Sgt. 1st Class Michael Kahyai has amassed numerous skills during his 16-years Army career. A light wheel vehicle mechanic, a recruiter, an instructor, and as an OH-58D systems chief, he has sought new challenges with a can-do attitude and spirit. Looking for a new challenge, he left aviation maintenance and joined the Acquisition Corps in 2008. In December, Kahyai's was assigned to the 683rd Contingency Contracting Team in Vicenza, Italy.
After hearing about the new 51C military occupational specialty, Kahyai researched the career field and was intrigued by the duty description. He saw this as a golden opportunity to learn a challenging job and to continue to support the warfighter. Kahyai had a packet completed and accepted in just a couple of months. He is completely satisfied with his new job and looks forward to learning as much as possible while trying to achieve his Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act certification.
During his tour with the 683rd Contingency Contracting Team, Kahyai has provided contracting support for two different exercises in Africa this year. As the CCT Noncommissioned officer in charge, he has deployed to Swaziland for exercise Med-Flag 09 in support of U.S. Army Europe and to Uganda for exercise Natural Fire 10 in support of U.S. Africa Command. Both exercises were in support of multi-national forces from countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Swaziland, Uganda, and the United States. The exercises focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Altogether, there were more than 1,200 participants in the exercises.
While in Uganda, Kahyai worked closely with Navy Seabees. He established blanket purchase agreements in order to procure supplies from local vendors. He assisted the Navy Seabees to complete several construction projects, such as refurbishment of a government hospital and a high school in the city of Kitgum, and an elementary school in the city of Mucwini.
"Sgt. 1st Class Kahyai is one of my best young contingency contracting NCOs in the battalion," says Master Sgt. (P) Gerald A. Wright, Jr., Senior Enlisted Advisor, 903rd CCBN. "He is very intelligent and motivated NCO with a very bright future ahead of him."
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