Photo By Jose Rodriguez | 1st Lt. Everett Magnuson, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment,...... read more read more
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, TX- Contracting officers from the U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command Southern Border Contract Team provided contract support to U.S. Marines from Animal Company\, 1st Battalion\, 7th Marine Regiment stationed along the U.S. southern border for Operation Ardent Vanguard.
The MICC Southern Border Contracting Team is part of the Forward Contracting Element – West, Theatre Contracting Center-Americas (TCCA), 410th Contracting Support Brigade, aligned under the MICC.
For the southern border mission and area of operation, the Marines do not have organic contracting units, making Army contracting support essential to their mission success. The Marines and the Army maintain fluid communication channels and continuously reach out for mutual support in joint operations. With just under 100 service members maintaining patrols around the clock across demanding terrain, Animal Company depends on a steady stream of support services to stay in the fight.
Currently, the MICC Southern Border Contracting Team manages 19 active contracts valued at approximately $56 million in support of Southern Border operations. Through strategic contracting practices and effective negotiation, the team has achieved $960,000 in cost savings in the past 30 days alone.
"The Army contracting team has been instrumental to our mission success along the Southern Border,” said GySgt Martin Hlinovsky, Marine Unit Operating at Southern Border. “Their responsiveness in securing hotel arrangements that meet force protection requirements while reducing commute times has directly enhanced our operational readiness. We are extremely grateful for their contracting expertise and partnership in enabling our mission."
The MICC Southern Border Contracting Team does not operate from a fixed Army post or camp. Instead, the contracting team deploys along the southern border and commutes to different locations to conduct site visits and reconnaissance for potential contracting needs. This mobile approach allows the team to be responsive to the dynamic operational environment.
During the visit to Animal Company's operating location - a repurposed facility that presents unique support challenges - the team conducted a full review of the unit's Basic Life Support (BLS) services to assess where contracting is delivered and where gaps remain.
A key part of the visit was educating the Marine unit on the acquisition process and the proper channels available to resolve ongoing support challenges. The MICC team walked leaders through the fundamentals of contracting support - how requirements are submitted through proper channels, thresholds for different contracting avenues, how they are validated and funded, and how they become actionable contract solutions.
While these Marine-driven solutions speak to the Corps' resourcefulness, they also highlight an opportunity for contracting to step in earlier - so that Marines can invest their energy in the mission rather than in building makeshift solutions. Identifying these gaps is exactly why the MICC Southern Boarder team walks the ground.
The MICC's largest contribution to Marine operations has been relocating service members to hotels that meet force protection standards and reduce commute time while lessening the demand to stay for long durations in centralized or isolated locations.
Specific contracting support for all the Southern Border includes lodging and conference rooms for Task Force Leviathan across San Diego, Yuma, El Centro, and MCAS Miramar. Sanitation services for Task Forces Forge, Mustang, Strike, and 489th Engineer Battalion, as well as 168th Military Police Battalion and 941st Military Police Battalion units across Arizona and Texas locations. Infrastructure support includes portable office buildings, equipment rentals, wireless communications, and battalion aid stations. Additionally multi-location operations spanning the Rio Grande Valley, Del Rio, Brownsville, McAllen, Nogales, and Naco.
Currently, the MICC Southern Border Contracting Team manages 19 active contracts valued at approximately $56 million in support of southern border operations. Through strategic contracting practices and effective negotiation, they have achieved $960,000 in cost savings in the past 30 days alone.
Going forward, the MICC team is committed to anticipating requirements by staying engaged with units on the ground rather than waiting for problems to surface, streamlining support for life-sustainment needs so Marines are not left building their own solutions, empowering units with a working knowledge of the contracting process and the proper channels to use and scaling infrastructure and support services to match the operational tempo and terrain.
By walking the ground alongside the warfighter, our office is better positioned to deliver the right capabilities, at the right time, in the right place, allowing the Marines to stay focused on their mission.
About the MICC TheMission and Installation Contracting Commandis a one-star subordinate command of theArmy Contracting Commandand theArmy Materiel Command. MICC Soldiers, Civilians and contractors take pride in their mission to support Soldiers and their families across the theater of operations by delivering decisive contracting solutions across the theater of operations, equipping America’s Soldiers with what they need to dominate on the battlefield, sustaining readiness at home and pioneering the capabilities for the Army of tomorrow. Headquartered atJoint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the MICC comprises nearly 1,500 Soldiers and Civilian employees assigned across the theater of operations. MICC contracts are vital in feeding more than 260,000 Soldiers every day, providing daily base operations support services at installations, preparing more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, facilitating training for more than 100,000 students each year, and maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.
| Date Taken: | 07.20.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 07.20.2026 10:49 |
| Story ID: | 570309 |
| Location: | CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
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