Contingency contracting: the joint environment: the JCC Handbook initiative benefits not only the Air Force, but ultimately the entire DoD by synchronizing and accelerating contingency contracting transformation efforts of all four Services. This initiative eliminated redundancy and standardized core contingency contracting training for all of DoD.

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Captain Dennis Clements, AFLMA 

Introduction

Since the invasion of Iraq and the ongoing Global War on Terror, contingency contracting operations have taken whole new perspective. Air Force contingency contracting officers now comprise approximately 70 percent of the military contracting capability postured to support the Department of Defense (DoD). However, most of these taskings are not in direct support of Air Force missions. In fact, most were in support of the Army or operations in a Joint environment. In light of the Air Force's high operations tempo and coupled with the fact that contracting is a stressed career field, the Air Force sought to find a way to better meet the overall requirements of the national defense strategy. To meet this challenge, the Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology an Logistics, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (OSD [AT&L] DPAP) sponsored the Air Force Logistics Management Agency (AFLMA) in the development of a Joint contingency contracting handbook. The following paragraphs will highlight AFLMA's efforts in the development of this handbook. It is envisioned to better equip contingency contracting officers with the tools to efficiently and effectively operate in the Joint environment.

Selling the Vision

In June of 2006, AFLMA began exploring the idea of publishing a new contingency contracting guide. AFLMA last published the Air Force contingency contracting guide in 2003, and since then, contingency contracting has changed dramatically and has taken on a whole new meaning. Recent deployments to Iraq, Djibouti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries had been anything but Service-specific. Rather, most deployments were centered around a truly Joint Service environment. Not only had this aspect of contingency contracting changed, but deployments were leaning toward operating in a more sustained environment. With this in mind, AFLMA built a briefing to introduce its concept to OSD for a new Joint contingency contracting handbook.

OSD [AT&L] DPAP had already been working with Secretary of the Air Force, Acquisition (SAF/AQC), as part of a Joint Contingency Contracting Working Group (JCCWG), to develop Joint contingency contracting policy. This new policy was envisioned to lay the groundwork for Joint contingency contracting operations and the deployment of a Joint framework for contingency contracting during current and future contingency contracting operations. AFLMA's vision was directly in line with what OSD was working to accomplish, except AFLMA's timeline provided an end product to the warfighter faster. AFLMA briefed their vision to OSD and received sponsorship to participate in the JCCWG and to develop a new Joint contingency contracting handbook for the DoD contracting workforce. The working group had two main objectives.

* Develop Department of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 218 Procedures, Guidance, and Information (PGI)

* Develop a pocket-sized Joint contingency contracting handbook

By working on the JCCWG, AFLMA was able to capitalize on the research performed by the group. Additionally, the JCCWG became a Joint conduit to facilitate the development of the handbook.

Evolution of the Joint Contingency Contracting Handbook

AFLMA initially proposed to OSD that the handbook be called a "Joint Contingency Contracting Guide. " However, the first objective of the working group was to develop Department of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 218, Procedures, Guidance, and Information (PGI). It was completed in January of 2007, and was labeled as a Guide. Although the first objective is still under review, to differentiate between the two objectives, the AFLMA guide became known as the "Joint Contingency Contracting Handbook."

AFLMA began specifically focusing on the research and development of the pocket-sized "Joint Contingency Contracting (JCC) Handbook" in February of 2007. Prior to the JCC handbook initiative, no standardization existed within DoD as to how each Service trained its contingency contracting officers (CCOs). Each Service had its own contingency contracting handbook and training plan, which was in many ways unique and tailored to the individual Service it supported. As a result, CCOs showed up to the fight with different training backgrounds and experience. This equated to a twofold problem for the warfighter: Jack of training standardization and deployment experience--two significant factors contributing to recent US Army procurement problems in the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).

Major William Long of AFLMA devised an innovative plan that would standardize contingency contracting and fulfill the Joint training needs across the entire DoD. The plan included accompanying the JCC handbook with an electronic DVD filled with hundreds of contingency contracting tools, templates, checklists, websites addresses, and standardized training modules that maximizes available resources for deployed CCOs. An integrated approach was stressed, which earned DoD-wide support and aligned future budgets and planning functions towards a unified strategy. By focusing all four Services toward a unified strategy, the time and cost savings generated by the initiative would be significant and repeatable year after year. More importantly, this standardized training approach ultimately provides our deployed CCOs with a more robust, efficient, and effective means of supporting the warfighter.

Incorporation of Air Force Standardized Contingency Contracting Training Plan

With today's operations tempo, high deployment rates, low manning, and constant personnel turnover, individual squadrons didn't have the time or resources to develop their own contingency contracting training program. To fill this training gap, Air Education and Training Command had already tasked AFLMA to standardize a contingency contracting training plan for Air Force contingency contracting and to develop an electronic compact disk for contracting tools. AFLMA performed an analysis of base-level contingency contracting training plans and an analysis of the existing contingency contracting tools, and decided to use the handbook as a foundation for standardizing the Air Force's contingency training program as well. The handbook and DVD, along with the Silver Flag course, would better prepare and educate contingency contracting officers prior to their scheduled deployments.

