IAT Road Show to explain contracting realignment

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rodney D. Ivey
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  The Installation Acquisition Transformation initiative, a comprehensive restructuring of continental U.S. installation acquisition practices, is moving forward as Air Force contracting officials continue traveling to affected bases to explain the changes ahead.

Under the transformation, Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, will head five geographically-based installation acquisition groups, leaving only a small contracting presence at each installation. Mountain Home AFB will be included in the HQ 790th Installation Acquisition Group in the Northwest region.

The IAT Road Show, which began in February and has already visited bases in the Southwest, Midwest and Southeast, will visit here July 31. The Contracting office at Mountain Home AFB is inviting area businesses and industry associations to attend the IAT presentation, which will be held at the base theater from 1 to 2 p.m. Attendees can learn about the opportunities and changes the transformation brings to installation-level procurement. The team plans to reach each stateside Air Force base by the end of September.

Col. Mark Hobson, provisional director for the newly formed Installation Acquisition Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, heads the Road Show team and said he is excited about meeting with the contracting workforce and local industry.

"This is the right thing to do at the right time," Colonel Hobson said. "While our contracting personnel understand the need for IAT, they have many questions on how the implementation will affect them personally and professionally. The local small business community also has concerns about how they will be able to continue competing for government contracts."

Colonel Hobson's team gives presentations to the workforce and contracting commanders detailing the new strategic focus and regionalized construct. The team, which includes an Air Force small-business representative, also hosts a town hall meeting inviting local industry to learn about the future of Air Force procurement.

"We've been able to provide answers to a lot of questions from the field, and we've also gotten some great ideas on how to make this transition easier," the colonel said. "I'm really fired up at the level of involvement our folks in the field are showing. They know this is a big deal for our career field."

Procurement professionals analyzed the installation contracting organizational structure for nearly two years to determine ways to improve how the Air Force conducts business.

Currently each installation buys goods and services they need to operate at the tactical level. IAT will allow the Air Force to take advantage of strategic sourcing and leverage $15 billion in buying power consistent with the tenets of Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century.

"This is being driven in part by the fact that the contracting career field is chronically undermanned," said Maj. Colten Pond, 366th Contracting Squadron commander. "Couple that with the high demand for our contracting personnel to support the Global War on Terror, and our situation demands that we operate more efficiently. IAT, which is founded on strategic sourcing, will allow us to do that."

Strategic sourcing is a business practice for procurement in which organizations critically analyze their spending and make strategic business decisions on how best to procure products and services at the best value.

The complete transformation is anticipated to take three to five years, with the first positions migrating to the installation acquisition groups between fiscal 2010- 2012. IAT only applies to continental U.S. installation buying activities and does not apply to major weapons systems and their logistical support, laboratory support, or research, development, test and evaluation.

For more information about the Road Show, call the base contracting office at 828-3147 visit the IAT Web site at http://ww3.safaq.hq.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=11457.