communicator - dvids · communicator is published quarterly from appropriated funds by authority of...

SP

RIN

G

20

10

• V

OLU

ME

10

, N

UM

BE

R 1

DE

FE

NS

E C

ON

TR

AC

T M

AN

AG

EM

EN

T A

GE

NC

YS

UM

ME

R 2

01

3 •

VO

LU

ME

13

, N

UM

BE

R 2

DE

FE

NS

E C

ON

TR

AC

T M

AN

AG

EM

EN

T A

GE

NC

Y

COMMUNICATOR

“We aren’t perfect, but we strive to be.”

- Henrietta Snow,DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta

Pathways to SuccessGrowing the DCMA Workforce

Communicator is published quarterly from appropriated funds by authority of the director, Defense Contract Management Agency. The director has determined that this publication is necessary in the transaction of business required by law and the Department of Defense. Contents are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, DOD or DCMA. Controlled circulation. Periodicals postage paid at Temple Hills, Md., and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: Private subscriptions and rates are available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 or (202) 512-1800. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DEFENSE CONTRACT MANAGEMENT AGENCY, OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, 3901 A Avenue Bldg. 10500, Fort Lee, VA 23801-1809

DCMA DIRECTOR Charlie E. Williams, Jr.

OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR Jackie Noble

CHIEF, PUBLIC AFFAIRS Billy Ray Brown

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mark Woodbury

ASSOCIATE EDITORPatrick Tremblay

LAYOUT AND DESIGN Cheryl Jamieson

PRINTED BY McDonald & Eudy Printers, Inc. 4509 Beech Road Temple Hills, MD 20748 phone: (301) 423-8900 fax: (301) 423-8999

On the cover: People are DCMA's most valuable asset. The theme for this issue of the Communicator is Pathways to Success - Growing the DCMA Workforce. Pictured on the cover is (center) Henrietta Snow, DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta deputy director; (top to bottom) Dawn Davis, quality assurance specialist; Greg Clark, equal employment specialist; Vivian Ninh, quality assurance engineer; Ken Gregory, quality assurance lead; Linda Pickelman, contract specialist; Erica Murray, DCMA Detroit intern; Rob McAlleenan, quality assurance specialist; and Mario Figueroa, human resource specialist. (Graphic illustration by Cheryl Jamieson, DCMA Public Affairs)

AGENCY NEWS 2. Director’s Message

3. Annual Awards

7. AQ rolls out new contracting officer Warrant Assessment Program

9. Accepting work — core or non-core to mission?

FOCUS12. Leading the leadership development continuum project

Preparing a cadre of leaders

14. Driven in DCMA Detroit

16. A Keystone lesson in getting the best of both worlds

18. Tomorrow’s workforce today

19. Email leads to internship

20. Student intern to DCMA Keystone

22. Training for versatility

How Atlanta trains a lot of different people for a lot of different things

26. Terminations Group partners with DAU

29. Medical surveillance program saves agency resources

FEATURES30. The sky’s the limit

34. Grooming a diverse and inclusive DCMA workforce

36. IWMS to replace EDW

Team will test new development concepts

SUMMER 2013 | VOLUME 13, NUMBER 2

COMMUNICATOR

3

14

7 12

16

30

26

36

22

34

2 | COMMUNICATOR

In today’s challenging economic climate, the importance of recruiting, developing, and rewarding an agile high performing workforce cannot be overstated—it is central to our mission. Of the many strategies we are using to meet this challenge, mapping clear pathways to success is one of the most essential. As new employees enter the workforce at an ever-increasing rate, old business practices become outdated, and people retire or change jobs, we must continue to find ways to provide meaningful training, thoughtful mentoring, and avenues for career development. This issue of the Communicator provides the details of many of our strategies and describes some techniques the Defense Contract Management Agency is currently using to grow the workforce.

A new Office of Diversity and Inclusion seeks to make the agency an employer of choice by raising our awareness of the value of diversity in the workplace and emphasizing the importance of including multiple points of view in the decisions we make. We know diversity and inclusion expands our applicant pool and helps us hire exceptional talent, and that is the first step in growing our workforce.

Once hired, this talent needs to be nurtured and supported. In this Communicator there are stories about how we accomplish this goal. For example, at our Atlanta contract management office, in Detroit, and throughout the agency we are hiring interns and Keystones and helping them to understand DCMA and meet their professional goals through formal training and informal mentoring. Other activities around the agency include specific coursework for employees at DCMA’s Terminations Center, as well a new Warrant Assessment Program that will measure the capabilities of employees who issue contract warrants.

One of our major goals during the last four years has been to create a learning organization and encourage employees to develop the knowledge they need to progress and gain recognition in their chosen professions. As DCMA collaborates with Defense Acquisition University and the College of Contract Management to further elevate learning and professionalize our workforce, more courses will be added to design specific curricula in the field of contract management.

I believe it is particularly appropriate that our theme of “Pathways to Success” accompanies the annual recognition of our award recipients. It makes me proud to see the names and read the descriptions of DCMA’s many awardees. The range of skills and accomplishments of these individuals and teams demonstrates the exciting changes taking place within the agency and inspires us each to pursue our own diverse pathways to success. I encourage you to read through the names, and join me as I say, “Well done!” to our many outstanding employees.

Best regards,

Charlie E. Williams, Jr.Director

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Pathways to success: growing the DCMA workforce

SUMMER 2013 | 3

Annual AWARDS

The Defense Contract Management Agency’s Annual Awards recognize individuals and teams that have made exceptional contributions over the past year in support of America’s warfighters. Award nominations generally occur at the beginning of each calendar year and are open to the entire DCMA workforce. This year’s honorees include active duty, Reserve members and civilian employees.

The Director’s Cup recognizes a DCMA organization that has improved organizational performance methods to advance the agency’s strategic mission and vision through the practice of “good to great” principles – disciplined people, disciplined thoughts and disciplined actions.

DCMA Cost and Pricing Center The Cost and Pricing Center has been at the heart of the reinvigoration of cost and pricing capability within

the agency. This enhanced capability is now being recognized by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and agency customers. The center brings an added benefit to the Department of Defense’s

capability to negotiate fair and reasonable prices and in getting more defense capability for each taxpayer dollar.

DCMA Herb W. Homer AwardThe DCMA Herb W. Homer Award award recognizes deserving superior performers in every segment of the workforce. Performance recognized by this award is highly exemplary and inspirational to others and contributes significantly toward accomplishing the agency’s mission and improving the quality of operations.

DCMA Supply Chain Predictability The team has been successful in using critical thinking skills and challenging the status quo in the

process of developing enterprise instructions that capture the flow of key agency processes. Through an integrated, multifunctional approach, the architecture identified by the

team provides the road map for more effective acquisition intelligence for the agency and improved support to the warfighter.

Director’s Cup

* * * * * * * * * *

AGENCY NEWS | AWARDS

2012

4 | COMMUNICATOR


DCMA Team AwardThe DCMA Team Award recognizes team excellence. Performance recognized by this award is exemplary, inspirational to others and in line with the agency’s core values. DCMA Lockheed Martin Denver Integrated Cost Analysis Team The team has blazed a path for the multi-billion dollar DOD

Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program by performing technical evaluation support with the Air Force and displaying a “best in class” pricing support. The team has had

to demonstrate sound analysis and techniques on $2.36 billion of price proposals resulting in $362 million of recommended cost reductions to the taxpayer.

Civilian Personnel Annual Awards

.

Outstanding Personnel of the Year

This award recognizes the exemplary and inspirational work employees have performed that has contributed toward accomplishing the agency’s mission and improving the quality of operations.

William Buemi — DCMA Lockheed Martin Denver, procurement technician

Buemi serves as the sole procurement technician on the $13.3 billion Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program where he consistently provides exceptional support to the contract team. His efforts have assisted in ten successful national-priority spacecraft launches which are vital to DOD mission requirements and directly support the warfighter.

Karen Trevett — DCMA Santa Ana, contract administrator

Trevett supported the Navy by negotiating 56 Undefinitzed Contractual Actions with a total obligation of $3.1 million. Through her extraordinary work ethic and diligence, the overall negotiated price of these orders resulted in a final price of $1.5 million. She is a stellar employee whose work ethic and customer satisfaction epitomizes the essence of how an outstanding employee performs on a daily basis.

Rose Gilhart — DCMA Lockheed Martin Orlando, support services specialist

Gilhart implemented process improvements in the DCMA Lockheed Martin Orlando's Defense Travel System and Government Purchase Card processes leading to significant time savings and greatly reducing administrative lag times that had plagued them both. Gilhart’s superior performance, excellent teamwork, proactive customer service and consistent

professionalism on the job make her an exemplary employee.

Maureen Irwin —DCMA Boeing Philadelphia, cost and price analyst

Irwin led the efforts of the Integrated Cost Analysis Team to simultaneously review multi-year proposals for the CH-47 F and V-22 programs valued at more than $8.8 billion. Her efforts contributed significantly to more than $1 billion in cost savings on these programs. She is sought out by her peers for her expertise and is a role model who inspires others by her example of excellence.

Kimberly Gaskins — DCMA Cost and Pricing Center, cost monitor/cost and price analyst

Gaskins was a major contributor to the extraordinary effort to deliver a quick forward pricing rate recommendation against an extremely tight deadline under intense scrutiny from senior level officials within the Army, Navy and the agency. Despite the pressure, she was unshaken and key in keeping the $12 billion procurement on schedule.

Jeffrey Holt — DCMA Boston, administrative contracting officer

Holt distinguished himself under the agency’s cost recovery initiative by issuing a final decision to recover nearly $500,000. His outstanding leadership, commitment to mission, exceptional work ethic and integrity has earned him the respect of his peers, managers and customers.

Kelly Doerr — DCMA Lockheed Martin Sunnyvale, program integrator

Doerr went above and beyond when she reviewed the Advance Extremely High

Frequency proposal uncovering more than $32 million in contractor costs. She also steered the AEHF Program Support Team through an onsite visit to ensure the AEHF Space Vehicle-4 buildup is 100 percent compliant with the memorandum of agreement and contract requirements.

Rosario Medina — DCMA Special Program West, lead contracting cost and price analyst Medina led the Pricing Integrated Process Team that helped develop DCMA Special Programs’ deviation, policies, and procedures for the pricing function. She also led and developed a team of new and inexperienced cost/price analysts and divisional administrative contracting officers to provide first rate customer service by providing excellent pricing reports during a period where the workload exploded by 138 percent from the previous year. Throughout this, the team maintained a 99 percent on time rate.

* * * * * * * * * *Mentoring Awards

This award recognizes employees who have shared their knowledge and experiences about multiple situations, including those dealing with leadership and organizations, which have helped in developing employee competence and confidence.

Luis Barrera — DCMA Cost and Pricing Center, supervisory financial analyst

Barrera’s patience, guidance, leadership, punctuality and continuous desire to pass along his lessons learned has made him a mentor to all he comes in contact with. The protégés he has worked with

* * * * * * * * * *

SUMMER 2013 | 5

praise his ability to deal with the day-to-day challenges that come with working in acquisition, and his ability to pass along how to acquire this trait to those he mentors.

Alberto Serrano-Torres — DCMA Aircraft Integrated Maintenance Operations Crestview, administrative contracting officer

Serrano-Torres is a mentor to three Keystones. His expert tutelage and mentorship has put these employees ahead of the expected learning curve giving them a significant head start on their way to being productive and effective specialists. His innovative methods of training have given each Keystone the opportunity to learn as an individual while growing within the team.

* * * * * * * * * *Outstanding Acquisition Newcomer Award

This award recognizes the agency’s newest employees whose outstanding acquisition skills and untiring efforts have significantly contributed to the success of the agency and its customers.

