ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. - The Army Contracting Command-Rock Island executive director held a town hall and an awards and recognition ceremony here Oct. 16.
Melanie Johnson discussed the importance of the workforce using Virtual Contracting Enterprise tools, especially since they are the tools that ACC headquarters, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Procurement), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology) use.
"If Ms. (Heidi) Shyu (assistant secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology) wanted to, she could go in and drill down into ACC-Rock Island and see what our metrics are," said Johnson. "She would be able to see what awards are delinquent, what we projected, and what wasn't done. The real issue is I need you all to keep your VCE and your (paperless contract files) current. I know that it takes time, but it is one of those things that if you keep on top of updates, it is an easy thing to do."
Johnson also said that not only does VCE track past and current data, that data is used to help make forecasts, including a forthcoming call for fiscal year 2015 projections.
"That (forecast) is based off of what was in VCE, so if we don't have it built in VCE, it's not going to get captured," said Johnson. "We need everyone to be on top of entering data into VCE to make sure that we have that information so that we can capture a more realistic forecast."
Following her discussion of VCE, Johnson focused attention on the health of the workforce, both mental and physical. She said that ACC-RI is supporting several highly visible global functions, including contracts in direct support of the Ebola mission in West Africa.
"There are a lot of things going on in the center and everything is (moving) at warp speed," she said. "I need everyone to look out for each other. We are so used to being on this treadmill where we work as fast as we can, but eventually some (people) can get to a breaking point. I just want to make sure that we all are OK."
Johnson also stressed the importance of everyone taking care of themselves, particularly during cold and flu season.
"I can't stress enough that if anyone has a fever, do not come in to work," said Johnson. "Even if it is not something as terrible as Ebola, if you have a fever, you're contagious, so whoever you come into contact with has the potential of getting sick, and when you have an organization of more than 400 people, it could be exponential. Take the time to make yourself better, however long it takes."
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