REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala.--Army Contracting Command is preparing to take on what one official calls the command's most visible mission to date.
Through one of its subordinate commands, the Expeditionary Contracting Command, ACC will assume the contract administration support mission for installation and logistic support contracts in Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, according to George Holland, chief, Contract Administration Division, ACC Contracting Operations.
Maj. Gen. Ted Harrison, ACC commanding general, said contract administration support "is a critical component of the contingency contracting mission supporting our warfighters. Contingency contract administration on this scale is a new mission for the Army that only ACC is capable of performing."
In June, the ECC assumed the mission in the U.S. Army Africa area of operations. ECC is preparing to assume the mission in the Middle East in December and for Afghanistan in January 2016, Holland added. The Defense Contract Management Agency currently performs these missions but its role is changing to a force provider in contingency areas of operation, he explained.
Holland said the Department of Defense initially directed transfer of the contingency contract administration support mission in a February 2009 memo from the deputy secretary of defense to the military services. The memo directed the services to begin executing the mission in 2013. However, the transfer did not occur, and in October 2013, Frank Kendall, the assistant secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, issued a policy revalidating the decision and changed DCMA's role to a force provider. Joint doctrine was updated to reflect this change in responsibilities.
After the October 2013 memo, ACC and DCMA negotiated the mission transfer and mutually agreed upon transition support schedule, he said. In addition to support to current operations, ACC is gearing up to support future contingencies, according to Holland.
Holland said ACC will initially be responsible for administering the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program--LOGCAP--task order supporting Operation Observant Compass in Africa worth approximately $53 million, key contracts in the Middle East with a value exceeding $5.6 billion with more than 10,000 contractor personnel and contracts in Afghanistan estimated in excess of $4 billion.
"The contract operations in Afghanistan are still a moving target," he said. "Once the Army assumes the responsibility of lead service for contracting and ECC transitions with the (U.S. Central Command) Joint Theater Support Contracting Command, we will have boots on the ground to give us a better assessment of what will transition from DCMA."
He said the key to contract administration boils down to two questions: how are the contractors performing; and how do you know how the contractors are performing.
"The contract administration support mission relies very heavily on quality assurance specialists and (government-furnished) property administration specialists," Holland explained. "If we are going to have a viable program we are going to have to grow those two functions."
Holland said quality is the contractor's responsibility; part of contract administration is ensuring that the contractor's quality control program meets the contract's requirements. It's also about the government inspecting the goods and services to ensure the government is getting what it is paying for, he said.
"It's all about ensuring the contractor is meeting the contract requirements and the warfighters are getting what they contracted for," he said. "Ultimately, good contract administration reduces risks to warfighters' missions, risks to the force, and risks to Army funds."
Property management is a large part of the mission. He said there are more than 90,000 pieces of government-furnished equipment across contracts supporting operations in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE worth approximately $340 million.
"Think about it, that's a lot of property" he said.
The 408th Contracting Support Brigade in Kuwait will lead the mission for operations in the U.S. Army Central theater. The 414th CSB, Vicenza, Italy, will be responsible for supporting Africa. ACC will deploy about 50 Soldiers and civilians from across ACC to support the 408th. Two people will deploy to support the 414th's CAS mission in Africa.
"However, every CSB needs to be prepared to support a contingency contract administration mission in their area of responsibility," Holland stressed. "While ECC has the lead in execution, success will require support from the entire ACC command."
In June, Harrison sent a command-wide email requesting volunteers to support the CAS mission, according to Sandy Merritt, human relations specialist, ACC Deputy Chief of Staff Human Capital. Applications are still being accepted for the CAS mission.
"This will be a great opportunity for those who want to deploy to support the mission but haven't had a chance to go," she added. "We have a big need for 1103s (industrial property management specialists) and 1910s (quality assurance specialists) to volunteer. Their services are especially needed as we draw down."
Civilian employees can volunteer for the deployable cadre program at http://www.armyhire.com/volunteer.
ACC is also in the process of developing training, tools and processes, Holland added. People deploying for the CAS mission in Kuwait and Qatar will spend two weeks training at the ACC-Rock Island contracting center because the contracts they will administer are predominantly ACC-RI contracts. He said ACC is working with the Defense Acquisition University to prepare formal training and to get those courses institutionalized.
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