ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - Industry partners had the opportunity to learn about potential future contracting opportunities on APG during the annual Advanced Planning Briefing to Industry held virtually from April 26 to 28.
All of Team APG was invited to tune in and hear from senior leaders to learn more about the upcoming opportunities. The annual event allows the installation and industry partners to ask questions and better understand Army capability requirements.
CECOM
On the first day of the conference, the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command briefed upcoming sustainment and development contracts.
Larry Muzzelo, CECOM deputy to the commanding general, said CECOM gets a “number of questions” about reduced numbers in contract opportunities. He said this is because CECOM is trying to be more efficient.
“To meet the directives, CECOM is combining similar requirements into multiple existing contracts,” Muzzelo said. “We will still meet mission requirements.”
CECOM’s future requirements will be fulfilled through contract vehicles designed to provide efficient support, Muzzelo said. Another requirement is to support small business goals.
“This may result in reduced competitive contract opportunities,” Muzzelo said. He introduced one upcoming CECOM contract opportunity.
The contract is intended to provide on-site logistics services such as shipping/receiving, property accountability and movement of information technology equipment.
CECOM’s implementation of category management principles enables the federal government to eliminate redundancies, increase efficiency and effectiveness, achieve cost savings and enhance warfighter capabilities, Muzzelo said.
CECOM SEC
Jennifer Swanson, director of CECOM Software Engineering Center, highlighted the Army’s software-driven weapons systems.
“Maintaining, sustaining and enhancing that software is obviously very important,” Swanson said. “We need people with the right skill sets to help us improve.”
A big change in weaponry in recent years is switching from hardware to software. Swanson called the switch a “raging success” and said units can now download their software remotely. She called it a “big deal” in the tactical environment.
Swanson said that continual improvement is a big focus of CECOM SEC. She said the center needs people with the “right skills” to help it grow.
“We have cyber and software expertise that is cutting-edge,” she said. “If there’s anything out there that industry sees that makes sense [for us], I’m glad to hear about it.”
Swanson introduced five future contracts during her briefing. Most of the contracts require skills in software engineering and development, signals analysis, cybersecurity and a few niche expertise areas such as cloud computing and web apps services experience.
CECOM ILSC
Liz Miranda, director of the CECOM Integrated Logistics Support Center, identified challenges with balancing sustainment while keeping pace with modernization efforts.
“We need to meet Army priorities,” said Miranda. “So we are combining contracts where it makes sense to be more efficient.”
The key message from ILSC is to continue building a stronger enterprise, Miranda said. ILSC continues to be flexible and agile and build deeper relationships with industry partners.
About three years ago, ILSC moved to a newer life cycle data management tool in order to collect and store all necessary technical data available for sustainment. Miranda complimented her team and the partnership with U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, or DEVCOM.
“As you can imagine, working backwards putting everything together into a tool that manages these configurations is very time consuming,” she said. “We started doing [the configuration] internally but we want to expand to industry.”
Another big challenge for ILSC is supply chain issues. She said ILSC continues to strengthen supplier relationships to be proactive with future supply chain constraints.
Miranda introduced five upcoming contract opportunities for ILSC. The five contracts range from technical support services to procurement of materials to life cycle management.
“Demands are sometimes inconsistent,” she said. “We need to continue to think ahead and prepare for future issues.”
About APBI
The organizations that participated in the briefing included Army Contracting Command APG; Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors; U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command; U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command; DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center; DEVCOM Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center; Army Research Laboratory; Army Small Business Innovation Research Program and Army xTech Program; PEO Command Control Communications-Tactical and Network Cross-Functional Team; Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense; Office of Small Business Programs; and APG Garrison.
For further information about APBI and all upcoming contracts, visit https://sam.gov/opp/f9d261d705b94497be409f52d36de98e/view
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