Center of Excellence supports acquisition professionals

  • Published
  • By Brian Brackens
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Buying new "stuff" for the Air Force isn't simple -- there are many rules and regulations in place to ensure the right company is selected for the job and that the selection process is fair and balanced.

When a program office or directorate within the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center decides to acquire new systems, parts or services for the Air Force, the AFLCMC Acquisition Center of Excellence or ACE, located here, is a resource before and during the acquisition process - helping to guide and advise acquisition professionals as they prepare to make what are often multi-billion dollar decisions.

Professionals at the ACE have a large range of experience and expertise with backgrounds in program management, engineering and financial management, giving them the depth and breadth they need to answer questions, provide advice and work with acquisition teams on a variety of issues they face.

Throughout the year, the ACE holds thousands of training events, workshops and exercises throughout AFLCMC locations, supporting more than 350 programs.

In addition, the ACE works one-on-one with acquisition professionals.

"We sit with teams to help them develop the strategies that they use to move their program to the next milestone," said Dan Bowman, ACE Director. "We help them develop acquisition strategies, develop the request for proposal, source selection plans and we also help them through the negotiation process and sole source contracting.

According to Bowman, the ACE assists acquisition teams with the day-to-day tactical issues they face, including helping evaluating contractor proposals to provide systems or services and helping develop negotiation positions.

"We are a force multiplier," said Bowman. "Teams come to us because they believe we will help them get through the process. Our program teams would find it difficult to do their mission without a support organization like ours that can help them develop pre-award strategies to include market research, risk and issue development, acquisition strategies and milestone decision strategies as well as sole source negotiation for contract awards."

For more information about ACE or for assistance contact Dave Pressler at 937-255-5494.