Making the purchases the mission relies on

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William A. O'Brien
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  One thing every piece of government property has in common is the fact it had to be purchased.

With the exception of certain tools used on the flightline and depot items, the items Airmen across Incirlik use to perform their jobs every day, from the cubicle or flightline Airmen call their workstation to the roads and every building all came to fruition through the 39th Contracting Squadron.

"Our influence in indirectly seen everywhere on base," said Staff Sgt. Octavio Valverde, 39th CONS infrastructure flight. "Every time you pass by a construction site, use equipment not provided by the government (through depot), or see a contracted healthcare provider at the clinic, contracting played a major role in making that happen. We are not often associated with that since there isn't a uniformed individual there for people to make the connection. We don't always get the chance to get up and out from behind our desks."

Because of the nature of the job, contracting has one of the highest reenlistment bonuses offered by the Air Force.

"Work can be stressful, especially during the end of the fiscal year," said Valverde. "Other instances of stress come from unforeseen sight conditions, such as a contractor tearing into a building and finding something that shouldn't be there, such as Asbestos. This halts all work and makes us spend more money. It can be very tedious as the work itself is very repetitive."

On a typical day, contracting Airmen meet with potential contractors and units requesting products to understand what their customer needs so they can hire the contractor who best meets these needs. They also process the paperwork to get work to receive those supplies or commence work on project sites once a contract has been awarded.

"Some of my tasks include reviewing proposals by evaluating price, technical capability, and past performance of bidding contractors. We also spend time coordinating with (39th Civil Engineer Squadron), Finance, and individual units to understand their need and translate that into an effective contract, approving invoices and inspecting construction sites, to name a few."

The contracting squadron is divided into the infrastructure flight and services and commodities flight.

The infrastructure flight is responsible for contracts involving construction and renovation work. Projects for which the infrastructure flight will make contracts is based on work orders sent from the 39th CES. From the information received, they put together a project package. This package is posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website where companies can bid on it.

"Recently, the infrastructure flight has done the project packages for the runway repairs, the construction at the gym, the American Roadhouse Grill at the Club Complex and the road construction near The Exchange," said Tech. Sgt. Terry Agena, 39th CONS Infrastructure Flight NCO in charge. "Coming up, we are working on contracts for renovations on the golf course, dormitory Bldg. 892 and an emergency communications system."

Once the 39th CONS has completed a project package, it is opened for bidding by companies interested in offering that particular service.

"In contracting, when considering offers from companies, our goal is to get the best value," said Agena. "We look at the cost the company is proposing, the quality of what their offer includes and the timeliness in which they believe they can finish the job. The best combination of the three of those elements is what is considered the best value."

The services and commodities flight is responsible for the contracts to purchase equipment and supplies used around the base to include the education center and the contract for mail delivery to the Official Document Center.

When a squadron needs any type of supplies, they submit a project package to the services and commodities flight.

For commodities, "we purchase toner, printers and computers -- everything every squadron uses to do their jobs," said Tech. Sgt. Iman Dillard, 39th CONS Services and Commodities Flight NCO in charge. "We use historical data to determine the quantities we need to order for each unit."

Services purchases like lawn maintenance contracts are broken into two categories: large and small. Purchases of more than $150,000 are considered large. In this case, the project package is put on the FBO website. For small contracts, 39th CONS maintains a database of contractors and the services they offer. When a need for the contractor's service comes up, the 39th CONS can send the contractor the project package.

"If the 39th Force Support Squadron had a few lawns they needed mowed, they would submit a purchase request detailing the work they need done and how frequently," Dillard said. "We would put that together in the form of a solicitation to potential contractors, and contractors who could support it would send us a quote. With these small purchases, we have a list of contractors who have come here and let us know about the services they offer; and we maintain a database with each company and the service they offer."

Currently, the contracting squadron is working diligently to make each squadron's final purchases of the fiscal year.

When a project package is started for services purchases, an estimated dollar amount is attached to it. Once a contract is finalized, the contracting squadron sends the approved contract to finance to adjust the funds if the price differs from the original dollar amount assigned to it. The money is then obligated the money amount so the contractor can send a bill for work as they progress.


In addition to Incirlik, 39th CONS provides contracting support for both of the wing's two geographically-separated units.