Army acquisition leaders visit ACC-RI

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- The Army Contracting Command-Rock Island, Illinois, hosted senior acquisition executives for a strategic planning session Oct. 6 to discuss the closeout of the $38 billion Logistics Civil Augmentation Program III contract.

Attendees included officials from the Army Materiel Command, the Army Contracting Command, Army Sustainment Command, the Defense Contract Management Agency, and the Defense Contract Audit Agency.

Melanie Johnson, ACC-RI executive director, welcomed Gabe Camarillo, principal deputy, assistant secretary of the Army (acquisition, logistics and technology); Harry Hallock, deputy assistant secretary of the Army (procurement); Richard Ginman, director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy; and Levator Norsworthy, deputy general counsel (acquisition), Office of the Army General Counsel.

LOGCAP III was awarded as an umbrella contract in 2001 for the purpose of providing logistics support to Department of Defense contingency operations worldwide. Having provided support primarily for military operations in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan, the contract expired in December 2011 with the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Iraq. Since then, ACC-RI has been working with DOD offices in closing out the contract. Initial projections placed closeout completion for the massive contract in 2023, but that timeline may be accelerated, Johnson said.

"The issues associated with closing the LOGCAP III contract are complex and enormous in volume," said Johnson. "This meeting provided a forum for decision makers from DOD and Army stakeholder organizations to forge a common vision for a successful path forward for accelerating closeout activities in order to save time and resources."