Kameron Kizzire — DCMA Boeing St. Louis, aerospace engineer

Kizzire spearheaded the successful multi-functional review of a $914 million progress payment and formulated a value-added labor hour forecasting model to provide world-class support for the F-15 Saudi Arabia program. Additionally, his technical innovation leading F-18 proposal reviews directly resulted in $614,000 in savings.

Michael Bazzo — DCMA Lockheed Martin Denver, computer engineer

Bazzo exhibited phenomenal leadership and untiring effort in accomplishing 100 percent of vital surveillance events, maintained essential interfaces with program office leaders, and completed key program assessment reports on time and without error while performing three different functions within an Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Program Support Team. While part of this team, he also identified 19 errors in the contractor’s test plan and worked with the buying office at the eleventh hour to secure contractually-required waivers and correct procedures in time to execute tests –

avoiding a six month schedule delay.

Brian Grundy — DCMA Special Programs South, contract administrator

Grundy was able to ensure 100 percent contract record completeness; close numerous overage contracts; develop a unique quick closeout agreement; conduct and resolve critical audits; and form a unified DCMA/DCAA/contractor and program office team while working under a critically short staff and in a very program security-constrained environment. His outstanding skills, initiative and untiring efforts contributed immensely to DCMA Special Programs success.

* * * * * * * * * *Leadership Award

This award provides a highly visible means for the director to recognize deserving leaders in every segment of the workforce. The Leadership Award recognizes our leaders whose visionary leadership, outstanding professional skill, and untiring efforts advance the agency’s strategic mission through “good to great” principles.

Steve Trautwein — DCMA Cost and Pricing Center, proposal pricing director

Trautwein’s leadership in directing all aspects of proposal pricing surge support has exceeded expectations of DOD customers that have challenged the agency to live up to its promise of enhanced pricing capability. He leads by example taking on the most difficult assignments, dealing with the most demanding customers and delivering results in improved proposal pricing performance, training development and delivery, pension analysis impact and in the conduct of overhead should cost reviews at major defense contractor locations.

Daryl Conklin — DCMA Special Programs South, principal operating manager

Conklin’s dedicated efforts assisted the CMO in delivering world-class technical and contracting support to its acquisition customers. Under his oversight, the CMO reported on 24 critical earned value trip wires; completed 100 percent of technical surveillance plans; ensured all business system reviews were in place and executed; expanded the CMO’s Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management core

competency by utilizing the College of William and Mary provided training; and developed a Counterfeit Parts Surveillance Guidebook for all of Special Programs.

Paula Merritt, DCMA Aircraft Integrated Maintenance Operations St. Augustine, supervisory contract specialist

Merritt’s dedication to duty, compelling vision, and proactive leadership efforts catalyzes the building of a great contracting organization that significantly stimulates high agency mission performance. Her efforts were particularly valuable in the AIMO’s success in the administration of 3,000 contracts valued at $30 billion. Her accomplishments include contracting mastery, exceptional customer support and superb leadership to employees with highly complex responsibilities and duties.

Kent Schvaneveldt, DCMA Boeing Mesa, deputy director

Schvaneveldt advanced the agency’s success through delivering superior contract administration, quality assurance, surveillance and programs support. His leadership was influential in the highly successful Acquisition Category 1C AH-64 Apache program and the delivery of 74 helicopters in 2012 – a 57 percent increase from 2011. His visionary leadership, outstanding professional skill and selfless dedication advanced the agency’s strategic mission through application of “good to great” principles.

Nicholas Verna — DCMA Lockheed Martin Moorestown, contract management deputy

Verna’s outstanding focus and talents were instrumental to his CMO’s success at many levels. On a daily basis, his conviction to improve his CMO, and have a positive impact on the agency’s direction, is apparent to all. His leadership has helped shape the CMO’s culture so it supports the organizational and agency values. He enthusiastically embraces every assignment given to him and executes them in superb fashion.


6 | COMMUNICATOR

These awards recognize the superior military performers throughout the agency. Those recognized by these awards are exemplary and inspirational to others and have contributed significantly toward accomplishing in the agency’s mission while improving the quality of operations.

Noncommissioned Officer of the Year

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Huff, DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta

Huff ’s exceptional leadership and dedication as an acceptance flight engineer for the production C-5M aircraft was instrumental to the CMO’s successful C-5M joint acceptance flight. An outstanding aircrew member, he is the resident subject matter expert on the highly visible C-5M program and excels in every facet of his job. He conducted rigorous flight testing that enabled swift delivery of C-5M aircraft, valued at more than $1.1 billion, to the warfighter. His professionalism is uncompromising, his integrity unquestioned and his work ethic sets the standard for the CMO.

Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year

Air Force Senior Master Sgt. David Medrano, DCMA Southern Europe

Medrano twice volunteered his service for short-notice deployment to Afghanistan to oversee a troubled contract, which yielded positive results towards the contract. He participated on multiple CMO Aviation Programs Teams supervising contracts valued at more than $2.8 billion. As the “go to” government ground representative in Southern

Europe, his outstanding professional skills, leadership and ceaseless efforts result in major contributions to the effectiveness and success of multiple critical programs.

Reserve Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year

Air Force Master Sgt. Daryl Stutzman, DCMA Palmdale

Stutzman provided oversight and insight on both the C-130 and QF-4 aircraft. His dedication to mission success and his determination directly contributed to the continuous “low risk” ratings for ground operations during the recent inspection at BAE Mojave. During a recent manpower shortfall on the Long Beach Boeing C-17 program, Stutzman’s leadership abilities and technical expertise provided a seamless and effective transition to the new government ground representative for the program.

Active Duty Company Grade Officer of the Year

Air Force Capt. Omelia Saunders, DCMA Lockheed Martin Fort Worth

Saunders’ dedication and focus to the mission requires him to oversee more than $144 billion in contracts. She does this with a keen ability to manage, prioritize and lead. During her deployment, she solely managed two high-visibility Afghanistan-wide contracts totaling $2.4 billion serving 100,000 military and civilians. Additionally, she streamlined the arming process for the National Afghanistan Trucking security contract valued at $983 million contributing to open communication amongst three agencies.

Reserve Company Grade Officer of the Year

Air Force Capt. Lyle Peters, DCMA Baltimore

Peters conducted contract reconciliations for Navy programs valued at more than $416 million and identified savings of $797,000 to the government due to overpayments. He has become

the CMO’s go-to guy for major program support instruction implementation for 22 Acquisition Category I and II programs valued at more than $10.2 billion within the CMO. His insight into contract execution and defense acquisition processes also baselined the CMO’s support to the $35.7 million Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze program and the $147.7 million Littoral Combat Ship Mission Module acquisition

Active Duty Field Grade Officer of the Year

Air Force Maj. Edward Yonce, Aircraft Operations Directorate Yonce eagerly filled in as DCMA’s International Director of Aircraft Operations, after a short-notice vacancy occurred, all-the-while managing to excel at all of his AO-assigned duties. He completely revamped the AO waiver and approval process and has effectively zeroed out an oppressive backlog of Aircraft Rescue/Fire Fighting waivers. Moreover, he has aggressively sought to improve his acquisition background through relentless pursuit of Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act coursework and qualifications.

Reserve Field Grade Officer of the Year

Air Force Maj. Tina Benivegna, DCMA headquarters

Benivegna expertly managed the $5.8 billion dollar Logistics Civil Augmentation Program and 22 contracting officers administering the contract providing critical life support services to 90,000 coalition personnel at 64 bases in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Her fortitude propelled a revalidation of change orders resulting in de-scope of 78 projects and savings of $8.7 million. Her steadfast leadership traversed cessation of services at 16 forward operating locations and constitution of services at four forward sites in support of the logistical capability for the U.S. president’s drawdown goal.

AGENCY NEWS | HEADQUARTERS

Military Personnel Annual Awards


SUMMER 2013 | 7


new agency Warrant Assessment Program establishing new requirements for the

contracting workforce was implemented in February as a prerequisite to submitting requests for contracting officer warrants.

The new program is based on the framework of the Department of Defense Contracting Officer Warranting Program model, which was developed to assist the military departments and defense agencies in reviewing how they select, appoint and terminate contracting officers.

The program is being introduced in two phases. The first phase, a Contracting Officer Review Board assessment component which became effective in February, consists of a GS-15 board chair

and three Contracting Level III certified board members of the same or higher grade as the position being filled. During the one-hour Contract Officer Review Board interview, board members assess the candidate’s ability to analyze a situation, offer problem resolution and sound business advice, and their overall poise.

“Our experiences with the CORB will also identify areas for further assessment and fine tuning, providing us insight to where we need more focused training. A major benefit the CORB brings to the equation is that we, here at headquarters, are also learning from this process,” said AQ Executive Director Tim Callahan.

The second phase will be the Contracting Officer Assessment Tool. This is an eTool available this summer that contains 25 warrant-specific questions

to be completed by contracting officer candidates once for each warrant type. The eTool will demonstrate a candidate’s ability to research both the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement by providing accurate and appropriate references.

Warranting requirements in place prior to February 2012, in accordance with the FAR and the DFAR Supplement, are still in place. The CORB and Contract Officer Assessment Tool components of warranting have been added to existing policy for requesting a warrant type.

Certificates of completion for both the Contracting Officer Review Board and Contracting Officer Assessment Tool components of the Warrant Assessment Program will be the new

AQ rolls out new contracting officer Warrant Assessment ProgramNick D’Amario | DCMA Public Affairs

Contract Specialist and Contract Officer Review Board Assessment Coordinator Linda Pickelman (left) and Contracts Directorate Policy Division Director and CORB Chair Stacy Strickland prepare for an interview at DCMA’s Fort Lee headquarters with a dial-in contract warrant candidate. This interview was part of the agency’s CORB initiative started in February. (Photo by Nick D’Amario, DCMA Public Affairs)

A

8 | COMMUNICATOR

criteria for requesting contracting officer warrants effective with the program’s full implementation.

Currently, a request for a DCMA contracting officer warrant involves a vetting process which takes into account, among other things, exprience and Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act certifications. The new Warrant Assessment Program will not change warrant types or affect any existing warrants.

According to Linda Pickelman, AQ contract specialist and CORB assessment coordinator, DCMA averages 27 warrants per month, or about 325 per year, with half of those being Contingency Contract Administrative Services. CCAS is currently exempt from the CORB, however, it will be incorporated in the eTool assessment deployed this summer.

“It is anticipated DCMA will process between 12 and 15 CORBs per month based on data from the last two years. March 2013 was the first full month with the new CORB, with 10 review boards, and 12 scheduled in April,” said Pickelman.

Pickelman has had a role in the new warranting program since August 2011, and was the Warrant Assessment Program’s integrated product team leader for developing policy and process, soliciting field expertise, and developing the strategic communications plan for the program’s execution. Currently, she manages the schedules, notifications and preparations for each CORB iteration, working closely with the panels’ leads. The first two panel leads, or board chairs, to deploy the CORB were Leona Fitzpatrick,

director of contracts for the Operations Directorate, and Stacy Strickland, Contracts Policy Division director.

“The CORB process has proven successful, and we are looking forward to the new program’s benefits in sustaining the levels of professionalism needed in the contracting enterprise,” said Strickland. “We will, however, remain open-minded to the need for finessing elements of the CORB based on lessons learned.”

DCMA Director Charlie E. Williams, Jr., stated in a Jan. 22 “On Point” memo that the Warrant Assessment Program is one small part of our move from certification to qualification, and this program will help ensure DCMA contracting officers have the skills and abilities they need to accomplish their duties. Williams said he was excited about this step forward in the agency’s continued pursuit of its workforce development strategies.

For questions or additional information regarding the Warrant Assessment Program call the AQ Policy Advocate at 804-734-0879.


