Army leaders meet with industry pros, discuss industrial landscape

By Justin Graff, ASC Public AffairsJune 17, 2015

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3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Melanie Johnson, executive director, U.S. Army Contracting Command -- Rock Island, answers a question from the audience during the 8th Annual Midwest Small Business Government Contracting Symposium in Moline, Illinois, June 3. (Photo by Kevin Fleming... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Maj. Gen. Kevin O'Connell, commanding general, U.S. Army Sustainment Command, takes a look at some products offered by ESCP Corp. with John Nelson, sales manager, ESCP Corp., during the 8th Annual Midwest Small Business Government Contracting Symposi... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

MOLINE, Ill. -- Top level Army leadership and commercial industry professionals came together to discuss the industrial landscape of the Army and the nation at the 8th Annual Midwest Small Business Government Contracting Symposium, hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association-Iowa/Illinois Chapter in Moline, June 3-4.

U.S. Army Sustainment Command led an Army Planning Briefing for Industry, discussing the future of Army contracting and how it corresponds to the financial big picture throughout the Army. The event began with a call to order by Lynn Gibson of the NDIA planning committee, followed by a presentation of the U.S. Colors and welcome remarks from Paul Rumler, executive vice president, Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce.

The APBI included keynote presentations from commanders representing the major commands on Rock Island Arsenal, as well as Gen. Dennis L. Via, commander, U.S. Army Materiel Command; Don Tison, assistant deputy chief of staff, G-8, Department of the Army; Maj. Gen. Ted C. Harrison III, commander, U.S. Army Contracting Command; and Tommy Marks, director of Small Business Programs for the Department of the Army.

Via gave the first major presentation, praising Maj. Gen. Kevin O'Connell, commanding general, ASC, for his "great leadership of the Army Sustainment Command." He then discussed ASC's global mission and how it supports the AMC mission.

"We talk about the global presence," he said. "Globally, in a responsive and recently engaged Army, it's the Army Sustainment Command that's out front on a pointed spear that makes it happen, supporting operations on every continent, around the world. So, the sun never sets on ASC."

Via also highlighted the importance of APBIs, which are designed to facilitate open and meaningful dialogue with industry partners, and to ensure that industry and the Army have a mutual understanding of future requirements and industry's capabilities.

"As we all in the defense industry know well, the world remains a very complex and dangerous place," he said. "When we host these APBIs, which we host quarterly across the Army Materiel Command, it gives some predictability to companies that are here trying to determine which events to attend. At each one of these events we press to have representation across the full portfolio of AMC's capabilities.

"This also helps us, in many ways, to prevent the miscalculations and underinvesting from happening that the chief of staff of the Army spoke about. That's why I consider these events a top priority for the Army Materiel Command."

Harrison spoke about the conception of ACC and some of the areas of communication the command looks to improve. ACC stood up in 2008 at the suggestion of a contracting study conducted during the last decade to address some of the difficulties in supporting contracting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. Currently, ACC awards and administers more than 70 percent of all Army contracts.

"We had some fraud waste and abuse cases that came to light, and from that we took a very holistic look at contracting within the Army, and really across the department of defense," he said.

"One of the things that we've gotten some particular feedback on is contractor debriefings. We're really working to try to develop a better framework for doing those, to help our contracting centers do good contractor debriefs and work with industry to get your feedback as well."

Harrison highlighted the APBI and its importance on communication between the Army and industry, noting ACC is actively creating other opportunities to enhance that communication.

"We're really trying to engage industry in a number of things. We have an industry executive council that we try to rotate some of the senior leaders," he said. "Usually at the large businesses, it'll be at the vice president for contracts; if it's a smaller company, it might be their CEO or somebody that does their proposal development or manages their contracts."

Both Via and Harrison noted that Rock Island Arsenal is one of AMC's Centers of Excellence, praising the Quad Cities community as a strong partner with the Army -- a sentiment reinforced by the Army's director of Small Business, Tommy Marks.

"Based on what I know about Rock Island Arsenal and what the team has shown me, I'd like to see this team sustain the excellence that they've established," said Marks.

"Small businesses are part of our national security insurance policy. If you look back in our history, small business, starting with this arsenal, created things that we needed. And they then may grow into a big business, but, the foundation has really been small business."

The APBI finished up with a short Q-and-A before a panel of senior leadership from the island, including O'Connell; Brig. Gen. Kristen French, commander, Joint Munitions Command; Scott Welker, deputy to the commander, JMC; Carl Cartwright, executive director, operations and mission support; Jay Carr, executive director, Logistics Civil Augmentation Program; and Melanie Johnson, executive director, ACC-RI; and Kathryn Szymanski, chief counsel, ASC.

"My job as the commander of Army Sustainment Command lets me meet with companies that are global in nature as we execute a global logistics mission," said O'Connell. "Industry's viewpoints are truly invaluable. So, I think it's having the dialogue, having discussion, and sharing ideas as we move forward to conduct our mission that helps mission success and readiness all around.

"About 60 to 70 percent of our mission is executed through service contracts, so industry is a very important part of our mission execution, both small and large businesses. Forums like this APBI give us a good dialogue, and allows us to share viewpoints and hear concerns from industry."

Along with the APBI, the symposium included several networking events and opportunities for industry professionals, and several presentations with small business experts designed to inform small businesses how they can be successful in pursuing Army contracts.