ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Maryland – The commanding general of the Army Contracting Command, Brig. Gen. Christine Beeler, traveled to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Nov. 15-17, for her first visit to the ACC-APG contracting center. Her visit was filled with six mission partner meetings, a town hall, a command briefing, evening social events, and a tour of the Army Test and Evaluation Command’s testing facilities.
During the first day, Beeler met with the Army Futures Command’s Network Cross-Functional Team Director, Brig. Gen. Jeth B. Rey, to discuss contracting support and future initiatives. Kenyata L. Wesley, ACC-APG’s executive director, then presented an overview of the contracting center’s structure, mission partners, and highlights from fiscal year 2021.
“The work done here is absolutely astounding,” Beeler told the ACC-APG leadership team following the brief. “Your emphasis on people is the foundation to your good reputation and customers want to work with you.”
Visits to program executive offices filled the morning of Nov. 16. Beeler met with leaders from PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors; PEO Command, Control and Communications-Tactical; and Joint PEO Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense. In the afternoon, Beeler and Wesley hosted a town hall for the ACC-APG workforce. The town hall had nearly 40 in-person participants with the remaining workforce attending virtually.
Beeler shared ACC’s new mission and vision statements and she emphasized to the forum that, “the power of contracting is you.” She continued, “We must be accountable for every dollar we spend and be responsive to great negotiation strategy. Last fiscal year, we had $9 billion of negotiated savings and the majority came from you. I appreciate the hard work you are doing.”
The ACC enterprise awarded 145,020 contract actions in fiscal year 2021, including 5,165 actions in support of the federal COVID-19 response, according to Beeler. As she addressed the small business achievements, she noted “I’m proud of ACC-APG – you crushed it! Innovation of small business drives productivity.”
Beeler challenged the workforce to identify what was done differently to achieve successes and share this information across the ACC enterprise. She closed out the town hall by thanking the workforce for the work that they do. She said, “Thank you for being professionals.”
On Beeler’s final day with ACC-APG, she met with Maj. Gen. Robert L. Edmonson II, commanding general of the Communications-Electronics Command, to discuss current and future contracting support.
The commander of the Army Test and Evaluation Command, Maj. Gen. James J. Gallivan, welcomed Beeler for an office visit and a facility tour of various testing sites to include the light armor complex, body armor testing, outdoor weapons range, repair/vehicle test facility, and the weapons exhibit.
Beeler closed out her three-day visit with a farewell comment, “I appreciate the great hospitality at APG.”
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