What people are saying about

the CORB

“The CORB is no longer just a package submission process but a much more serious endeavor. Through this process the agency is demonstrating its willingness to invest the time and funds to insure its contracting officer corps is capable of meeting the standard.”

— Michael Safford, DCMA Orlando, Shalimar Office administrative contracting officer and the first person to experience the new CORB process

“The CORB is a new step in the process to receive a credential that is of paramount importance in the government acquisition field.”

— Samantha Mancini, DCMA Northrop Grumman Bethpage divisional administrative contracting officer

“The warranting process will incrementally improve the overall quality of the work products of the contracting officer workforce as a whole.”

— Brian Miller, DCMA Lockheed Martin Owego divisional administrative contracting officer and the first candidate under the new program to get warranted.

A sample of a practice test question available for contracting officer warrant candidates to familiarize themselves with the new Contracting Officer Assessment Tool launched in June.

ccepting workload is at the very core of the Defense Contract Management Agency’s

mission. The Office of the Secretary of Defense funds the agency to provide contract administration services in support of the military services and other defense organizations.

“Workload acceptance is what we do every day,” said Phil Chilson, Portfolio Management and Integration policy, tools and training manager. “It’s our mission to provide support to (Department of Defense) customers.”

As more and more customers seek DCMA support, the overarching workload acceptance policy, synchronized and aligned with other agency policies, provides employees the foundation to make sound decisions about core and non-core work.

The policy, recently updated and released by the PM&I Directorate, clarifies roles and responsibilities. It also outlines the procedures to ensure the agency accepts core work from the DOD acquisition enterprise and its partners worldwide.

The policy provides the process for making workload determinations. Employees use the process to assess formal requests (e.g., contracts, delegations) or informal requests (e.g., phone calls, email inquiries, personal contacts). “Based on the process, we can determine when to accept work and when to elevate work requests to senior leaders and managers in a prescribed timeframe and to the proper organizational level,” said Mark Schultz, PM&I performance advocate.

“If you know the mission, the customer and the work content, you can make decisions,” Chilson said. “However, it can get very complicated. You think it’s

simple. It should be simple, but it gets very complex because of the questions you have to ask.”

By answering YES or NO to six questions in sequence, employees move through the policy’s analytical flow chart for workload acceptance assessments to determine whether the work should be accepted or not:

– Is this an existing mission customer? – Is it non-reimbursable? – Is it a new or existing contract, grant or

agreement? – Is it core work per workload acceptance

policy? – Is it restricted to the Continental U.S.

place(s) of performance? – Are there available resources to

accomplish the work?“The flow chart is the brain map,” said

Chilson, whose DCMA military and civilian career includes commanding three DCMA contract management offices and serving as a CMO deputy director. “The policy we developed had to be broad enough to say here’s what we do, but specific enough if you have something strange, you probably need to take a strategic pause.”

The flow chart was the product of an integrated project team led by Schultz, a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, with LSS Black Belt facilitation by Sharlee LaBrecque, DCMA Continuous Improvement Office.

“They knew they needed a better tool to help the field,” LaBrecque said. “The flow chart is that tool.”

Chilson said, “The IPT was a collaborative effort across all the

SUMMER 2013 I 9


AJo Adail Stephenson | DCMA Public Affairs

Accepting work – core or non-core to mission?

10 | COMMUNICATOR

Analytical Framework for Workload AcceptanceOPS/INTERNATIONAL

DCM

A Co

re M

issi

on P

ath


Non-Reimbursable?

New orExis�ng Contract,

Grant orAgreement?

Work Content“Core” per WA

Policy?

Is workrestricted to CONUS

Place(s) ofPerformance?

AvailableResources toAccomplish

Work?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Send email toPI Inbox w/

Courtesy Copy toRegion and Prime

CMO

Send email“Heads-up”

No�fica�on toFBR

A “WA Inquiry”Send email to PI

Inbox w/CourtesyCopy to Region&

Prime CMO

Elevate to Prime CMO Commander/Director or Center/Group Director

Recommend DCMA Decline Work

- Requires No�fica�on of DCMA Interna�onal ...content of work (e.g.type,size, scope,dura�on,etc.)

- Share Template Data as a Minimum- Ac�ons: Inform DCMA Interna�onal Staff within five

workdays of recognizing need for DCMAOCONUS resources

No

No

No

No

No

No

Analy�cal Framework for Workload AcceptanceOPS/INTERNATIONAL

Staff a “Non-MissionCustomer” Work

Request(See WA Process

Flowchart#3)

PM&I WA PAini�ates Internal

Coord andCustomer

Outreach(sizeand scope)

PrimeCMO Commander/

Director or Center/GroupDirector inclined to pursue

work?

Prime CMOCommander/

Director orCenter/Group

Director informschain of

command ofinten�on to

decline non-corework

WAR Event(s)

Prime CMO Commander/Director orCenter/Group Director Ini�ates WADecision Pkg for Chain of Command

(Requires a DCMA Director’sApproval)

(See DCMA CorrespondenceManual for staffing guidance)

End WAProcess

Start

DCMA receives a newWork Request (Contract,Delega�on, etc.) or Work

Inquiry

Work Content“Core” per WA

Policy?

Prime CMOCommander/

Director or Center/GroupDirector Inclined to

pursue?

No No

Yes Yes

Yes

Prime CMOCommander/


Director informschain of

command ofinten�on todecline work

from non-missioncustomer

Prime CMOCommander/


Director No�fiesCustomera�er3-

day delay

End WAProcess

Support as CoreMission

End WA Process

Non-Mission CustomerPath

Non - Core Work Path

DCM

ACo

reM

issi

onPa

th

End WAProcess

Prime CMOCommander/


Director No�fiesCustomer a�er 3-

day delay

Yes

No

CustomerRequirementResourced?

DCMA Director(or asdelegated)No�fies

Customer that AgencyRefuses Delega�on for CAS

IAW FAR42.202(g), inwri�ng.

End WAProcess

No

Yes

Exis�ng MissionCustomer?

SUMMER 2013 | 11

components. It started with making sure we defined the mission more specifically – ‘Here’s what we do.’ That is the core and essence of why we are in existence as an agency.”

He added, “We don’t expect people to know everything. If it’s something unique, it’s wise to start asking questions and elevate it in the CMO.”

CMO commanders, center directors and group directors can accept work requests within the agency’s core mission. However, only the DCMA director can accept non-core work or decline core work due to inadequate resources.

“Non-mission customer work is situational on a case-by-case basis,” Chilson said. “It could be a partial delegation performing agency core competencies like property administration,

system reviews, or pricing. We could provide support if we are situated to do the work, have the resources, and it doesn’t diminish our ability to support our mission customers.”

Each workload acceptance decision stands on its own merit and doesn't set a precedent for future decisions on the same or similar subject matter or for the same or similar customers.

“As the result of our collaboration, people call us and ask questions,” Chilson explained. “It gives us a lot of satisfaction to know we help solve problems for the field.”

The PM&I voices responding to the phone calls belong to Schultz and Nate Montgomery, program analyst.

“We provide advice, counsel and recommendations,” said Schultz, who has

a total of 36 years of federal service. “We’re listening to the phone calls, the emails and the field activities providing feedback on the policy.”

Feedback is important in identifying any weaknesses or gaps in the policy.

“We are the ears for customers in the field to listen to any conceptual gaps within the policy,” said Montgomery, who has 39 years of federal service. “Then we go back and do a revision to make sure it is properly addressed for clarity.”

At the end of the day, accepting workload goes back to the question of whether it’s core or non-core work. The workload acceptance policy, the flow chart and PM&I subject matter experts help provide the answer.

DCMA workload acceptance integrated project team members stand in front of the analytical flow chart for workload acceptance assessments the team created at headquarters. The IPT members are (from left to right) Deloris Jaaber, Marty Jakim, Rick Edwards, Agnes Kowis, Rick Denman, Tom Ruckdaschel, Carol Martin, Nate Montgomery and Mark Schultz. Not pictured is Sharlee Labrecque. (Photo by Mark Woodbury, DCMA Public Affairs)


Report to your chain of command, provost marshal or inspector general the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor or slavery.

12 | COMMUNICATOR

FOCUS | HEADQUARTERS

n April 2012, Defense Contract Management Agency Director Charlie E. Williams, Jr., announced

his Strengthening the Workforce initiative and outlined five areas of concentration. One of those areas is the leadership development continuum, for which Williams named Pamela Conklin, Financial Business Operations executive director, as the project champion.

Conklin led a team of experts, who based upon extensive research, created a framework for the leadership development architecture and provided recommendations to the DCMA Council. Upon the council’s approval, the Human Capital Division took over responsibility to develop and execute the leadership continuum program. Leadership continuum is exactly what the name implies – perpetual training. Laura Morandi, HC executive director, and Chris Zubof, Strategic Learning Division chief, are spearheading this program.

“We have two major objectives: keep incumbents as sharp as possible and get the next generation of leaders ready,”

said Morandi. According to Morandi, nearly 22 percent

of agency employees are eligible for voluntary retirement and nearly 45 percent are eligible for early retirement if offered, including those eligible for voluntary retirement. These statistics present a challenge for the agency in meeting the two objectives Morandi laid out. There’s a need to get incumbents up to speed as quickly as possible. But, while that’s happening, there’s a cadre of supervisors, managers and leaders – led by the large segment of baby boomers – which is

moving toward retirement.“We have to fill those positions as

quickly as possible with competent people,” said Morandi. “So, we have to develop employees who want to be in managerial and leadership positions and get them ready to move into those roles.”

During the leadership champion review phase, Conklin and her team identified three tiers, or levels of leadership development, to serve DCMA’s needs.

The first tier is for first-line supervisors. These individuals have the daily responsibility to lead staff through specific operational requirements while often also sharing in technical specialist duties with their team. The second tier comprises mid-managers, who have responsibility to organize work and implement specific strategies in a given area. The third tier involves managers who have responsibility

to develop and implement strategic initiatives in broad areas of responsibility.

The leadership continuum is built upon the competency requirements required to become highly effective at each level.

During Conklin’s champion phase, the Office of Personnel Management’s list of 22 competencies were carefully examined to understand at what point a DCMA supervisor, manager and leader had to have full command of those competencies.

“We decided to look at our leadership development courses and ensure individuals executing the responsibilities at supervisor/manager/leader levels had the proper training, skills, practices, and even theory, so that they are competent to perform their duties,” said Zubof.

Once competencies were matched up to the appropriate level, the next step was to examine what the agency currently provides as developmental courses in leadership. This, in turn, resulted in identifying courses that needed to be revised and requirements for new courses.

As HC developed its continuum roadmap, it became clear the agency’s Basic Supervisory Development Course, DCMA 201, didn’t fall into the realm of leadership development. According to Zubof, the course teaches supervisors and managers operational skills, including how to manage matters such as hiring, staffing, diversity, labor and employee relations, and legal affairs.

“Those are all administrative tasks we as supervisors do day in and day out,” said Zubof. “So, we re-examined the course content and determined it’s not

Leading the leadership development continuum Preparing a cadre of leaders

Laura Morandi DCMA Human Capital executive director

Misha King | DCMA Public Affairs

I

SUMMER 2013 | 13

leadership development as we’ve defined it, but true skills development.” As a result, DCMA 201 is not part of the leadership continuum. However, it is recommended for anyone in a supervisory role.

Although the continuum differentiates between basic supervisory training and leadership development as far as training is concerned, Zubof said everyone is a leader no matter the job description – leader of self, leader of others, and leader of processes and services.

Zubof said supervisors and managers armed with the skills “toolbox” acquired through DCMA 201 need to realize that advancing to greater leadership responsibility means being proficient with the tools and then thinking outside the box. This forward career progress means acquiring those OPM competencies to serve as a leader who contributes to moving the agency’s mission forward. HC has published leadership maps to help understand which competencies are required to perform a certain levels within the agency.

