A former recruiter and communications specialist, Sgt. 1st Class DeLeon Kelly is now enamored with the mechanics of military contracting.
"I love my job because it's very rewarding," said Kelly, a contracting specialist with the 724th Contingency Contracting Team, Fort Carson, Colo. "I am able to see how big of a part that contracting plays not only in training missions but in day-to-day operations as well."
Kelly's path to becoming a 51C noncommissioned officer began while on recruiting duty.
"I love to talk to new people," he said. "I feel that by talking to strangers, you might not only brighten someone's days, you could also change a life. That's how I initially found out about 51C. I was in Philadelphia (Pa.) and was talking to a stranger with an Army lanyard around his neck. I asked him how his day was going and he began talking about his job."
It turns out the stranger was a military contracting officer.
"I asked him about it and that's when he told to me about 51Cs and what the job was all about. He also told me that NCOs were being accepted into the career filed. The rest, as they say, is history," he said .
According to Capt. Jerrick Hunter, 724th CCT team leader, Kelly's ability to understand contracting while applying sound contracting principles and his capacity for forward thinking has been a remarkable enhancement to the unit.
"Kelly quickly established his competency in contracting by taking on some of the most challenging contracting actions typically reserved for a more seasoned contracting specialist," Hunter said. "He has served as the lead contracting specialist for the acquisition planning, stationing and activation of the 918th Contingency Contracting Battalion in only his second month as part of Team Carson.
"He's smart, articulate and a demonstrated team player. Sgt. 1st Class Kelly is the exemplar of a 51C NCO."
Kelly, who calls Lake City, Fla., home, is married and has two children. He enjoys attending sporting events with his family and playing football on his gaming console.
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