Field Ordering Officer and Paying Agent Handbook

Handbook 09-16
July 2009

---

The Acquisition Team

Chapter 2

The acquisition team consists of all participants in the acquisition process, such as the requiring activity (your unit), financial management (FM), the contracting officer, the field ordering officer (FOO)/paying agent team, and others. This brief overview examines the roles of team members and notes how important it is to work together in order to stay on target. Successful teams assign each team member specific duties, establish performance measures and milestones for commanders and team leaders, and have commanders that hold members individually and collectively accountable.

The Basic Acquisition Team

Requiring activity

The requiring activity is the Army unit that has a requirement for goods or services and requested the initiation of the requirement. The FOO routinely interfaces with the requiring activity (most likely his own unit), the contractor, and the contracting officer.

Financial management

The ultimate mission of your supporting FM detachment is to sustain the combat Soldiers and commanders in the field with timely and accurate financial and accounting support. This support includes processing military and civilian pay, preparing travel and paying travel expenses, managing transportation and commercial vendor vouchers, and accounting for the obligation and disbursement of public funds. As a paying agent, you will routinely interface with FM.

Resource manager

The resource manager (RM) is the principal advisor to the commander on FM. The RM is responsible for developing command resource requirements, identifying sources of funding, determining costs, acquiring funds, distributing and controlling funds, and tracking costs and obligations.

Contracting officer

Normally, leadership of the acquisition team comes from the contracting officer. The contracting officer is the only individual expressly authorized to enter into, administer, and/or terminate contracts. Contracting officers are responsible for ensuring all contract actions comply with appropriate laws, executive orders, regulations, and other applicable procedures and approvals.

A successful FOO/paying agent team depends on a successful acquisition team. Key framework for a successful team includes:

• Partnership. 
• Informed decisions. 
• Sound planning. 
• Efficient execution. 

It is a good idea for each FOO and paying agent to know the names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of all acquisition team members. See Appendix F for an example of an acquisition team point of contact reference template.