REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama (January 11, 2023) – Three Army Contracting Command members were recently announced for the 2022 Army Acquisition Excellence in Leadership Awards by Army Acquisition Support Center officials.
Christine Berry was named the Barbara C. Heald Deployed Civilian of the Year Award, John McCabe was chosen for the Contracting Professional of the Year Award, and Morgan Ziatyk won the Innovation in Contracting Strategies Individual Award.
The Army’s Acquisition Executive’s Excellence in Leadership Awards recognizes the performance of individuals who have clearly demonstrated exceptional mission accomplishment, selfless service to the United States, extraordinary and uncompromising professionalism, and a true commitment to the personal and professional growth of others.
Berry served as a branch chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of the Army Contracting Command-Rock Island, Illinois, team supporting the Office of the Program Manager-Saudi Arabia National Guard contracting office transition under ACC-Rock Island. Berry, a supervisory contract specialist, deployed to Saudi Arabia in December 2021 to ensure a smooth transition of contracting actions and administration to ACC-Rock Island. She helped keep actions moving while the contracting office was moved from Eskan Village to their new facilities in Al Nakhla. Her review of contract actions that had not been competed in over 25 years had the potential savings over the first five years of the contract actions estimated to be close to $200 million. While Berry was reviewing the organizational structure and breakdown of personnel supporting the Office of the Program Manager-Saudi Arabia National Guard, she realized there were numerous positions that had remained unfilled for months and years. Berry helped fill three positions that had remained unfilled for months or years that greatly enhanced the capabilities of the contracting team.
McCabe served as a contracting officer and as acting alpha division chief at ACC-Orlando, Florida. He served as the leader of a contracting division consisting of four senior branch chiefs and over 37 journeyman contracting professionals responsible for the execution of 614 actions valued at $544 million. He simultaneously maintained full mission command of the training and readiness accelerator other transaction authority team. McCabe managed an OTA project portfolio with 33 active ongoing prototypical developments and 20 pre-award projects with a total award ceiling of $1.9 billion. He executed $222 million in OTA awards that dramatically met the customer’s critical mission, delivering 55% reduced procurement administrative lead time, and an average of 20% cost savings per OTA project through increased price competition. McCabe’s efforts allowed continued delivery of critical training systems, and supported the overall training and readiness of U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps as well as allied forces.
“John McCabe’s efforts this year have been extraordinary, and his ability to cover down in so many facets at ACC-Orlando was incredible,” said Jim Ward, the alpha division chief at ACC-Orlando. “He is a Swiss army knife; he can pull out a different tool and can do it all. His professional ability to lead and fill in multiple, critical areas are a tribute to him and a big part of why he won the award.”
Ziatyk is a contracting officer, grants officer and agreements officer for ACC-New Jersey. She developed a mission-tailored, stand-alone OTA for the Close Terrain Shaping Obstacles Increment 1 requirement that supports one of the Army’s highest priority modernization programs. She worked hand-in-hand with her customer to create a fully tailored, one-of-a-kind OTA that will leverage an iterative prototyping structure that will allow Program Manager Close Combat Systems to adapt and modify the CTSO technology to dynamically target achievable system attributes. The OTA uses a flexible milestone structure that will allow feedback from Soldier touchpoints to direct the project focus on an ongoing basis during system development. This agile approach will support Army modernization by accelerating development and fielding of the CTSO INC1 capability. Ziatyk was able to create a tailored OTA that ensured the government took advantage of the competitive environment to drive down costs and obtain favorable data rights.
“Ms. Ziatyk’s dedication and commitment to the mission of ACC and her customers are unmatched,” said Lance Drennan, a branch chief for ACC-New Jersey. “She is a great leader to the organization and is willing and able to take on any challenge she faces.”
About Army Contracting Command
The Army Contracting Command is headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. From food and clothing to bullets and bombs; from tanks and trucks to boats and aircraft; from Soldiers' weapons to the installations where they work and live with their families, ACC ensures Soldiers have what they need to be successful. As the Army's principal buying agent, ACC supports Army readiness and modernization by using best practices and expert-level oversight to provide warfighters with premier contracting support. The command accomplishes its global operational missions with a professional workforce of Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians, foreign local nationals and contractors at more than 100 locations worldwide.
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