The new Defense Contract Management Agency South was established at a ceremony on Friday, along with two subordinate commands – DCMA Red River and Tennessee River Valley.
Col. Kenneth Darnall, the Defense Contract Management Agency Central Region commander, oversaw the standup ceremony and also the disestablishment ceremony for the DCMA Huntsville with the casing of that unit’s colors.
DCMA Dallas was disestablished at a June 12 event.
“We’re bringing together two storied (contract management offices) from within our agency that have been around for a really long time,” Darnall said. “We’re not losing people in this; we’re realigning some folks.”
Casing the colors is “an emotional event. It should be, because it’s change,” Darnall said. “But really in the end when you look at the structure for South, you still have two CMOs.”
The ceremony was held in Secured Gateway building 100.
Col. Ryan Eric Ocampo, who has been DCMA Huntsville’s director for almost a year, is the director of DCMA South.
“He’s the right guy for the job,” Darnall said. “That probably is one of the things that’s the most important to me is do we have the right people doing the right jobs.
“We’re fortunate to keep Col. Ocampo.”
The move is a result of DCMA Vision, the agency’s strategic plan which, among other goals, includes realignment and restructuring workloads into portfolios.
Ocampo said the “symbolic occasion” marks the start of “a new and exciting chapter that will lead this organization into the future according to the vision of the Defense Contract Management Agency.”
Over the past 30 years, the agency has been instrumental in supporting the nation’s defense “through its outstanding oversight and management of defense contracts,” Ocampo said. “During pivotal conflicts such as the Gulf War, the war in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, support to Ukraine and the pivot to address our nation’s challenges to the east, DCMA Dallas and DCMA Huntsville ensured that the military contracts executed within our combined seven states – Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Tennessee – had the highest standards of quality, cost efficiency and timely delivery.”
The agency’s rigorous contract administration, compliance enforcement and risk mitigation have played a “vital role in maintaining the readiness and effectiveness of the United States’ armed forces, thereby significantly enhancing national security and defense capabilities,” he said.
Ocampo said DCMA South will remain “robust and relevant in the future, using a combination of efficient structure, automation, tools and data management and workload management.
“With a proactive eye towards the future, DCMA South will continue to pursue all avenues of efficiency to maintain mission capability amid decreasing net budget.”
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