DCMA offers employees three opportunities to attain these competencies. The first is the agency’s own leadership continuum, which HC offers as DCMA 101, 202 and 301. “Those are DCMA-

developed programs intended to teach people how to function at various levels of leadership,” explained Zubof.

The second opportunity is a series of programs other federal agencies offer. “If you’re a supervisor or manager, OPM and the Department of Defense have a variety of programs that we highly encourage you to enroll in,” said Zubof. “The leadership map for your grade would outline these options for the career track you’re pursuing.”

The continuum also includes the Centralized Development Programs, such as the Federal Executive Institute, Harvard Business School, and the war colleges. Zubof said these superlative programs are competitive since they’re offered to all federal agencies. “DCMA gets an allocated number of seats, so in an organization of 10,000 people, it becomes difficult to select who goes when you only have two or three seats, Zubof said.”

The CDPs serve employees primarily in the GS 13 to 15 range. In early fiscal year 2014, HC will announce the availability for application to these programs. After an employee applies, the application has to be vetted through the immediate chain of command. HC then reviews the application to ensure the applicants are

qualified based on the requirements.“Some of these programs are expensive

– we’re talking about some programs that can cost upwards of $100,000,” Zubof explained. Once an application passes those first two stages, it goes to a panel of senior leaders designated by the director and deputy director. The panel goes through each application and has vigorous discussion to determine who ultimately will be able to join those programs.

Ultimately, the responsibility and drive to pursue and develop a leadership career rests solely on the employee. DCMA provides the roadmaps and the opportunities to make it happen.

“There are many resources out there — on-the-job training, formal programs, leadership developmental plans, and mentoring and guidance from senior leaders,” said Zubof. “Through these, we can grow one heck of a leadership cadre within DCMA going forward.”


Chris Zubof, Strategic Learning Division director

14 | COMMUNICATOR

hat drives Charles Embree as he travels through miles of run-down

neighborhoods and empty streets with boarded-up houses to get to his destination in the heart of inner city Detroit?

The words his father, James Embree, said to him as he was growing up — “Every day, get up and make a difference.”

The non-resident Defense Contract Management Agency Detroit quality as-

surance specialist is making a difference as a role model in his contract management office and at the approximately 10 facilities where he performs work.

At one facility, Embree interacts with youth and displaced workers. These individuals are students in a manufactur-ing engineering college degree program through a partnership with the Depart-ment of Defense, a local Detroit nonprofit organization and area universities.

The students perform inspections on

vehicle steel and aluminum parts, which are produced for the military, under several federal government contracts. They work on the manufacturing floor of a reclaimed industrial area revitalized into a state-of-the art manufacturing facility.

Because it is a training program, the students perform 100 percent inspections on the parts.

DCMA’s role is quality assurance oversight on the students’ inspections.

“We verify their accuracy,” said Embree,

FOCUS | CENTRAL

Charles Embree (front), DCMA Detroit quality assurance specialist, works with an employee who oversees students in an engineering degree program. (Photos by Jo Adail Stephenson, DCMA Public Affairs)

w

Driven in DCMA DetroitJo Adail Stephenson | DCMA Public Affairs

SUMMER 2013 | 15

who has been with the agency more than 28 years as a career QAS. “We don’t treat them any differently — they have to meet the same requirements as any contractor.”

As he performs his QAS duties, Embree interacts with the students on blueprint reading, and on metal tooling and selection to obtain the specified micro finish, which is important for vehicle performance and durability.

During final inspection, he verifies the documentation to ensure the dimensions are listed and the parts meet government specifications.

As a career QAS, Embree embraces his mentoring role whether he is imparting

his skills, knowledge and work ethic to students or to agency interns assigned to him.

He shares his expertise when he demonstrates different types of inspection methods and explains how to converse one-on-one in terms of quality assurance to develop relationships with personnel and customers while performing his QAS duties.

The values instilled in him by his father made a lasting impression on the young Embree.

“My father demonstrated it. We got it,” he recalled.

Now, Embree is the one demonstrating

those principles and work ethic. “For me, it is an opportunity to give

back what I have learned and to share my skills and knowledge,” Embree said.

So, what does he also tell the students and interns? “Every day, get up and make a difference.”

Charles Embree (left), DCMA Detroit quality assurance specialist, and a student discuss how to detect quality assurance trends. The student is in a manufacturing engineering college degree program offered through a partnership with the Department of Defense, a local nonprofit organization and area universities. The students perform 100 percent inspections on parts produced under contract for the military. DCMA’s role is quality assurance oversight on the students’ inspections.

Driven in DCMA Detroit

FOCUS | CENTRAL

The latest news is in DCMA Express on the internal homepage In the DCMA Express section on the internal homepage, https://home.dcma.mil, you will find a wealth of information about news around the agency. The best part about DCMA Express is it's an additional avenue for telling good news stories about your office. Submit news ideas and leads to the DCMA Public Affairs inbox at [email protected].


16 | COMMUNICATOR

hirley Fuller has completed three years as a Keystone, of which, recently, two months were on rotational

assignment at DCMA headquarters’ Contracts Directorate. Fuller has since become a case-in-point for the meaningful contributions Keystones make within the agency.

It started with Andrew Obermeyer, AQ Contract Planning and Performance Assessment director, approaching Gretchen Smith, DCMA Keystone Program manager, on how DCMA’s Contracts division could obtain Keystone support. He knew a Keystone would bring two valuable aspects to headquarters — new and fresh perspectives and a contract management office working perspective.

Principally, according to Obermeyer, it was to see “how the work actually gets done in the field and how it all gets pushed through Mechanization of Contract Administration Services (the system used by DCMA to administer and pay contracts issued to defense contractors).”

Smith, responsible for agency program management from the time a Keystone comes on board until they are placed in their permanent position, made AQ’s intent known to DCMA’s Keystone cadre and successfully secured four Keystones for placement on rotational assignment with AQ. Shirley Fuller was the first Keystone to report to AQ based on Obermeyer’s request.

Shortly after arriving at DCMA headquarters from DCMA Santa Ana, Fuller made the observation that “as a

contract administrator working in the field with a variety of very well-seasoned functional specialists, I can offer a general idea of what happens at the CMOs in terms of how we respond to change and are impacted by policies, processes and other headquarters directives.”

Fuller has a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master of business administration from the University of Phoenix. She joined DCMA in 2010 following an 18-year career with Boeing as an aircraft mechanic.

It was during her time with Boeing she became interested in DCMA. Fuller learned about the Keystone program on USAJOBS where the professional entry-level developmental program was being promoted and the rest was history.

Fuller is no stranger to rotational assignments. Prior to arriving at DCMA headquarters for her AQ rotational assignment, she completed a 90-day rotation with DCMA Raytheon in Fullerton, Calif.

Every Keystone has a support group, whether at their assigned CMO or on rotational assignment. Support ranges from the Keystone program manager, to the Keystone coordinator, to the mentor, and to the Keystone community itself. In Fuller’s case, Sharon Osborne, an AQ Contract Planning and Performance Assessment senior procurement analyst, was Fuller’s mentor during her two-month assignment with AQ.

From the beginning of Fuller’s assignment with AQ, Osborne ensured Fuller met key leadership and understood

the functional differences between AQ’s divisions and centers. Osborne’s daily mentorship continued throughout Fuller’s two-month assignment, and included her ongoing review and assessment of how well Fuller was mastering projects given to her in support of the AQ mission. This included extensive involvement with AQ’s Small Business Division, as well as the International Directorate, a frequent mission partner of AQ’s short- and long-range policy efforts.

For example, during Fuller’s two-month assignment she developed a Contract Officer Review Board feedback template (which was instrumental to the Warranting Assessment Program launched in February), she helped develop training materials and attended numerous meetings offering her insight into such processes as contractors’ business systems. (See page 7 to read the article detailing WAP.)

Toward the end of her two-month assignment, Fuller had finished creating a brief for a proposal to implement a new

A Keystone lesson ingetting the best of both worldsS “…we'd like to see some

of these same Keystones competing for positions at the headquarters. They will be our future leadership.” — Andrew Obermeyer, AQ Contract Planning and Performance Assessment Director

Nick D’Amario | DCMA Public Affairs


SUMMER 2013 | 17

eTool for the International Directorate. Fuller said her two-month assignment

with AQ was “the most enriching experience to date.” She added, “What I've gained through this rotation is priceless. Anytime you can experience personal and professional growth, as well as enhance soft and hard skills sets, it can only serve as a valuable asset. Not to mention I've met a lot of really wonderful and helpful people at headquarters. Some, I can reach out to for assistance on business related issues, professional career advice or just to say hi.”

Obermeyer appreciates what the Keystones brings to the AQ mission. “Keystones are our eyes and ears to the operations at a level that we normally don’t have at headquarters. We'd like to see a nearly continuous rotation of AQ Keystones through the headquarters.

Down the road, we’d like to see some of these same Keystones competing for positions at the headquarters. They will be our future leadership,” he said.

There has been a plan in place since 2009 to bolster DCMA’s acquisition work force, and develop “future leadership.” Most Keystones are being assigned to AQ (1102 series), quality assurance (1910 series), and engineering (800 series) career fields to fill DCMA’s ongoing need for a strong acquisition work force.

“While the Keystone program is not the principal means by which to bridge the gap caused by attrition and a large retirement-eligible work force at DCMA, it is still an instrumental part of bridging the knowledge gap and fulfilling the growth requirements of the agency,” said Grant

Northrop, DCMA Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund program manager. “However, the keystone program is an important component of growing our own professional acquisition work force.”

“Keystone,” as defined on DCMA’s Keystone home page, is ... a central cohesive source of support and stability and ... something on which associated things depend for support.

“Clearly, our Keystones are validating that — in spades,” said Smith.

For additional information on the Keystone program, call (804) 734-1162.

Shirley Fuller (left), a Keystone on rotational assignment to DCMA Contracts Division, looks over contract paperwork at DCMA headquarters with Gretchen Smith, DCMA Keystone program manager, and Andrew Obermeyer, AQ Contract planning and performance assessment director.

Keystone

FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 TOTAL

Hiring Targets (planned) 450* 150 185 165 165 165 1,280

Hiring Plan (actuals & projections)

300 238 42 210 196 165 129 1,280

*FY10 totals include FY08 base plus FY09 and FY10 growth

18 | COMMUNICATOR

he Detroit contract management office uses intern programs to introduce members of tomorrow’s

workforce to today’s Defense Contract Management Agency.

The CMO recruits students who are interested in the career fields for which the office is hiring.

“We try to impress upon the students that they are a part of the CMO family,” said Duane Dembinski, DCMA Detroit deputy commander. “It pays us dividends when they go back to their colleges and talk about their good experiences.”

The CMO recruited and hired college students through the agency’s Keystone Program and the Student Career Experience Program. SCEP has been replaced by the Internship Program, which is part of the Office of Personnel Management Pathways Program. The programs are designed to attract students to jobs in the federal civil service by providing meaningful developmental work at the beginning of their careers.

GROWING AND GROOMING

The CMO has a tradition of growing, grooming and keeping its workforce.

“We have a good retention record,” Dembinski said.

Mary Williams started with the agency as a GS-04 procurement technician. After a wide variety of both geographical and residential assignments and cross-functional training, the DCMA Detroit — Grand Rapids contracts team leader now has 29 years of federal service, all with the agency.

Williams feels more comfortable about the future of the agency based on the interns she has worked with at the CMO. “They are so enthusiastic,” she said. “They bring new energy, fresh ideas. They come with open minds, and I haven’t found any who don’t want to excel.”

The students also meet Diane Dueweke’s

expectations. “I have been really pleased,” said Dueweke, DCMA Detroit contracts director, who started as a GS-05 and has 33 years of federal service. “They learn our systems and the tools we use every day.”

