Contracting professionals experience procurement first-hand

By Sgt. 1st Class Daunte Graves, Mission and Installation Contracting CommandNovember 12, 2015

Contracting professionals experience procurement first-hand
Sgt. Michael Cullin buckles his seatbelt Oct. 5 prior to test driving the medical utility vehicles he and his fellow Soldiers and civilian procured for the Warrior Training Center at Fort Benning in Georgia. The Soldiers and civilian are from the Mis... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BENNING, Georgia (Nov. 12, 2015) -- Soldiers and civilians from the Mission and Installation Contracting Command--Fort Benning contracting office participated in test driving medical utility vehicles recently, which they procured for the Warrior Training Center at Fort Benning.

The vehicles are used to facilitate aid to various training efforts such as the extraction of injured troops from the Army Rangers course, during airborne jumps, and the over watch of physical training formations and other training events.

"The amount of training missions covered by these utility vehicles are endless," said Sgt. 1st Class Cory Swanson, the NCO in charge of the Warrior Training Center.

Acquisition officials believe the event creates the interaction between customers, contractors and contracting personnel is essential to good team building.

"Most contract administrators and contracting officers never get a chance to see the final product of the hard work they've done," said Sgt. 1st Class Ray Lee Jr., a contracting NCO with the 648th Contracting Team.

The group stressed the importance of team building and how it unlocks a level of communication that otherwise wouldn't reveal itself. This attribute is displayed daily amongst the MICC leadership by their willingness to promote building healthy relationships during the acquisition process.

The Soldiers at MICC-Fort Benning are from three contracting teams: 614th Contracting Team, 639th Contracting Team and the 648th Contracting Team. They are embedded amongst civilians who collectively provide support to the Training and Doctrine Command's Maneuver Center of Excellence, the 75th Ranger Regiment, Installation Management Command, Medical Command and other Fort Benning tenant units. They are responsible for an annual amount of $329 million for information technology, commodities, services and minor construction in acquisitions.

Headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the MICC is made up of more than 1,500 military and civilian members assigned to three contracting support brigades, one field directorate office and 32 field offices that provide contracting support across the Army. In fiscal 2015, the command has executed more than 36,000 contract actions valued at more than $5.2 billion across the Army, including $2.25 billion to American small businesses.

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