JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- (Sept. 10, 2015) The merging of two directorates at the Mission and Installation Contracting Command headquarters in August marks another step in the command's posturing to sustain operations in a resource-constrained environment.
As part of the MICC 2025 transformation, the contract support integration directorate and policy and compliance directorate combined their resources to create the MICC Directorate of Contracting Operations, or CONOPS.
While MICC officials have been working on the organizational structure for months, the new directorate was officially established through an operation order Aug. 14.
"The primary objective of the CONOPS is to leverage the collective efficiencies of the command to be more effective in supporting our contracting support brigades and field directorate office as well as their subordinate contracting offices and battalions," said Pat Hogston, the director of CONOPS.
He added that the new directorate is designed to provide dedicated field support to each of the brigades and field directorate office while still providing functional support in Government Purchase Card management, contracting policy, business management operations, and oversight and assessment.
CONOPS is comprised of two field support divisions; one supporting the 412th Contracting Support Brigade here and MICC Field Directorate Office at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, and the second supporting the 418th CSB at Fort Hood, Texas, and 419th CSB at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The directorate also has divisions dedicated to GPC, policy, business management, and oversight and assessment responsible for managing the workload in support of the field.
Hogston explained that the new CONOPS organizational construct also establishes a support manager position for each brigade and field directorate office that serves as the single entry point into the headquarters for contracting-related matters. These support managers will also be the central point for headquarters communications with the brigades and field directorate office on contracting matters.
The standup of the CONOPS directorate is part of several organizational realignment and workload-workforce rebalancing measures implemented over the last year. Organizational leaders in the field and at the headquarters conducted a comprehensive analysis of the MICC organizational structure and business processes at the direction of the commanding general to identify inefficiencies that could help alleviate staffing and funding shortages.
"The transformation taking shape across the MICC is a testament to our agile and adaptive workforce," said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Gabbert, the MICC commanding general. "The headquarters must also transform to be more responsive to our subordinate units. This effort is one of many we are implementing to provide better support."
Headquartered at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, the MICC is responsible for providing contracting support for the warfighter at Army commands, installations and activities located throughout the continental United States and Puerto Rico. Through August of this fiscal year, the command has executed more than 27,400 contract actions worth more than $3.8 billion across the Army, including $1.5 billion to American small businesses.
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