The CMO hires the college interns to provide support to their contract administrators, administrative contracting officers and procurement technicians.

“We want our students to get contact with contract administration and work with some of our lower-risk contractors in the CMO,” Williams said.

GETTING TO KNOW DCMA

Ross Davenport, DCMA Detroit contracts team leader, recently recruited and hired Fadi Romaya and Erica Murray as interns. The college students had one thing in common, they had never heard of DCMA prior to their internships.

“Part of the challenge is getting the word out about DCMA,” Williams said.

So, the CMO contacted college and university career services offices. Dueweke spoke with one university to see if they had any college students who would be interested in an internship program. “University personnel posted a recruitment ad for us,” she said.

Romaya found out about the agency through his university career office.

DCMA Detroit also posted an ad internal to the CMO.

One of Murray’s friends’ dads works for the CMO and told his son about the internship. He forwarded Murray the email, and that’s how she found out about the internship and the agency.

INTERNS LEAD TO KEYSTONES The internships also are a good way to

see whether the students would be good candidates for the agency’s Keystone Program.

“It’s the chance for us to evaluate them,” said Davenport, who has more than 29

years of combined federal service, 26 with the Navy and three years civilian service. “We try them out and they try us out.”

Romaya, who worked at the CMO as a college intern, applied for a contract administrator intern position in the agency’s Keystone Program. He was hired and is now a Keystone at DCMA Detroit.

The CMO has been using the agency’s Keystone Program for 10 years. “It’s a good way to build a Keystone base,” Dembinski said. “It’s a great feeling knowing you have helped them and contributed to their long-term success in the agency.”

TRAINING AND MENTORING

Williams, Dueweke and Davenport emphasized the importance of training and mentoring the interns and having a plan when recruiting and hiring them.

“It’s important to have structure and a plan,” Dueweke said. “You don’t want to just bring them in and put them at a computer.”

The CMO uses online courses and actual job experience to train their interns. They also send interns and Keystones with quality assurance specialists, industrial specialists and others to see things first-hand at contractor facilities.

“They want to do big things,” Davenport said. “We don’t want to bore them.”

The CMO leverages the experience of its workforce to train and mentor interns and Keystones. Program leaders pair interns with Keystones, and Keystones with CMO subject matter experts. Interns and Keystones also are assigned mentors.

“It takes the whole village,” Davenport said. “People gravitate to people they feel comfortable with.”

Williams believes internships build loyalty to DCMA. “They get a good idea about us — who and what we are,” she said. “We ask them to do some complex things and they continue to exceed our expectations.”

Tomorrow’s workforce todayJo Adail Stephenson | DCMA Public Affairs

FOCUS | CENTRAL

18 | COMMUNICATOR

T

SUMMER 2013 | 19

The Defense Contract Management Agency currently has authority to appoint highly qualified journeyman-level individuals to shortage category acquisition positions. For more information about internship opportunities, the agency’s Keystone Program or applying for jobs with DCMA, visit www.dcmacareers.com.

The Pathways Program is an Office of Personnel Management program implemented by the Defense Contract Management Agency to introduce new potential workforce members to the agency by providing students temporary employment opportunities.

The Internship Program is a streamlined program which replaces

the Student Education Employment Program, i.e., the Student Career Experience Program and the Student Temporary Employment Program. The program is designed to attract students enrolled in a wide variety of educational institutions (high school, home-school programs, vocational and technical, undergraduate and graduate) with paid opportunities to work in agencies and explore federal careers while still in school. This program exposes students to jobs in the federal civil service by providing meaningful developmental work at the beginning of their careers, before their careers paths are fully established.

The flexible nature of the program also accommodates the need to hire students to complete temporary work or projects, perform labor-intensive tasks not requiring subject matter expertise, or to work traditional “summer jobs.”

The Defense Contract Management Agency Keystone Program provides on-the-job training that leads to exciting career building opportunities in business, engineering, information technology, quality assurance, personnel management and other fields in the agency.

Email leads to internship

EErica Murray, a Rochester College

accounting student, had never heard of the Defense Contract Management Agency before applying for an internship to work at the Detroit contract management office.

She found out about the internship program through an email. Her friend’s dad works for DCMA Detroit and told his son about it. So, her friend forwarded her the email.

“At first, I didn’t know much about DCMA,” Murray said. “I had never heard of it. I looked at the agency’s website and got a feel for it. It was something I was interested in and wanted to look into it more.”

She forwarded her resume to the email address provided. “They set me up with an interview. Next thing I know, they called me back, and I got hired.”

Murray was recruited and hired through the Student Career Experience Program. SCEP was replaced by the Internship Program, which is part of the Office of Personnel Management Pathways Program.

The hiring process took a while. Murray applied for the intern position at the beginning of October 2011. She was hired at the end of January 2012.

“This is my first professional internship,” Murray said. “I have learned a lot about contracting and procurement technician work. It has given me an insight into both of those positions and career paths.”

The internship provided an opportunity to learn about the agency’s mission, culture, processes and customers.

She talked to her friends about the internships they’ve had, what they did and

Erica Murray is an intern at the DCMA Detroit contract management office. The Rochester College accounting student works with the CMO contracts group and interacts with the contract management team, industrial specialists, quality assurance representatives and administrative contracting officers. (Photo by Jo Adail Stephenson, DCMA Public Affairs)

Jo Adail Stephenson | DCMA Public Affairs

FOCUS | CENTRAL

SUMMER 2013 | 19

20 | COMMUNICATOR

FFadi Romaya will remember

September as the month in which the pathways of his life changed not once, but three times in as many years.

In September 2010, he enrolled at Oakland University to study for his master’s degree in accounting.

In September 2011, he interviewed for an internship with the Defense Contract Management Agency Detroit contract management office.

In September 2012, he became a contract administrator in the agency’s Keystone Program.

STUDENT INTERN

“DCMA — I had never heard of it before,” said Romaya, who found out about the agency through the university career office.

He applied through the Student Career Experience Program. SCEP was replaced by the Internship Program, which is part of the Office of Personnel Management Pathways Program.

Romaya received a call from the Detroit CMO office to come in for an interview. After the interview and another call from the CMO, he completed the application and paperwork. A few months later, he started working at the CMO.

It was his first internship. He remembers sitting in front of the computer and doing a lot of reading and computer-based

training the first two months to learn exactly what he would be doing as an intern at the CMO.

“My computer was my best friend,” said Romaya, who has a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

After completing the initial training phase, he began using what he had learned.

“The best way to learn is by actually applying your knowledge on an actual assignment,” he said. “That was really good — a lot of different contracts, different situations.”

“Every day I would find out something new that I never knew before,” he said. “It’s a lot of information but people are very helpful. When I asked a question, there was always a subject matter expert to help. There are lots of experienced people here.”

Romaya worked with Fadia El-Asfahani, a new DCMA Keystone who was assigned as his mentor.

“She helped me a lot,” he said. He also received mentoring from his

supervisor Ross Davenport, DCMA Detroit contracts team leader. “He is an engaging supervisor,” Romaya said. “He checked to see how I was doing. He has been very supportive.”

Romaya continued, “It’s a really great program. I would recommend it to anyone interested in gaining knowledge and experience, even someone who doesn’t have any experience at all. There’s a lot of training involved. It’s a great experience for

what you want to do in the future.”As Romaya learned more about working

at DCMA, he decided to apply for the agency’s Keystone Program. “I was hoping to get accepted into the Keystone Program in contract administration. That was what I was hoping for — to get hired — because I really like the job here.”

AGENCY KEYSTONE

Romaya’s hope became reality in September 2012. He left the Detroit CMO

Student intern to DCMA Keystone

Fadi Romaya works at the DCMA Detroit contract management office. He interviewed for an internship with the CMO in September 2011. He became a contract administrator intern in the agency’s Keystone Program in September 2012. (Photo by Jo Adail Stephenson, DCMA Public Affairs)

how they liked it.“A lot of them say it’s very tedious

work – scan this for me, scan that for me,” she said. “Here at DCMA, I interact a lot with the contract management team, industrial specialists, quality assurance representatives, administrative contracting officers and even contractors.”

Murray, who works with the contracts group, also likes the hands-on opportunities. “You learn a lot because you’re working right with them. I learn better when I am actually doing the task.

It’s different when I read it but when I actually perform it, that’s when I really learn it.”

She feels fortunate to have been selected for the internship. “I feel like I’m making a difference. I’m taking responsibility. People help me out with the responsibility, but it’s nice I’ve been given a workload.”

Her first experience with the federal government has been good.

“I tell people I’m working for the government, and they think it’s great,” Murray said. “They ask me how I got

the internship. I tell them I went on the interview and they must have liked me.”

The Michigan native is glad she accepted the student internship to work at DCMA Detroit and to stay closer to home. After applying for the agency’s Keystone Program, Murray recently found out she will be converted to a Keystone once her college internship is completed.

“It’s great working here,” Murray said. “I love that I can support the troops and civilians and help out a greater cause. It’s very rewarding.”

Jo Adail Stephenson | DCMA Public Affairs

FOCUS | CENTRAL

20 | COMMUNICATOR

SUMMER 2013 | 21

office on a Friday as part of the Internship Program and returned to the office the following Monday as a DCMA Keystone.

Even though his title and work status changed, his work area stayed the same and he’s still performing contract administrator work. “I have the same responsibilities, but the workload has increased,” he said. He works on contracts to ensure these go out on time. He also resolves delivery schedule problems and coordinates with industrial specialists.

“The mentor plays a big role in helping you to do it the right way,” Romaya said. His mentor is Pattee Brown, contract administrator. “She’s a great help, a lifesaver,” he added.

Brown, who mentors two other employees and also provides informal support to fellow contract administrators, believes communication and comprehension are key factors in mentoring. “It’s important to ensure the mentoree understands what is being discussed.”

For their daily discussions, Romaya prepares a list of questions and performs

research on the topic before he talks with Brown.

“It reinforces his working knowledge and establishes a deeper understanding of the topic at hand,” Brown said. “I encourage critical and strategic thinking. I want the mentoree to logically see the big picture — If this action is taken, what are the consequences? How will it affect the final outcome? Is there an alternative solution, which will not negatively affect the final outcome?”

For his first experience with progress payments, Brown said Romaya knew to research the contract requirements, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, DFAR and DCMA instructional guidance.

“When we discussed the progress payment procedure, he was well-prepared and able to answer the questions I posed to him. This is the reason why research, no matter what the contract administration issue, is the first task to perform before making a recommendation to the administrative contracting officer.”

She enjoys the experience of being able to provide assistance, especially to trainees.

“It is gratifying to know the information shared will be helpful throughout their contracting careers. I feel honored management is confident in my ability to share my skills and experience with other contract administrators to accomplish the mission.”

Brown finds mentoring a two-way street. “Fadi is a quick learner and asks pertinent questions. He has taught me a few things.”

As a Keystone, Romaya continues taking classes online and does training in the classroom, too.

“Some people complain about the classes, but for me, it’s easy because I’m still in school. I’m still in that mindset,” said Romaya, who is taking the final courses to complete his master’s degree.

He continued, “Between school and work, it’s really a lot of work. I get off work here and then go to school to evening classes, but I am excited about finishing my master’s.”

From college intern to DCMA Keystone, the pathways of Romaya’s life intersected at DCMA Detroit and he chose to stay. “The people here make it good,” he said.

Ross Davenport (left), DCMA Detroit contracts team leader, discusses contract administration work with Fadi Romaya, agency Keystone, at the contract management office. Davenport is Romaya’s supervisor. (Photo by Jo Adail Stephenson, DCMA Public Affairs)

FOCUS | CENTRAL

SUMMER 2013 | 21

22 | COMMUNICATOR

FOCUS | EAST

Patrick Tremblay | DCMA Public Affairs

early 500 contractors spread over more than 90,000 square miles. More than 83,000 contracts

for services and goods from textiles to armored vehicles, with a total value in excess of $12 billion. Defense Contract Management Agency Atlanta has a lot on its plate.

