW AND APPLICABILITYp. 5
1.1. Purposep. 5
1.2. Applicabilityp. 5
1.3. Waiversp. 7
Chapter 2—ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND AUTHORITIESp. 8
2.1. Overviewp. 8
2.2. Service Acquisition Executive (SAE)p. 8
2.3. DAF Senior Services Manager (SSM)p. 8
2.4. AF Program Executive Officer for Combat and Mission Support (AFPEO/CM)p. 9
2.5. Services Acquisition Decision Authority (SADA)p. 9
2.6. Services Advocate (SA)p. 13
2.9. Requirements Approval Authority (RAA)p. 14
2.10. Multi-Functional Team (MFT)p. 15
2.11. Program Manager (PM)/ Services Acquisition Lead (SAL)p. 15
2.12. Contracting Officer (CO)p. 18
2.13. Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)p. 18
2.14. Chief Contracting Officer’s Representative (C-COR)p. 18
2.15. COR Supervisorp. 19
2.16. Quality Assurance Program Coordinator (QAPC)p. 19
Chapter 3—REQUIREMENTS APPROVAL PROCESSp. 20
3.1. Overviewp. 20
3.2. Requirement Identificationp. 20
3.3. Requirement Review and Documentationp. 22
3.4. Other RAD Considerationsp. 23
3.5. Acquisitions with Different Execution and Funding Organizationsp. 24
3.6. Amended Requirementsp. 25
Chapter 4—SERVICES ACQUISITION PROCESSp. 26
4.1. Overviewp. 26
4.2. Acquisition Planning (Steps 1 and 2)p. 26
4.3. Market and Enterprise Research (Step 3)p. 27
4.4. Early Strategy and Issues Session (ESIS)p. 27
4.5. Requirements Definition (Step 4)p. 27
4.6. Acquisition Strategy (Step 5)p. 28
4.7. Execute Acquisition Strategy (Step 6)p. 29
4.8. Post-Award Performance Management (Step 7)p. 29
Chapter 5—GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENTp. 31
5.1. Governance Assessmentp. 31
5.2. Applicable to Secretariat, Air Staff, and Space Staffp. 31
5.3. Applicable to MAJCOMs, FLDCOMs, FOAs, and DRUsp. 31
5.4. Applicable to Systems PEOs/TEOsp. 32
5.5. Annual Summaryp. 32
Chapter 6—QUALITY OVERSIGHTp. 33
6.1. Overviewp. 33
6.2. Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)p. 33
6.3. Actions to Address Substandard Services and Contractual Non-Conformitiesp. 34
Attachment 1—GLOSSARY OF REFERENCES AND SUPPORTING INFORMATIONp. 35

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DAFI 63-138

DAFI 63-138 — index record

From the publication itself

Purpose, in the publication’s words

Summary of changes, as printed

Contents

Other DAFI publications nearby in the series