This is an article I wrote to layout a concept of establishing capabilities-based contingency contracting offices in deployed environments. I also proposed a basic office layout to streamline functions and to enhance customer service.

1. asc . army. mil 93
WHAT THE
CUSTOMER SEESA capabilities approach to establishing a contingency contracting office
by LTC Vernon L. Myers
C
ontingency operations are chaotic by nature.
Usually they are defined by disorder, uncer-
tainty, and immature processes and procedures.
Contingency contracting officers (CCOs) are
normally among the first personnel to deploy in response to a
contingency or wartime situation. This first-in, boots-on-
ground contracting presence fills the gap resulting from the
Army supply systems’ inability to fulfill the requirements of a
rapid buildup.
Establishing a contingency contracting office is generally the first
priority for CCOs; however, before a CCO can focus on serv-
ing as a business advisor and executing contracts, a decision must
be made concerning how to operate.
Providing contracting support in this environment requires an
efficient office that is easy to set up, familiar to Soldiers, and
focused on providing contracting capability to customers. Too
often, CCOs are so focused on setting up the office quickly that
they forget to examine customer needs. A CCO should never
establish an office just to have an office; the purpose of a con-
tracting office is directly linked to the capability that it can
provide. While the physical layout is important, a contracting
office represents much more than that.
Specifically, an office is composed of people, systems, and capa-
bilitiesthatenhancethecustomer’sabilitytoexecutecontingency
operations. Instead of concentrating on the physical layout of
the office, the focus must be on determining what contracting
CONTRACTING SCENARIO
Setting up an effective contingency contracting office is a key element for successful operations. Here, SFC Phil Charles, of the 714th Contingency Con-
tracting Team at Scott Air Force Base (AFB), IL, and Isaac Thorp, Contracting Officer with the Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH,
work on contracting actions Jan. 30 at Fort Bliss, TX, as part of the two-week readiness exercise Joint Dawn 2012. (U.S. Army photo by Daniel P. Elkins.)
contracting

2. 94 Army AL&T Magazine
capability will be provided to custom-
ers. Currently, a standard structure for a
contingency contracting office does
not exist; therefore, this article explores
planning considerations and proposed
capabilities, and presents a simple layout
for establishing and operating a deployed
contracting office.
It has been said that failure to plan is
planning to fail. CCOs should heed this
message as they consider how to establish
an initial contracting capability in sup-
port of a contingency operation.
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS
Even before the deployment, CCOs
should have a general idea of how they
will operate. Setting the conditions for
success requires the CCO to consider
key elements of the overall operational
environment, including the mission,
operational location, the operation’s
duration, and available resources.
• Mission: An understanding of the mis-
sion is crucial in determining what
capability is required for the operation.
If possible, the CCO must be fully inte-
grated into the mission analysis process
conducted by the supported unit.
• Location: A CCO needs to understand,
among other things, the local vendor
base, predominant languages spoken,
types of currency, and the information
technology infrastructure (i.e., Inter-
net availability). CCOs can expect
to be integrated with the supported
units’ logistics element, where office
space is shared, or to operate out of
independent offices consisting mostly
of contracting personnel. Additionally,
operating out of a tent or hotel room is
not uncommon. The capabilities-based
approach for a stand-alone office can
be tailored and/or adjusted based upon
the situation. Whether operating out of
a physical location or from a three-ring
binder in a remote location, a CCO
must understand that the location is
not as important as the specific capabil-
ity to be provided to a customer.
• Duration: The projected duration or
length of the mission—whether it
will be short-term or enduring—will
influence the capability provided. The
purpose of a CCO is to provide short-
term contracting capability in support
of contingency operations. As the
duration of the mission changes, the
capability provided will change.
• Available resources: A CCO should
consider what resources are available
to execute the mission: How many
contracting personnel will support
this operation? What is their level of
CAPABILITY DESCRIPTION OUTCOME/RESULT
Acquisition Planning Provide acquisition planning assistance.
Complete requirements packages are submitted IAW
published acquisition lead times.
Procurement Provide pre-award contracting support.
Contracts are awarded IAW customer requirement docu-
ments, in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost.
Workload Management Manage new and existing requirement packages.
New requirements are assigned within one day of
receipt; existing requirements are tracked until contract
files are destroyed.
Customer Service
Provide quality, professional, and responsive customer
service.
Customer needs/expectations are met or exceeded
throughout the acquisition process.
Information and Data Management
Provide timely, accurate responses to data calls and
taskers; manage contract information effectively.
Responses to taskers and data calls are submitted IAW
suspense dates; contract files are organized to ensure
easy file retrieval.
Common Operational Picture Provide updated status of current operations.
Contracting personnel maintain operational situational
awareness.
Vendor Base Intelligence
Provide useful information on the regional and local
vendor base.
Vendor information is used to make effective business
decisions.
Theater-wide Contracts Intelligence
Provide useful information on existing theater-wide
contracts.
Existing contract information is used to make effective
business decisions.
Contract Administration Provide post-award contracting support. Contracts are administered IAW FAR Part 42.
Training
Provide contracting officer’s representative (COR), field
ordering officer (FOO), and quality assurance (QA)
training.
COR/QA personnel are trained to effectively execute
contract oversight and management; FOO personnel
are trained to initiate purchases below micro-purchase
threshold.
Capabilities to Consider
Figure 1
what the customer sees

