You got it, we bought it

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jeff Parkinson
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  The end of the fiscal year has come and gone, and it’s beginning to feel like the holidays as units start receiving the goods and services they rushed and stressed to purchase before the Sept. 30 deadline.

The work is not over for the 1st Special Operations Contracting Squadron members who are still closing out old contracts and observing the performance and delivery of newly awarded contracts.

The 1st SOCONS provides a full range of contracting support to the base including soliciting, negotiating, awarding and administering Hurlburt Field’s commodity, service and construction purchases.

For fiscal year 2015, the contracting squadron executed 1,057 contract actions valued at $65.4 million, with 271 contract actions valued at $27.65 million being awarded in just the month of Sept.

“Contract actions executed in the final 30 days accounted for over 42 percent of the total contract obligations for the entire fiscal year,” said Chris Wentworth, 1st SOCONS deputy commander.

A few highlights of FY15 requirements the 1st SOCONS supported include an overhaul of the Air Force’s second busiest Combat Arms Training and Maintenance firing range, a new installation custodial contract, support to exercise EMERALD WARRIOR, new base fitness equipment, an upgrade to the King Auditorium, and completion of new temporary lodging facility.

Unfortunately, there are always more requirements than funding.

Though the 1st SOCONS executed more than $17.2 million, in construction projects, another 20 construction projects, valued at $18 million were left unfunded and resulted in the pending contracts to be cancelled.

“This puts a hurt on our manpower,” said Mike Carnely, 1st SOCONS infrastructure flight chief. “All the work put into those 20 projects goes unaccounted for.”

The contracting squadron’s work doesn’t stop there as they also manage the installation’s government purchase card program where units directly purchase small dollar goods or services The GPC program managed by the 1st SOCONS finished out the year with more than 32,000 purchase transactions totaling $34 million during the 2015 fiscal year.

“‘You got it, we bought it’ kind of sums up what we do - we buy goods and services for the war fighter,” said Lt. Col. Richard Dawson, 1st SOCONS commander. “I am extremely proud of my squadron executing the closeout very well this year. I couldn’t be prouder.”

With fiscal year 15 behind them, the contracting squadron has little time until it’s time to work again.

“We begin FY 16 anew and as we diligently continue to work with our customers on identifying and preparing for upcoming requirements,” said Dawson.