A team of functional experts from across DoD was established to form two Joint Contingency Contracting working groups. The red team, which assisted in the review of the handbook and the training team, which assisted in the development of the training portion of the handbook. The AFLMA-led training team developed more than 350 standardized contingency training modules and 230 plus test questions aiding the unit training managers in the performance of monthly CCO training. This proved critical for the highly stressed and deployed career field with little or no time to develop and implement unit level CCO training programs. The team also collaborated with sister services and linked the JCC handbook DVD back to 90 other Service contingency guides and handbooks for Service-specific guidance. The versatility of the handbook and DVD gives CCOs flexibility to train while in garrison or on the battle front, allowing CCOs to hit the ground running and travel lighter and more lethal than ever before.

Contingency Contracting: A Joint Handbook

AFLMA aggressively embarked on a self-initiated project to spearhead development of the Department of Defense's (DoD) first ever JCC Handbook. As a result, the AFLMA and its team was successful in leveraging standard core competencies across an entire DoD enterprise, thus meeting Congress' vision of Joint warfare capability. The pocket-sized handbook and its accompanying DVD directly facilitate the training and support of 3,100 acquisition professionals from all branches of service averaging over $5B a year in contingency spending to support the warfighter. The handbook has captured Joint contingency contracting doctrine and describes the military's capabilities, best practices, and fundamental principles that guide the employment of US contracting forces in a Joint environment. It has made history and the team has been recognized in the fiscal year 2007 Contracting Awards in the Special Recognition Award category. Contingency Contracting: A Joint Handbook is becoming recognized as a world-class training tool shaping the future of DoD contingency contracting.

The Way Ahead

Since 2001, contingency contracting has been all about change. Over the past 7 years, contingency contracting support has evolved from purchases under the simplified acquisition threshold to major defense procurement and interagency support of commodities, services, and construction for military operations and other emergency relief, such as Hurricane Katrina. Today, this support includes unprecedented reliance on support contractors in both traditional and new roles, including private security and contracting support. Keeping up with these dramatics changes, while fighting a global war on terror, is no doubt an ongoing challenge. The way ahead for the JCC handbook is to ensure that it is updated in a timely manner to provide the most impact to the warfighter.

In efforts to ensure timely updates, AFLMA has taken the JCC handbook initiative a step further and developed a plan for sustaining the handbook well into the future. We've coordinated directly with OUSD (AT&L) DPAP staff officials and developed a budget identifying future funding for contingency workshops, publishing, shipping, and temporary duty (TDY) costs. Also, AFLMA will conclude a strategic partnership with the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) which creates synergy and exploits core strengths of both organizations while maintaining the JCC Handbook on an annual basis. Subsequently, this strategic partnership drove the architectural blueprint for rewriting DAU's Contingency Contracting Course (CON 234). This foresight ensures that DoD contingency contracting will be sustainable and standardized for decades to come.

However, no training program can be beneficial without a set training plan to implement it. Prior to final release of the JCC handbook, the team set forth and developed a 12-month training schedule. This training plan outlines CCO training for all four services, providing the warfighter with a standardized, more predictable expeditionary force.

Since its inception, the JCC handbook and standardized training approach has been benchmarked DoD-wide. Its overall impact reaches well beyond that of an Air Force best practice. In fact, the JCC handbook initiative and its standardized process was submitted before Congress as a DoD best practice and for implementation by the entire Joint contracting community. Additionally, the Guard and Reserves, Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), and Defense Logistics Agency CCOs are now using the handbook.

This initiative has generated international interests as well. Recently, the JCC handbook concept was selected for presentation at the 2007 Agile Combat Support Conference. After the demonstration, representatives from coalition forces were lined up requesting copies of the handbook.

Conclusion

The JCC Handbook initiative benefits not only the Air Force, but ultimately the entire DoD by synchronizing and accelerating contingency contracting transformation efforts of all four Services. This initiative eliminated redundancy and standardized core contingency contracting training for all of DoD. The handbook was lauded by the Director for Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy as an "interagency solution" to US Army procurement problems in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. In fact, the impact of this project was immediately noticed by the Gansler Commission, a 45-day commission on US Army acquisition and program management reform, citing the JCC initiative as a "key recommendation" in their final report to Congress.

Contingency contracting is a world of constant change. It has changed dramatically over the past few years, especially in dealing with the reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Current legislative initiatives are a big step in the right direction in laying the groundwork for Joint policy and doctrine development. As we transtbrm the DoD acquisition workforce, it is important to standardize contingency contracting operations and at the same time find innovative ideas to give the warfighter a greater capability to fight the Global War on Terror.

I said to myself I have things in my head that are not like what anyone has taught me--shapes and ideas so near to me--so natural to my way of being and thinking that it hasn't occurred to me to put them down. I decided to start anew, to strip away what I had been taught.

--Georgia O'Keeffe

Planning is everything--plans are nothing.

---Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke