The Defense Acquisition University.

The Defense Acquisition University and the entire defense acquisition workforce extend our deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and colleagues of two defense contracting officers who were killed in a rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Jan. 29.

Barbara Heald, 60, of Falls Church, Va., was working and living in Saddam Hussein's former palace within the Green Zone on the day of the attack. As a defense contracts negotiator for the Iraq Project and Contracting Office, she served the people of the United States and Iraq by contracting for and delivering services, supplies, and infrastructure identified within the $18.4 billion Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund.

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A native of Stamford, Conn., Heald volunteered to serve in Iraq after retiring from the Department of Agriculture. She spent much of 2004 in Iraq aiding the reconstruction and had recently returned to Iraq for a second stint.

Lt. Cmdr. Keith E. Taylor, USNR, 47, of Irvine, Calif., was also living and working in the Green Zone while serving with Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Detachment Iraq. As a contracting officer for the Iraqi reconstruction effort, Taylor's job was to award, monitor, and close out contracts for road improvements, schools, and water treatment plants.

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A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Taylor was a member of Naval Supply Support Battalion 1 out of San Diego, Calif. Arriving in Baghdad on Oct. 6, 2004, this was his second mobilization. Taylor's first mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom lasted from February to June 2003, serving with Naval Air Force Pacific. His second mobilization was to have ended on March 30.

Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Claude Bolton held a Pentagon memorial service for Heald and Taylor on Feb. 3 at the 9/11 Memorial Chapel.