Army acquisition earns a trifecta in DOD awards

By Susan L. FollettDecember 15, 2017

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(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Dec. 1, 2017)--The undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (USD(AT&L)) has announced the 2017 Defense Acquisition Workforce Achievement Awards, and the Army garnered three: two individual awards and one group honor.

"It is important that we continue to recognize the outstanding contributions of our acquisition, technology and logistics professionals who are critical in supporting our warfighter and the defense mission," said USD(AT&L) Ellen M. Lord, who announced the awards.

Valerie Clinkenbeard, acquisition liaison manager for the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, received the Individual Achievement Award in Facilities Engineering. Clinkenbeard is responsible for the management of all pre-award activities of numerous indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts supporting services, which range from barracks and medical clinic upgrades to ordnance removal in a contingency environment and cybersecurity support. At any time, she is involved with 20 or more acquisitions with a total value of more than $3 billion. She has also supervised the Cost Engineering Branch, which develops all government estimates for contract actions over the simplified acquisition level, implementing process improvements that resulted in better estimates.

Dr. Charles A. Bass Jr., science and technology manager for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Joint Science and Technology Office, received the Individual Achievement Award for Science and Technology Manager for his work supporting the Joint Project Manager for Protection within the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense. Bass' contributions to the Uniform Integrated Protective Ensemble Family of Systems program, the Contamination Indicator and Decontamination Assurance program and the Joint Biological Agent Decontamination System, played a key role in providing the technology and data necessary for DOD to acquire three valuable capabilities within the next five years: A family of individual protective systems giving DOD capability across the weapons of mass destruction threat; a spray that reduces the time and resources required to execute chemical agent decontamination; and a biological and chemical decontamination process that can return sensitive equipment and aircraft rapidly back to the fight.

Rounding out the Army awards is the Army Contracting Command (ACC) -- Orlando, Florida, which received the Workforce Development Innovation Award in the Small Organization category. ACC-Orlando's Workforce Support Branch and its Leadership Development Integrated Project Team developed and implemented a workforce development program that consisted of technical training, leadership training and an employee recognition program. Using funds from the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund, the team implemented structured quarterly coaching sessions; created a career road map and leadership guide; organized "Notable Thinkers," a series of guest speaker engagements; developed a leadership reference library; and set in motion the Executive Director's Shadow program.

Award recipients will be honored at a ceremony scheduled for Dec. 6 at the Pentagon. The complete list of winners is:

Acquisition in an Expeditionary Environment

Gunnery Sgt. Tamalia C. Adams, U.S. Marine Corps

Auditing

Melissa Panarelli, Defense Contract Audit Agency

Contracting and Procurement

Gary V. Trimble, U.S. Navy

Cost Estimating

Dr. Wilson Rosa, U.S. Navy

Earned Value Management

Lt. Col. Andrew R. Vrabec, U.S. Air Force

Engineering

Daniel Carroll, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)

Facilities Engineering

Valerie Clinkenbeard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Financial Management

Jeffrey M. Martin, Program Executive Office (PEO) for Space, U.S. Air Force

Information Technology

Michael R. Cirillo, Marine Corps Systems Command, U.S. Marine Corps

Life Cycle Logistics

George N. Graham Jr., USSOCOM

Production, Quality and Manufacturing

Capt. Charles M. Stuart, U.S. Navy

Program Management

Lt. Col. Thomas A. Atkinson, USSOCOM

Requirements Management

Skip Hinman, Air Education and Training Command, U.S. Air Force

Science and Technology Manager

Dr. Charles A. Bass Jr., Joint PEO for Chemical and Biological Defense

Services Acquisition

Ulises Cartaya, USSOCOM

Small Business

Lee R. Rosenberg, Missile Defense Agency

Test and Evaluation

Thomas Sachse, PEO Submarines, U.S. Navy

Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Innovation Awards

Large Organization

Defense Contract Management Agency -- Fort Lee, Virginia

Small Organization

U.S. Army Contracting Command -- Orlando, Florida

Related Links:

U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Army Contracting Command

Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense