MACDILL AFB, Fla -- Installation Acquisition Transformation (or IAT) is changing the way operational contracting squadron supports CONUS Air Force Bases.
If you are in any way involved in expenditure of funds or development of requirements (which should encompass just about everyone), you should be familiar with the upcoming changes in fiscal year 2010 with full transformation in fiscal year 2012.
As of today, Air Force operational contracting consists of 71 buying activities providing tactical support to its customers.
These 71 buying activities consist of 3,322 personnel who execute on average 71,000 actions annually with a combined spend of $13 billion and $2B in government purchase card oversight. Can you imagine focusing THAT purchasing power on the marketplace?
The way I picture it, the way operational contracting is currently structured is similar to renovating your basement/bathroom at home.
If you've done it, (or have been suckered in by your neighbor), we've all made the numerous runs back and forth to the local mega-mart for pieces and parts and paints...a few pieces of lumber and drywall.
Quickly that weekend project for a few bucks is now in the hundreds or thousands of dollars and is now stretching to months of destruction where your brother in law and family are showering at your home, using all the hot water and in general driving you nuts...well, that's another story.
What if you were able to combine your renovation and the renovation of your neighbor and the guy on the next street...and so on?
What if you were to combine those needed supplies and make one large purchase? Most mega-marts would give you a substantial contractor discount.
At the basic level, this is sort of the way the Air Force contracting community is progressing...by taking the similar requirements from the 71 buying activities and bases and combining them to make one large purchase...it's what we call "strategic sourcing".
Beginning in FY10, AF Material Command (AFMC) will be the lead MAJCOM and will manage and oversee the entire contracting function for the AF. Five regional contracting centers will conduct much of the business the local contracting office executes now.
Each base will then have an Installation Acquisition Squadron (IAS) that provides advisory services to the base.
I encourage you to continue to work closely with your assigned contracting personnel and identify your requirements as early as possible. We will continue with "business as usual" with our MacDill clients and will not be changing any existing contracts in response to IAT.
This transformation is anticipated to save the Air Force $1B annually in cost savings and avoidance which in turn will be used to support the AF priorities: Win Today's Fight, Take Care of Our People and Prepare for Tomorrow's Challenges. Above All!