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JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Jan. 25, 2024) -- Soldiers from the 923rd Contracting Battalion at Fort Riley, Kansas, are playing a vital role in the execution of contracts supporting the Army’s acquisition needs in preparation for Project Convergence Capstone 4.
Project Convergence Capstone 4, or PC-C4, is an Army-hosted transformation experiment advancing the data integration operability and collaboration between joint U.S. and multinational services taking place over two phases concluding in March 2024.
“Project Convergence Capstone 4 is a dynamic event that involves multiple stakeholders from across the Army, sister services and allied nations,” said Maj. Ryan Maynard, who is leading a team supporting the contract requirements. “The complexity of validating requirements from multiple organizations with disparate end states was a unique challenge; however, our partners at the Joint Modernization Command have facilitated a smooth contracting process and were able to clarify all the requirements.”
Also participating are the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and militaries from partner and allied countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, and Japan. PC-C4 provides a critical venue to identify and refine Army transformation recommendations and ensure future war-winning readiness.
Evaluating the modernization efforts of the Army, Project Convergence began in 2020 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, before the addition of land forces from Australia and the United Kingdom in 2022. Planning for this year’s contracted services and supplies by MICC contracting professionals at Fort Riley got underway at the end of 2023 to set the stage beginning this week at various locations.
“Contracts supporting Project Convergence Capstone 4 cover a wide range of basic services and supplies that enable the execution of the experiment at both Camp Pendleton and Fort Irwin, California,” explained Maynard, who is on site this week for contract oversight.
In addition to Maynard, supporting those acquisition needs are Sgt. 1st Class Jared Casey, Sgt. 1st Class Frank Gomes and Staff Sgt. Danielle Reed from the 923rd CBN. They are executing and administering more than a dozen contracts in support of PC-C4 at an estimated value of $5.2 million. Contracted services and supplies included geolocation services, material handling equipment and base life support requirements.
“This exercise serves as a training event for members of the 923rd CBN that will set them up for home station and contingency contracting requirements in the future,” Maynard added.
Casey, a battalion contracting officer, guided a team of contract specialists through the solicitation, offer evaluation, award and contract administration process to maximize efficiency while also using each step of the way as a learning experience for the team. Casey will also be on site at Fort Irwin in mid-February to provide contracting oversight for the second phase of the event.
"Our team started working with our supported unit JMC immediately. During the acquisition process it is vital to have all the subject matter experts and mission partners involved and motivated to successful accomplish the mission,” Casey said. “All our mission partners for PC-C4 are extremely well versed in the acquisition process. This allowed the MICC-Fort Riley PC-C4 team to award the requirements ahead of schedule.”
As event site preparation gets underway, Maynard said contract support will also be on site during the higher friction points of contract execution to include contractor mobilization and initial services at both Camp Pendleton and Fort Irwin.
“By placing contracting personnel forward with the supported unit, MICC-Fort Riley will be able to react in real time to emerging requirements and enforce contractor conformance to the performance work statement,” Maynard said.
The 923rd CBN and MICC-Fort Riley provide continuous contracting solutions, operational contracting support and business advice to the 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley Garrison and tenant units to enable a globally dominant land force capability. In fiscal 2023, the contracting activity executed 436 contract actions valued at more than $26 million.
About the MICC
Headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the Mission and Installation Contracting Command consists of about 1,500 military and civilian members who are responsible for contracting goods and services in support of Soldiers as well as readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. As part of its mission, MICC contracts are vital in feeding more than 200,000 Soldiers every day, providing many daily base operations support services at installations, facilitate training in the preparation of more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, training more than 500,000 students each year, and maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.
| Date Taken: | 01.25.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2024 13:40 |
| Story ID: | 462436 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 182 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Riley contracting Soldiers supporting Project Convergence, by Daniel P. Elkins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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