FORT LEE, Va. (Sept. 1, 2011) --A crisp U.S. flag quickly rose for the first time in front of the new Defense Contract Management Agency headquarters at Fort Lee on Aug. 25. The dawn was just breaking through the trees as cadre and students from the Noncommissioned Officer Academy's Quartermaster Branch Senior Leader Course raised the flag at the call of a distant bugle; a new day for the Army installation, and a new day for its newest tenant command.
Air Force Col. Kurt Stonerock, DCMA chief of staff, and Don Collins, DCMA strategic effects program manager, were on hand to represent the agency during the flag raising. Prior to the ceremony, Stonerock thanked the participants and explained DCMA's relationship to the warfighter.
"The Defense Contract Management Agency is important to what you do every day," said Stonerock. "Our staff monitors contractor performance to make sure you're getting equipment that works as advertised when you need it.
"When you deploy, DCMA personnel deploy too," Stonerock told the group, many of whom wore combat patches signifying time in Iraq or Afghanistan. "For instance, we ensure contractors providing primary life support services at bases in-theater perform to their contractual obligations."
The past two months have seen a flurry of activity at the Fort Lee DCMA facility, a renovated building formerly home to the Combined Arms Support Command. Employees began working at the building in July. The final group, including the agency director, Charlie E. Williams Jr., transitioned from the former headquarters in northern Virginia at the end of August. The result is a unified headquarters for an agency with more than 10,800 employees worldwide overseeing more than 330,000 defense contracts.
The move was directed by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process and has been welcomed by DCMA leadership as an opportunity to have the headquarters on a military installation, closer to the service members the agency supports. A ceremony will be held at the DCMA headquarters, building 10500, on Sept. 15 to formally open the building and celebrate the successful completion of the BRAC move.
Social Sharing