Leading and Managing Change in Contracting and Acquisition

Abstract

The Chief of Contracting for the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) responsible for all U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contracting in 12 African nations has reviewed the results of several audits and inspections, including his own, on the state of DoD contracting in expeditionary environments. The reports are anything but encouraging. It is clear that the contracting operations at CJTF-HOA are on the verge of system and operational failure. He knows that several follow-up audits are planned throughout the year, so he does not have much time to show some results. Excerpt UVA-OM-1478 Rev. Nov. 8, 2013 LEADING AND MANAGING CHANGE IN CONTRACTING AND ACQUISITION “Djibouti? What am I doing in Djibouti?,” Lieutenant Colonel David Lloyd, U.S. Army Reserve, remembered thinking that day in late December 2007, as he sat at his desk in Djibouti, Africa, just 11 miles from the border of Somalia (Exhibit 1). LTC Lloyd had just assumed his role as the Chief of Contracting for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA). In this position, he was responsible for all U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contracting in the Horn of Africa, a geographic area consisting of 12 African nations whose land mass was greater than that of the United States. The timing could not have been worse. He had just reviewed the findings of several audits and inspections, including his own, on the state of DoD contracting in expeditionary environments. The reports were anything but encouraging. The contracting activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, both multi-billion-dollar operations, were deemed severely deficient by government reviewers. Two recent reviews of his own Contingency Contracting Office (CCO) in CJTF-HOA found similar deficiencies and rated the operations as failing. His internal assessments of the operations confirmed the audit findings. It was clear that the contracting operations at CJTF-HOA were on the verge of system and operational failure. Background At the time, the U.S. military was the largest customer in the world. In 2007 alone, the U.S. military contracted for a staggering $ 312 billion in supplies and services, and that figure would increase in the coming years ($ 392 billion in 2008, $ 366 billion in 2009). In times of war or other significant military operations, these amounts increased accordingly, sometimes exponentially as seen in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2003 and 2010. Being the largest customer also meant that the U.S. military was the largest contractor in the world, and every contract needed a contracting officer to properly award and monitor it. The contracting process was a highly regulated and complex process. There were numerous federal and DoD regulations to follow and multiple types of contracts that could be awarded. The two types of contracts most commonly used for the procurement of goods and services in the federal government, including the DoD, were cost-reimbursement and fixed-price. . . .