FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- Members of the 621st Contingency Contracting Team at Fort Campbell, Ky., deployed in August to provide dedicated contracting officer support and subject matter expertise during the 5th Special Force Group (Airborne) capstone training exercise conducted in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
In a commitment to strengthen acquisitions knowledge to meet wartime needs, contracting team support included training, appointing, auditing and clearing of all field ordering officers in support of the exercise.
"Our special forces represent the most elite, highly trained, and deployable force in the U.S. military," said Maj. Laverne Stanley, a contracting officer from the 412th Contracting Support Brigade, 621st Contingency Contracting Team, integrated with the Installation Contracting Office-Fort Campbell. "Their role in current and future operations is of increased importance as their footprint continues to expand."
According to Army Field Manual 3-05, Army Special Operations Forces, the use of unconventional warfare has become an enduring and effective means of warfighting in overseas contingency operations. Unconventional warfare includes activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary and guerrilla force.
The capstone training exercise was the first of its kind to be supported by Expeditionary Contracting Command, Stanley said.
"As a result of this inaugural event, several special forces groups have acknowledged the benefits of this training and are initiating the planning process in order to execute future exercises of this caliber," she said.
The 5th SFG, located at Fort Campbell, used continental United States operational funding to support 11 field ordering officers and pay agent teams; each responsible for $15,000. Because team members often operate in contingency areas, they must rely on alternate methods of acquiring support, said Stanley. The use of operational funding permitted teams to acquire both basic and nontraditional supplies and services in support of their operational squad-sized elements during the exercise.
Stanley said the exercise concentrated on the underground and auxiliary components of unconventional warfare. Underground operations focused on subversion and sabotage while the auxiliary component provided the logistical support that enabled guerilla forces and the underground to survive and function. The use of operational funding provided the underground and auxiliary with the flexibility and autonomy necessary to conduct operations and acquire critical support while operating in an urban environment. Requirements included sanitation items in addition to other necessities.
"The use of operational funding coupled with the integration of operational contracting support enabled the 5th SFG to facilitate a realistic and dynamic training experience that allowed it to evaluate and validate its full spectrum unconventional warfare capabilities for future worldwide contingency operations," Stanley said.
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