The contract management office sits just northwest of Atlanta, the Georgia state capital with a metropolitan population of nearly five and a half million people. There, more than 100 agency personnel perform all the usual functions of contract administration. What sets the office apart, said CMO Director Vivian Hill, is the broad range of contracts and geography,

rather than one specific thing. “We’re pure geographic in that we have a

plethora of different types of products we manage,” Hill said.

Training employees is an inherent challenge in addressing the scope and diversity of Atlanta’s work. Hill and her senior team all encourage continuous education for personal and professional

Training for versatility

NDCMA Atlanta employees (left to right) Stephanie Annan, Dave Ridgely, Dawn Davis, Butch Darrow and Ken Gregory. Ridgely is an industrial specialist who works with quality assurance specialists Annan, Davis, Darrow and Gregory on contracts at a South Carolina firearms manufacturer. (Photos by Patrick Tremblay, DCMA Public Affairs)

How Atlanta trains a lot of different people for a lot of different things

SUMMER 2013 | 23

growth. “First and foremost,” Hill tells new employees, “get to know the agency. Learn all you can about the organization.”

The quiet leader is herself a product of DCMA training opportunities. The first civilian director of the CMO, Hill is a model of what thoughtful professional development can accomplish.

“I started as a clerk typist in California,” Hill said, “and have held every grade from GS-3 to GS-15, all with the same agency.”

She entered an internship program early in her career, and later sought out other opportunities including the Women’s Executive Leadership Program, Defense Leadership and Management Program, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. “Every job I’ve had I just thought was the most important job,” said Hill.

The CMO’s success hinges on matching a versatile workforce to a variety of contracts, all spread over two states. Hill is proud of her team’s performance.

“What I’m most proud of is our people,” said Hill. “We’re in the South, so we’re very family oriented.”

TRACKING TRAINING

“I love helping people meet their career goals,” said Lynda Mayes, DCMA Atlanta training coordinator. For more than 20 years she has tracked training at the office, and for the past eight years, this has included the Keystone Program as well as journeyman and supervisor levels. Whether it’s Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act requirements, quality assurance commodity certifications or senior management coursework, she knows what’s required, who’s eligible and how to match the two together.

Mayes worked in a few different positions when she first came to DCMA. In 1991, however, she found her niche. “I moved from one job to another until I came to training, which just seemed to be the perfect fit for me. I really like what I do and have made it my career choice,” she said.

Mayes is involved in almost every aspect of professional development of CMO personnel right from the start. She provides orientation for incoming

Keystone classes, and goes over training procedures with journeymen.

“I encourage employees to take the time to listen and learn from the more seasoned employees,” said Mayes. “Take them on as your mentors as they have so much to give that can’t be matched by attending a training course. Take the opportunity to learn from them while you are able and before that experience goes out the door.”

Once into the day-to-day workflow, employees meet regularly with supervisors to go over certification and training requirements. When these have been identified, they’re placed on the employee’s Individual Development Plan. Mayes is then able to step in and help make things happen.

“I use the Civilian Training Management System as a computer-based way to track individual training,” said Mayes, adding she uses other tools, including a variety of databases and spreadsheets.

The agency recently began using a common reporting format to track DAWIA certification of all acquisition personnel, but Mayes said transitioning to the new format has been easy because she’s been capturing most of the information with her own database for years. “This gets updated at least monthly,” she said. “When I identify necessary training, I’m able to call the employee and make sure they maintain currency.”

In addition to regular training, Mayes looks for other ways to improve the workforce, often with an eye for saving money. One way that’s been successful is working with the Atlanta Federal Executive Board to provide opportunities to employees at the CMO as well as other agency and federal employees.

In one instance, said Mayes, a basic class which normally would have been offered in another part of the country was held in Atlanta. It was filled by employees from a variety of area federal agencies, resulting in no per diem cost, a substantial reduction in tuition, and a total savings of around $57,000.

For Mayes it’s not just about tracking requirements or saving money, it’s about helping individuals meet their goals. “I enjoy listening to people, assessing

their needs, and helping them meet their training and career goals.”

A DIFFERENT KIND OF INTERN

Lt. j.g. Jeremy Santiago was recently assigned to DCMA Atlanta through the Naval Acquisition Contracting Officer intern program.

“It’s similar to the Keystone Program,” said Santiago, “we do the same DAWIA

FOCUS | EAST

Vivian Hill, DCMA Atlanta director

24 | COMMUNICATOR

FOCUS | EAST

level II coursework, the only real differences are we have two years to complete the program and the DCMA people have certain agency-specific training not required for the Navy.”

Santiago joined the Navy four years ago and trained to become a Navy Supply Corps officer. After his first sea tour he began to look at internship programs that would complement his career goals.

“I didn’t have any experience with DCMA until I was looking into internship programs,” said Santiago. “On the ship everything is Defense Logistics Agency.

DCMA was interesting for me because they’re the middle man behind the product the fleet receives and the contractor who is making it.”

Although he only started at the CMO a few months ago, Santiago is impressed with the work the agency does. “It’s nice to see the dedicated workforce that’s out there talking with the contractor on a daily or weekly basis, making sure the contracts are going as planned. The warfighter is expecting it, and the warfighter needs it.”

Santiago said having a tour with the agency, and DAWIA level II certification,

broadens his skill-sets, and options. When his internship is completed, he hopes to either go big, working on an aircraft carrier, or specialized, providing support to a naval special operations group.

“Whether it’s an aircraft carrier or an EOD or SEAL team,” Santiago said, “they need the logistics and buying power behind them to make their operation work.”

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

All the training comes together in the field. At a firearms manufacturer in South

Butch Darrow, DCMA Atlanta quality assurance supervisor (left), talks with Ken Gregory, QA lead, and Dave Ridgely, industrial specialist, at a South Carolina firearms manufacturer facility. (Photos by Patrick Tremblay, DCMA Public Affairs)

Carolina, a DCMA Atlanta team works on contracts including light machine guns and the M16 rifle, which has served the U.S. military for nearly a half-century.

“Training has helped me learn the DCMA way of doing things,” said Ken Gregory, a quality assurance lead, “but my experience in the Air Force gave me a lot of skills needed to perform well in the agency.”

Like many, Gregory brings past experience to the agency position – in his case 30 years in the Air Force. That’s fine with Butch Darrow, DCMA Atlanta QA supervisor. Darrow oversees quality work in most of South Carolina, and has more than 35 years of federal service, including his time in the Marine Corps. “Veterans tend to come in with good discipline,” observed Darrow.

Dawn Davis is the primary QA at the firearms facility. She graduated last year from the Keystone Program, and, like her peers, is DAWIA level II certified. She said the Keystone program, and the hands-on nature of QA work, gave her a good understanding of how and why she does her job.

“One of the biggest things we do on a daily basis is process reviews,” said Davis. “We look at all the major processes we have in our surveillance plan to make sure (contractors) are doing what they’re supposed to do per the contract.”

One of Darrow’s responsibilities is ensuring specialists like Davis have the proper qualifications to work on select contracts. “I look at the processes being used at each facility and decide what competencies are needed,” said Darrow. “At this manufacturer, QAs need to be trained in mechanical and non-destructive testing.”

Davis said it’s important for her to be certified to witness and verify non-destructive testing for the weapons work. “NDT here is mostly with liquid dye penetrant,” she said. “This lets us check barrels and other parts of the guns to make sure there are no cracks without damaging the product.”

Another part of Davis’ work at the firearms plant is to witness monthly

testing, including one that verifies weapon parts are uniform and interchangeable – essential to the warfighter, who needs to be sure his weapon can be quickly and reliably fixed in the field.

To do this Davis selects a sampling of weapons from a completed group. “I watch as (the contractor representative) fully disassembles each gun, places the parts in bins, then reassembles them,” she said. Putting the weapons back together is done in a specific manner to ensure the reassembled weapons use a mix of parts from the original samples. “Each must still function properly when complete,” said Davis.

Darrow’s team recently completed a quality management system audit at the manufacturer. This comprehensive review examines all of a contractor’s quality work and is conducted by DCMA at least once every three years.

Stephanie Annan, another DCMA Atlanta QAS, served as lead auditor on the project, a role that required even more specialized training. Annan has been with DCMA since 1998, the past five years in quality.

“In addition to my regular DAWIA and QA certification,” said Annan, “I completed a week-long auditor training program.”

Davis said on-the-job training has been an essential part of her success as a QA. “One of the best things I can say, being on this team, is the amount of hands-on we get,” she said, adding there are “a lot of good people on my team who want to not only show me what they do, but also teach me how to do my job, and do my job well.”

SUMMER 2013 | 25

FOCUS | EAST

Navy Lt. j.g. Jeremy Santiago, Naval Acquisition Contracting Officer intern

Lynda Mayes, DCMA Atlanta training coordinator

26 | COMMUNICATOR

FOCUS | WEST

hen the Contract Terminations Center was created in August 2005,

Defense Contract Management Agency personnel processed more than $7.5 billion in contract terminations with 19 employees. Today the center is 23 strong and handles more than $35.5 billion in terminations.

“When the center was stood up, the average employee had 18 years of experience and my most senior employee had more than 50 years of government experience,” said Paul Slemons, Contract Terminations Group director. “They viewed me as someone who was necessary to sign (Performance Labor Accounting System) every two weeks. Basically, they were very competent in what they did.”

Mentorship, advisement and training would normally be functions Slemons would perform as the director of terminations. His staff was fully trained and functioning very well independently, so he took a different approach to positioning the center for the future.

“When I came on board I realized quickly everyone was basically ready, or almost ready, for retirement,” said Slemons. “Because they were extremely competent, I told them their job was no longer just to develop negotiating positions, their job was also to write down and document everything they knew about contract terminations.”

This was a necessary step for the center since formal guidance outlining the costs paid for, or not paid for, by the government when a contract is terminated was nonexistent. “If you look in the (Federal Acquisition Regulation), there’s almost nothing there,” said

Slemons.Terminations contracting officers

are unique among contracting officers because they’re not governed by Part 31 of the FAR, which outlines allowable and non-allowable costs. “We’re supposed to use our good business judgment,” said Slemons, “which means knowing what you should and shouldn’t pay for.”

Slemons knew documentation of this knowledge would be critical if the center was to be successful in the future. His direction to capture lessons learned and best practices proved useful as new employees came on board.

“Since 2005 when we started recording and documenting our efforts, we’ve saved thousands of pages of documents, all grouped by subject matter,” said Slemons. “New TCOs can go in and figure out if they should or shouldn’t pay for something, and why. It brings them up to speed much quicker.”

Turnover binders and documented information serve as a valuable tool, but Slemons also recognized the need for more formal training. He first looked outside the agency to see what opportunities and courses were available.

“When I came in to terminations, there was a Navy course which was offered until there weren’t any TCOs coming into the field and it was canceled,” said Slemons. “The (General Services Administration) created the most recent course, but it was canceled for the same reason. To bridge the gap, we developed an internal course that we teach to all the new TCOs.”

An opportunity to formalize the training presented itself recently when the agency director asked centers to identify training needs, specifically the potential for new Defense Acquisition University courses. The TCO course fit the criteria.

The coordinating official for the terminations DAU courses is Pam Mitchell, a terminations contracting officer. She’s been with the agency for approximately five years and has more than 15 years of contracting experience.

“Once the need was established and defined, the terminations group submitted comprehensive material from which the course will be structured,” said Mitchell. “We provided step-by-step methodology on the termination process to include FAR and DFAR requirements, roles and responsibilities of all connected in the process.”

