• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

NAVICP Contract Expert Shares Knowledge with Czech Military Students

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS100316-21
Release Date: 3/16/2010 4:01:00 PM

By Tim Christmann, Naval Supply Systems Command Public Affairs

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (NNS) -- The deputy director of Weapon Systems Contracts at the Naval Inventory Control Point (NAVICP), Mechanicsburg, Pa., met with 30 students from the Czech University of Defense.

NAVICP, which is part of the Naval Supply Systems Command, provides weapon systems program and supply support for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Joint/ Allied Forces.

The visit to the Czech Republic was part of Naval Supply Systems Command's ongoing effort to support the Chief of Naval Operations 2010 Planning Guidance as well as the International Defense Acquisition Resource Management Program (IDARM) and Czech Republic Office of Defense Cooperation regarding military-to-military support within the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) Area of Responsibility.

The IDARM program is intended to strengthen democratic relationships and international security cooperation through acquisition education, research and professional service. The primary focus of the program is to enhance the managerial competencies of military and civilian leaders responsible for a nation's defense acquisition processes.

Lt. Cmdr. Rick Wilhelm teamed with representatives from EUCOM to help support training provided to the Czech Armed Forces Support Command.

"I assisted in teaching contracting and logistics: pre-deployment and deployment operations to the Czech Armed Forces as well as representatives of the Czech Ministry of Defense and Faculty of the Czech University of Defense," said Wilhelm.

More specifically, Wilhelm discussed contract oversight, the importance of the contracting officer representative, and some lessons learned from his experience with the Army Contracting Command on why fraudulent activity will exist if checks and balances are not in place. He also discussed how the U.S. Navy uses its contracting officers in support of contingency operations as well as normal day-to-day fleet support focusing on managing suppliers and developing logistics solutions that best meet the government's needs.

"We negotiate a contract for a requirement at a fair and reasonable price to the U.S. taxpayer while complying with the Federal Acquisition Regulation," said Wilhelm.

Since the Czech Republic doesn't have a navy, Wilhelm noted the students were interested in hearing how the U.S. Navy operates in a joint environment – especially Supply Corps officers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, not only as contracting officers but as logisticians with varying specialties.

"The Czechs were hungry for information on sustaining our forces, dealing with host nation support, as well as how we fund weapon system acquisition in our military," Wilhelm added. "None of them had ever met a U.S. naval officer, let alone a Supply Corps officer."

His question and answer session with the class lasted more than 30 minutes and included positive feedback regarding contracting officer representative training, the importance of having checks and balances with regard to contracting officer responsibilities, and what to look for when the quality assurance personnel perform their duties.

The Czech University of Defense is responsible for the education of military professionals and other experts engaged in national security and defense, based on the requirements of the Army of the Czech Republic, government administration, and treaty commitments for other democratic countries.

The Czech Republic is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. Its military has provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan, which are participating in the reconstruction of the Afghan civil service, infrastructure and the economy, according to Wilhelm.

"The Czech University of Defense wanted to hear how the United States military was conducting troop support throughout the Iraq/Afghanistan area of responsibility and what they could possibly run into when dealing with contractors on the battlefield and host nation support," he said.

Wilhelm served in Kuwait and Iraq with the Third Army in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom from November 2007 through July 2008 as a contracting officer assigned as executive officer to the U.S. Army Contracting Command.

"During my tour, we managed more than $938M in contract actions while investigating and resolving over five years worth of fraudulent activity throughout the Kuwait, Qatar, and Iraq areas of responsibility," he said. "The lessons learned from my tour were what IDARM was looking for and the focus of my lecture."

NAVSUP's primary mission is to provide U.S. naval forces with quality supplies and services. With headquarters in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and employing a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel, NAVSUP oversees logistics programs in the areas of supply operations, conventional ordnance, contracting, resale, fuel, transportation, and security assistance. In addition, NAVSUP is responsible for quality of life issues for our naval forces, including food service, postal services, Navy Exchanges, and movement of household goods.