MICC caps fiscal 2015 with $5.2 billion in contract awards

By Daniel P. Elkins, Mission and Installation Contracting Command Public Affairs OfficeJanuary 4, 2016

MICC caps fiscal 2015 with $5.2 billion in contract awards
Maj. Gen. James Simpson commends the successfully year by members of the Mission and Installation Contracting Command during opening comments of a town hall meeting Oct. 1 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The Army Contracting Comma... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Oct. 7, 2015) -- More than 36,000 contract actions valued at $5.2 billion were executed by Mission and Installation Contracting Command acquisition members from throughout the country in support of Soldiers and their families during fiscal 2015.

Contracts executed through the finals hours of the fiscal year, which came to a close Sept. 30, support commands, installations and activities across the Army. The command also managed more than 600,000 Government Purchase Card Program transactions in fiscal 2015 valued at an additional $747 million.

"The dedicated men and women in our command made the most of every minute to make this a successful end of fiscal year for our customers," said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Gabbert, the MICC commanding general. "We were committed throughtout the year to ensuring the our great workforce had the right resources to support the mission needs of our Army."

Fiscal 2015 marked a first for the command and its small business socioeconomic goals. Contracts to small businesses across America accounted for approximately $2.25 billion of MICC awards.

"Achieving all five small business goals is significant because this marks the first time in the command's history that we have accomplished this task," said Mark Massie, the MICC Small Business Programs associate director here. "This is a true testament to the hard work and dedication of our small business specialists, contract specialists, contracting officers and supported activities."

The number of contract actions executed in fiscal 2015 and their value trended slightly lower than fiscal 2014's 37,000 actions valued at $5.6 billion. Pat Hogston, director of the MICC Contracting Operations Directorate, said the numbers reflect that spending is leveling off and anticipates about the same for the new fiscal year, given similar budget considerations.

Hogston said a game changer in executing operations this year was the introduction of contract management systems that drove behaviors and provided greater insight through the use of metrics and analytics.

"For the first time we were able to track actions at the individual purchase request level because all of our purchase requests were in CTOC," Hogston said. "It was very efficient and effective."

The Contracting Tactical Operations Center, or CTOC, application was launched at the end of 2013 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and expanded across the MICC throughout 2014 to provide online, real-time procurement insight. Fiscal 2015 was the first full year that all data was captured in the contract management system.

"The analytics this year allowed us to develop better forecasting," said Cyp LaPorte, the chief of the contract plans and programs division at the MICC. "We had a better picture of the environment than we have had in years past, and we didn't have to take time away from the contracting officers in the field to get it."

Massie agreed, adding that CTOC allowed the small business program to get out in front of planning requirements to help identify small business concerns earlier.

"The MICC metrics program was also a contributing factor because it put focused attention, through analytics, on the small business program at each contracting support brigade, field directorate office and contracting office," Massie said.

Also contributing to the success was the better management of workload following the command's restructuring efforts over the past year as part of the MICC 2025 transformation, Laport said. Those plans realigned workforce members and workload to better manage simplified and complex acquisition requirements while mitigating the loss of experienced professionals through attrition. Tier 1 offices executed simplified acquisitions valued at $150,000 or less while all actions valued at $10 million or more were accomplished at one of the command's six centers that are staffed to support more complex buys.

"We consolidated contract execution to leverage our experience in the field," LaPorte said.

Headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, the MICC is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Contracting Command. MICC Soldiers, civilians and contractors support Soldiers and their families in the continental United States and Puerto Rico by providing Army commands, installations and activities with disciplined and responsive contracting solutions and oversight.

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