The notes currently used by Slemons when teaching new TCOs were also included in the submitted information. These detailed notes included termination statistics, illustrations and precedent case law that impacts how the terminations group settles terminations.

“At this junction, the course is still in the study phase,” said Mitchell. “A contract was awarded to do a course content design and once the content has been cleared, the course development will

Terminations Group partners with DAUw

“We provided step-by-step methodology on the termination process to include FAR and DFAR requirements, roles and responsibilities of all connected in the process.”

— Pam Mitchell, DCMA terminations contracting officer

Matthew Montgomery | DCMA Public Affairs

FOCUS | WEST

SUMMER 2013 | 27

commence.”Once the course development

begins, Mitchell said DAU will play an instrumental part in ensuring it mirrors the image of current courses offered. The goal is for DAU to offer two courses — basic and advanced.

The basic course is designed for contracting personnel with experience as contracting officers or administrative contracting officers at the GS-11 level.

“This course will introduce contracting

personnel to the core principles of contract termination and provide training on the multifaceted tasks and duties of the termination officer,” said Mitchell.

The advanced course is intended for contracting officers already familiar with the terminations process. “This course will cover complex termination issues such as the (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act, unabsorbed overhead, contractors working in a loss

position and other related topics,” said Mitchell.

The intent is for each course to be four days, classroom-based, and instructor-led. There will also be knowledge and skills checks throughout the instruction to ensure the information is understood and absorbed.

“Students will be required to do individual and group practices that will include some Web-based training,” said Mitchell. “This diverse approach helps

Understanding Terminations By Paul Slemons Terminations Center Group director

The government has different types of terminations — termination for convenience and termination for default. We only handle terminations for convenience here at the Terminations Group. However, the following provides a quick breakdown of the two types.

Default is when the contractor didn’t fulfill their contractual obligation and the government terminates the contract. The government then has to go out and buy the part from someone else. If it costs more, the government then charges the defaulted company for the difference.

Termination for convenience is when the government, for its own reasons, has decided it no longer needs the part being produced. In these cases, we terminate the contract for convenience, pay the contractor for the cost incurred on the contract to date and get out of the contract.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act

protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring

most employers with 100 or more employees to provide

notification 60 calendar days in advance of plant closings and

mass layoffs.

Employees entitled to notice under WARN include managers

and supervisors, as well as hourly and salaried workers.

WARN requires that notice also be given to employees'

representatives, the local chief elected official, and the state

dislocated worker unit.

Advance notice gives workers and their families some

transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment,

to seek and obtain other jobs, and, if necessary, to enter skill

training or retraining that will allow these workers to compete

successfully in the job market.

The Department of Labor's Employment and Training

Administration administers WARN at the federal level, and

some states have plant closure laws of their own.

WARN Act: (http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-warn.htm)

28 | COMMUNICATOR

Termination Center's Employee with the Most Government Service: (Moe Melvin)Moe Melvin has been with DCMA for 22 years and the federal government for 51. He majored in

journalism with a minor in business from Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore. In his senior year of college, Melvin’s father who worked for the Social Security Administration suggested he take the Federal Service Entrance examination. “The next thing I knew I was working for an (Air Force Plant Representative Office) as a contract administration trainee. It seems like yesterday.”

Melvin offers five pieces of advice to new TCOs. First, attend the training for new TCOs given by Paul Slemons, and if possible, attend the same training one year later. Next, have a mentor, or two. Melvin said three and four are: don’t be afraid to ask questions, and be patient. “Terminations cannot be learned in one week, one month or even one year.” Lastly, don’t be discouraged. “Terminations can be overwhelming in the beginning. One day that light will come on.”

the participant apply the knowledge and skills to termination job related requirements.”

According to Mitchell, the overall objective of the new instruction is to

bring awareness of the termination process to those unfamiliar with termination concepts. But, as she also stated, “it will play a pivotal role in our overall success. It will allow newly hired/

trained TCOs to perform their jobs effectively.”

Termination Center's Newest Employee: (Andrew Joseph)Andrew Joseph has been with DCMA for about a year and the federal government for five. He

received his bachelor’s degree in International Business from Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. Joseph entered the federal workforce through the Naval Acquisition Development Program right after graduation. During his time with the Navy, he completed his Master’s in Business Administration from Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I.

Joseph said the termination contracting officer training presented by Slemons during his second week with terminations was beneficial. “My impressions of the class were positive. The materials were presented in such a cohesive and simplistic way that anyone who attended the class would come out with a good understanding of contract termination, particularly the termination for convenience of the government.”

Even more beneficial has been the breadth of knowledge Joseph has been able to tap into when necessary. “Contacting the more experienced TCOs has proven to be an invaluable asset, as they have often run into the same situations that I struggle with when dealing with complex terminations.” His advice to new TCOs is simple – “Don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

FOCUS | WEST

SUMMER 2013 | 29

mployees who work in industrial environments could be exposed to occupational health hazards. Based on the type, kind and level of health

hazard, the affected employees could be enrolled in a surveillance program. The most common surveillance program is hearing conservation for occupational noise exposures.

The administrative side of the medical surveillance program was restructured over the past several years for several reasons: access, cost-savings and, most importantly, employee accountability for surveillance. Previously, Federal Occupational Health managed the entire process for DCMA – cradle to grave – at considerable cost. Personnel were enrolled if they said they might be exposed. Now, the Safety and Occupational Health Division validates every case of personnel occupational exposure against established standards to ensure only those employees with valid needs are enrolled.

Prior to 2011, Federal Occupational Health was also responsible for maintaining all the records and providing the administrative nursing staff. DCMA has insourced several of the previous Federal Occupational Health functions – primarily exposure validation, records management, and the medical surveillance program tracking system.

“We saw a need for the program to be centrally located where the Safety and Occupational Health Division could have better control and better ways to manage it,” said Tonda H. Fryzlewicz, Safety and Occupational Health director. “We brought all the records over from Federal Occupational Health – about 12,000 of them – to the River’s Bend office at DCMA headquarters. Now, the medical surveillance program manager has the records at her fingertips.”

According to John Bowen, Safety and Occupational Health manager, the Division also revamped the medical surveillance program because DCMA’s needs had outgrown the access database Federal Occupational Health was using to manage the agency’s program.

“The system was older, and it was often difficult and costly to retrieve trending data from Federal Occupational Health,” said Bowen. “We had to submit the request for data, their programmers would have to create a query, and we would receive the report billable hours later.”

When the Safety and Occupational Health Division took over the tracking control of the medical surveillance program, the agency purchased a commercial occupational health and safety software program, which tracks the medical information of employees in the program with a secured, online, real-time accessible database. “We turned off the Federal Occupational Health database in October 2012 and had all the information transferred into the new system, and it’s worked wonders on the medical surveillance side. At the click of mouse now we have real-time data and reports.”

The Safety and Occupational Health Division maintains medical records for DCMA civil service employees who have completed or are or have been in a surveillance program. These secured files contain documents such as pre-employment physicals, deployment physicals and medical surveillance testing results.

“We currently have more than 6,000 active files with documentation relevant to medical testing,” explained Katherine Connolly, medical surveillance program manager. “For example, if we have employees in the hearing conservation program, they would have their audiogram results in there. Another example is if the employees have industrial exposures, any testing they’ve had done relevant to that would be in their file along with any records sent from Federal Occupational Health; we still contract with them – their network of doctors evaluate our employees.”

“Medical surveillance is all about the employees,” said Connolly. “Medical testing and monitoring ensures the employees’ safety while at DCMA and after they leave, because they’ll have previous data to support any medical issues.”

Medical surveillance program saves agency resources



E

30 | COMMUNICATOR

FEATURES | EAST

o the casual observer it may seem like Defense Contract Management Agency Lockheed Martin Marietta

only covers two contracts, the C-5 Super Galaxy and C-130 Hercules aircraft.

Even if this were true, these are two physically huge items, and both critically important to military airlift missions. A closer look, however, tells a much different story, as these aircraft are composed of many complex systems requiring specialized contract administration services.

The north Georgia contract management office’s leadership knows the best way to make it all come together is to pick the right people to do the work, give them the progressive training opportunities, and continually recognize their accomplishments.

ENCOURAGE CONTINUED GROWTH

Denise Jones is a Marietta, Ga., native who joined the federal workforce as a Defense Finance and Accounting Service summer hire. Over the past twenty years she has worked her way up to become the contracts director at DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta.

“DCMA has a lot of avenues that you can branch out and take,” said Jones,

who credits the agency with affording her opportunities for professional development and education, including the DCMA centralized development program and support in completing her master’s degree.

She tells new employees, “First of all, get yourself well educated, know the business and be flexible and mobile. If you’re flexible and mobile, the sky is the limit.”

Like other senior leaders at the CMO, Jones understands a successful employee is an agency asset as well as a CMO asset. “I don’t just prepare folks to work here, I like to prepare folks to go anywhere throughout the agency. When they leave me they’re well versed in what they do and able to go into another CMO and hit the ground running.”

Jones’ commitment to her employees’

The sky’s the limitPatrick Tremblay | DCMA Public Affairs

T

Ramon Colvin, administrative contracting officer; Deborah Anderson, training coordinator; and Denise Jones, contracts director, review a contracts training plan at DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta’s Georgia office. (Photos by Patrick Tremblay, DCMA Public Affairs)

WINTER 2011 | 31SUMMER 2013 | 31

FEATURES | EAST

growth was recognized in 2009 by the General Services Administration with the Ida Ustad Award for Excellence in Acquisition. The award singled out Jones’ focus on individual development, saying “through her encouragement, 90 percent of her team earned secondary degrees in their job-related specialties.”

HIRE GOOD PEOPLE

Bob Jordan tells everyone he meets he has a stellar team. “The combination of people I’ve got, you won’t find anywhere else in civil service,” the quality assurance supervisor said. He is in charge of the 17-person quality team working on the

C-5 Super Galaxy program at DCMA LMM.

Jordan came to the agency 10 years ago, and like most of his team he brings with him a wealth of knowledge on quality, aircraft and manufacturing. “The person on my team with the least experience came to us through the Keystone Program after serving in the Air Force,” he said, “but even she now has six years with the aircraft.”

Most of Jordan’s team has a maturity and level of expertise developed before they joined the agency. “The way we’ve been doing our hiring, they generally come to us with (Federal Aviation Administration) certifications,” he said. “These aren’t requirements of the contract,

but it demonstrates the level of aviation knowledge and expertise our people bring. We go looking for highly qualified, highly experienced people. When we hire them they’re already very good.”

It takes some time to learn the DCMA way, however. “We provide them with about two years of additional training to become QA specialists rather than inspectors. They need to be able to not only inspect, but also audit, analyze data, come to conclusions and adjust surveillance based on all that.”

Jordan said once required training is accomplished, employees are encouraged to get further training, including certification through ASQ, a nonprofit

A formation of C-130 Hercules flies May 18, 2011, during an exercise above the Nevada Test and Training Range. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald)

Bob Jordan, quality assurance supervisor, oversees the C-5 Super Galaxy program at DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta, Ga.

Henrietta Snow, deputy director of DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta, began holding a ceremony for employees who completed a major professional development program. The Georgia office will hold its seventh annual ceremony this year.

32 | COMMUNICATOR

FEATURES | EAST

The C-5 Galaxy is the largest airlifter in the U.S. inventory, first delivered to the Air Force in 1970. The Super Galaxy program will modernize more than 50 of the massive aircraft for continued service.

DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta oversees contracts for the modernization of the aircraft. The contract management office also oversees manufacturing of C-130 Hercules. The Hercules is a military airlift workhorse, but is dwarfed by the massive Galaxy, which can lift 270,000 pounds of cargo in a bay large enough to hold a C-130 fuselage, as shown here.

organization that provides standards, certification and training for quality professionals.