3. a s c . a r m y. m i l 95
experience? Are any of these personnel
warranted?What type of contract actions
have they executed in the past, and what
additional expertise is required?
A detailed analysis of the mission, opera-
tional location, duration, and available
resources will help the CCO prepare for
the upcoming mission. Many consider-
ations will influence how a CCO operates;
however,thekeytosuccessisdecidingwhat
capabilities will be provided to customers.
DEFINING CAPABILITIES
What is a capability? It is the quality of
performing a specific function that is
required, valued, or important to an
internal or external customer. How can
a capabilities-based approach be applied
to establishing a contingency contracting
office and to executing contracts during a
contingency operation? In short, such an
approach is concerned solely with what an
office can do for customers: When a cus-
tomer walks into a contracting office with
a requirement, what can the CCO do for
that customer? By viewing the office from
the customer’s perspective, it is easier to
decide what capability is required.
In general, most contracting offices pro-
vide pre-award and post-award capability.
The capabilities approach is a conceptual
framework that not only addresses pre-
award and post-award capability, but
also helps CCOs structure the office and
determine what additional capabilities to
provide. When considering how to orga-
nize a contingency contracting office,
CCOs should consider the 10 capabilities
in Figure 1. These are not all-inclusive
list of required capabilities, but a starting
point that allows CCOs to add additional
capabilities as necessary.
THE PHYSICAL LAYOUT
The next step is integrating these capa-
bilities into a simple, efficient office layout.
CCOs typically approach establishing a
contingency contracting office in an ad
hoc fashion, with a focus on doing rather
than thinking. CCOs should focus on
providing specific contracting capabilities
that are directly related and inextricably
linked to the needs of the customer. Based
upon U.S. Army Field Manual 4-92, Con-
tracting Support Brigade, these are standard
sections assigned to a contingency con-
tracting battalion, including plans and
policy, operations and requirements, and
contract administration services.
Additionally, the layout demonstrates
that the battalion has taken on the role
of a regional contracting center (RCC)
in a deployed location. The leadership
and management of an RCC may con-
sist of a director (a lieutenant colonel or
major), a deputy director (a GS-14 in the
1102 series), and senior enlisted advisor
or sergeant major (in Military Occupa-
tional Specialty 51C). A brief functional
description of capabilities, and their cor-
responding sections or teams, follows:
• Acquisition planning is provided by the
operations and requirements section, in
coordination with the contract admin-
istration services section.
• Pre-award procurement is provided by
the construction, services, and com-
modities teams.
• Workload management is performed
by the director and/or deputy director,
in coordination with the construction,
services, and commodities team leaders.
• The operations NCO in charge pro-
vides customer service, via a dedicated
help desk located at the entry point, by
rapidly engaging customers and direct-
ing them to the appropriate section.
• Information and data management is
accomplished by arranging multiple
tracking and status charts or boards that
display information about the current
operational picture, thereby ensuring
that the RCC maintains operational
situational awareness.
• The existing theater contracts and
regional or local vendor base information
capabilities provide real-time informa-
tion for use in making business decisions.
• Post-award contract administration,
along with training for quality assur-
ance personnel and contracting officer’s
representatives, is performed by the
contract administration services section.
• Finally, the plans and policy section
provides customer training on the pro-
curement process and field ordering
officer’s duties and responsibilities.
CONCLUSION
The capabilities-based approach to estab-
lishing a contingency contracting office
is a customer-centered method that con-
siders not only what the customer sees,
but also what the customer can expect.
As long as the CCO conducts detailed
planning, provides value-added capability,
and integrates that capability into a simple
structure, he or she will excel at helping
customers fulfill their critical requirements.
For more information, contact LTC Myers
at 210-295-6147/DSN 421-6147 or
vernon.myers@us.army.mil. Or go
to the 916th Contingency Contracing
Battalion’s milBook site at https://www.
milsuite.mil /book /groups /916th-
contingency-contracting-battalion.
LTC VERNON L. MYERS is Commander
of the 916th Contingency Contracting
Battalion, Fort Sam Houston, TX. He
holds a B.S. in finance from Central
State University and an M.S. in materiel
acquisition management from the Florida
Institute of Technology. Myers is Level III
certified in contracting and in program
management. He is a U.S. Army Acquisition
Corps member.
contracting

4. CAPABILITIES-BASED CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING OFFICE LAYOUT
Workload
**Leadership /
Management
DEPUTY DIRECTORDIRECTOR
CONFERENCE
AREA
Management
33
PLANS/
POLICY TEAM
SENIOR ENLISTED
ADVISOR
Training1010
Customer
Operations &
Requirements
COMMODITIES
SERVICES
Customer
Waiting
Area Acquisition
Planning
11
Waiting
Area
CONSTRUCTION
Planning
Procurement
Contract
Administration Contract
Administration
Services
22
667788 99
Theater Wide
Contract Intelligence
RCC Contract StatusRCC Contract Status
Operations
NCOIC
MissionMission
Vendor Base
Intelligence
Regional
Common
Operational Picture
Services667788 99
Entry
Maps
Task OrganizationOrganization
RCC Contract StatusRCC Contract Status
Help Desk
MissionMission
Customer
ServiceRCO Contract StatusRCO Contract Status
Regional
Vendor List
Local Vendor
ListRFIs
Information and
Data Management 44
55