“We push them to do this because it’s good for our team and for their careers,” said Jordan.

CELEBRATING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

“We aren’t perfect, but we strive to be,” said Henrietta Snow, DCMA LMM deputy director.

She said the CMO leadership wants their people to be able to work their way up through the organization. “One way to do that is to make sure they have a solid foundation to build on,” said Snow, who herself began with the agency almost 40 years ago as a GS-5.

Seven years ago Snow created a program to celebrate individual professional development. Now each summer the CMO holds a graduation ceremony for employees who have completed a significant program such as a college degree, Keystone or the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

“This year we’re hoping to add anyone receiving professional certification, such as FAA certificates, that help the individual grow and also help the organization,” said Snow. “These things are difficult to get, so we want to recognize that.”

The ceremony is complete with music and guest speakers. “We make a big deal of it,” said Snow, “and let them know they’ve done something special.” The program has been successful enough that nearby DCMA Atlanta has begun holding a similar annual ceremony.

About 90 percent of the CMO’s workforce has some level of college education. Four are currently in master’s programs and two are doctoral candidates.

“It’s a great team, I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else,” said Snow. “When you start with a strong foundation like that, and you give people the opportunities, the sky’s the limit.”

(Photos courtesy of the U.S. Air Force)

SUMMER 2013 | 33

FEATURES | EAST

DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta oversees contracts for Air Force C-5 Galaxy upgrades. The main hanger at the Georgia plant is capable of housing two of the immense aircraft at a time, with platforms creating a multi-story work space.

SUMMER 2013 | 33

34 | COMMUNICATOR

FEATURES | HEADQUARTERSFEATURES | HEADQUARTERS

hen Defense Contract Management Agency employees hear the words “diversity and inclusion” compliance programs and sensitivity

training are probably what comes to mind. In actuality, diversity and inclusion is less associated with issues of equality and more with developing strategies to leverage the uniqueness of the workforce to benefit the agency.

When George P. Braxton joined DCMA as the special advisor to the director on diversity and inclusion in December 2012, he was tasked with developing a strategic plan to serve as a road map for DCMA’s evolution to an employer of choice. A primary goal of the plan is to align current diversity efforts throughout the agency with DCMA’s mission.

The duties of the two-person Office of Diversity and Inclusion go well beyond development of the ODI strategic plan. They oversee the development of a diversity and inclusion infrastructure to deliver initiatives leading to a shift toward a more inclusive environment.

From a D&I perspective, Braxton defines diversity as “the collective differences we all bring into the workplace. We all come from different backgrounds, have different experiences, and are of different genders, ethnicities and orientations. That, in essence, is what diversity is.”

“Inclusion, on the other hand, is finding a way to leverage those differences to improve our decision-making and overall experience in the workplace,” Braxton explained. “The workforce includes multiple generations, with colleagues from the private sector, federal government, military, non-profit organizations, etc. We need to create systems in which we are taking advantage of knowledge from those diverse backgrounds to come to the best decisions.”

Comparatively, Braxton said a less inclusive workplace would have the same personnel scenario but rather than leveraging their uniqueness, the environment stifles their input and results in them arriving at efficient, but not necessarily the best, conclusions.

“We want a combination of all those unique perspectives brought together to make the best decisions possible for the agency and its mission,” he said.

Although the ODI works closely with the Equal Employment Opportunity Office in addressing the agency’s recruitment and retention needs, the roles of these offices sit at different places on the timeline of equality evolution.

“EEO and affirmative action came about during a time when discrimination against women and minorities was pervasive in the workplace,” clarified Stepheny Finnie, DCMA’s diversity programs manager. “Their numbers were small, and there were fewer people in

W


Grooming a and DCMA workforce

George P. Braxton, DCMA special advisor for diversity and inclusion, and Stepheny Finnie, diversity programs manager, discuss the agency’s diversity and inclusion strategic plan at headquarters on Fort Lee, Va. (Photo by Misha King, DCMA Public Affairs)

diversediverseinclusiveinclusive

FEATURES | HEADQUARTERS

SUMMER 2013 | 35

management positions. Laws essentially made these practices illegal and steps were taken to redress those mistakes.”

“Diversity goes beyond the traditional issues of race and gender,” she continued. “We recognize the full range of talents, skills, perspectives, backgrounds and life experiences that make individuals unique. In order to be competitive in the area of talent acquisition, we need to promote policies and objectives that support managing talent from these various backgrounds.”

Ultimately, Braxton said his office will be more focused on changing the way people approach talent acquisition and help them understand what will benefit the organization rather than look for someone who fits an established profile.

“We’re not in the box-checking business – we’re here to deliver results,” he said. “We’re in the acquisition, insight and global engagement business. Global alone says we have to have a perspective beyond where we sit and what we’re doing right at that moment.”

When it comes to delivering quality products and services to the warfighter, Braxton said diversity and inclusion are relevant to this core DCMA mission.

“The biases that make us unique can be very helpful in making us efficient, but they don’t always make us accurate decision-makers,” he explained. “Exposure to different ways of living, thinking and believing challenges our biases and make us better decision-makers in all that we do.”

Braxton said most people believe better work is done in an environment where they feel included and appreciated, which leads to better quality and services to the customers.

“This helps with recruiting, retention, and it helps with results,” he said. “The agency’s goal is to be an ‘employer of choice’ where people from several different profiles can envision themselves achieving their personal and professional goals. This expands our pool of candidates, brings us exceptional talent, and fosters an environment where we know better decisions are being made.”

Directly tied to the agency’s retention efforts, one of ODI’s major

initiatives will be mentoring. Last year, DCMA Director Charlie E. Williams, Jr., named Karron Small, executive director of Engineering and Analysis, the champion for mentoring under his Strengthening the Workforce initiative. Now, ODI is challenged with executing the movement toward the culture of mentoring.

“That’s a pretty big piece, because mentoring affects succession planning, it affects retention of new employees, and it affects the people who’ve been here and how they’re valued in an organization,” said Braxton.

There are two types of mentoring: formal and informal. The formal type of mentoring is often established as an element of a job requirement, Braxton explained. ODI will focus primarily on developing the informal type of mentoring where cross-functional people can assist others in finding the way within the agency.

“Let’s say you want to bring someone in to assist in your work. That’s a formal relationship,” described Braxton. “You’re teaching that person your job and offering critique on their performance. Informal mentoring is not always a one-on-one mentoring, but involves putting people in situations where they form relationships. Mentoring will happen simply because of the different things people know and share. We are developing some unique ideas on informal mentoring.”

One of the biggest challenges for the office will be to convince people mentoring is more than just a module to be completed on eTools.

“Getting a certificate at the end of a training module doesn’t make you a good mentor,” Braxton cautioned. “Mentoring makes you a good mentor. I believe 95 percent of people within the organization can be mentors and mentees, because there’s something we can learn from everyone. The more inclusive an environment we are, the more we’re leveraging everything we have. It’s like the difference between having an encyclopedia series versus the internet – you’re able to pull information from lots of different places.”

Diversity Spectrum

ince the mid-1990s, the agency has relied on the Electronic Document Workflow system to retrieve

contract documents from the Department of Defense’s Electronic Document Access system and serve as the Defense Contract Management Agency’s official contract administration records repository for electronic contract files. The Integrated Workload Management System is being developed to replace EDW.

“EDW is being replaced because the system is not adequately meeting the needs of the agency and cannot be upgraded to fit within the new DCMA Information Technology enterprise architecture.” said Jesse Stone, IWMS program manager.

In addition to retrieving and storing contract documents from EDA, IWMS will provide agency personnel new and enhanced capabilities in workflow management, workload situational awareness and integrate with existing DCMA applications and systems. As an example, Stone said IWMS will provide a drag and drop document feature which was requested by the field and is not available on current systems.

“These capabilities are necessary to support the IWMS goal of delivering an integrated end-to-end contract administration services workflow and workload methodology across all functional areas,” said Stone.

IWMS represents the first acquisition process DCMA is using under the DOD’s new Business Capability Lifecycle model. The model was developed to support a shift in IT system acquisition in response to Section 804 of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. It also provides the overarching framework for the planning, design, acquisition, deployment, operations, maintenance and modernization of Defense Business Systems.

“To achieve and maintain IWMS’s

vision of a single integrated end-to-end workflow and workload methodology, leaders throughout the agency will need to embrace a supporting Business Process Management methodology,” said Jacob Haynes, DCMA chief information officer. The BPM methodology is part of a larger DCMA effort to manage the IT enterprise architecture in a more structured systematic manner, consistent with DOD policy.

BPM is a management discipline that treats processes as assets that directly contribute to enterprise performance. It also drives operational excellence and business process agility by employing

methods, policies, metrics, management practices and software tools to continuously optimize the organization's processes. This improves business performance against goals and objectives.

“Adopting a BPM discipline is essential to improving the consistency in how we execute our mission and obtain workflow and workload situational awareness necessary to continually improve our organization’s performance” said Marie Greening, DCMA’s chief operations officer. A major reason for reorganizing in 2010 and establishing a DCMA COO was to improve organizational performance by driving mission execution consistency in

36 | COMMUNICATOR

IWMS to replace EDW Team will test new development conceptsMatthew Montgomery | DCMA Public Affairs

S


Participants in a conference room pilot analyze how electronic processes occur using simulated flow charts. A CRP leverages industry best practices in agile software development to field capabilities through early and continual involvement of the user, multiple rapidly executed increments (sprints), early and successive prototyping, and a modular open systems approach. (Photo by Patrick Tremblay, DCMA Public Affairs.)

SUMMER 2013 | 37

the agency’s three large regional commands.

How is IWMS being developed and deployed?

“IWMS will be developed and tested in a conference room pilot environment,” said Stone. A CRP leverages industry best practices in agile software development to field capabilities through early and continual involvement of the user, multiple rapidly executed increments (sprints), early and successive prototyping, and a modular open systems approach.

DCMA Atlanta and DCMA Lockheed Martin Marietta were the contract management offices selected to support the CRP. “The selection of these CMOs ensures both a resident plant and geographic CMO perspective on workflows and business processes are represented,” said Stone.

Additionally, the IWMS program office will leverage a network of approximately 70 virtual subject matter experts,

representing more than 30 headquarters and field organizations. This helps obtain input and feedback on system requirements and prototypes as they are developed.

IWMS is being incrementally developed to provide enhanced EDW replacement capability beginning in fiscal year 2015.

Preparations for the transition will begin this summer as the agency implements an EDW document cleanup plan. The plan was approved by DCMA Director Charlie E. Williams, Jr., earlier this year and includes organizing contract records to be migrated to IWMS and purging contract records not being migrated.

“The EDW document cleanup plan will establish a new contract records filing structure taxonomy,” said Army Maj. Nate Bryant, IWMS deputy program manager. It will require CMOs to begin aligning contract records under the taxonomy in EDW, DCMA360 and a newly established

transition shared drive – T:. “Ultimately, the new taxonomy will

facilitate the seamless transition of all electronic contract and facility records from their current locations into a new 5015.02 compliant document records repository” said Bryant.

The plan will also result in more than 1.5 million closed-contract records being purged from EDW by the end of 2013. Contract records targeted for removal have exceeded the required records retention period and storage is no longer necessary. CMOs will be given an opportunity to identify closed-contract records requiring longer retention periods prior to removal.


Kanak Patel, Integrated Workload Management System subject matter expert for Engineering and Analysis, explains a process flow during a conference room pilot. (Photo by Patrick Tremblay, DCMA Public Affairs.)

DCMA Defense Contract Management Agency

3901 A Avenue Building 10500, Fort Lee, VA 23801

w w w . d c m a . m i l