Analyzing Contingency Contracting Purchases for Operation Iraqi Freedom (Unrestricted Version)
Abstract
The Air Force asked RAND Project AIR FORCE to gather and analyze data on goods and services purchased to support Air Force missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in an effort to determine the size and extent of contractor support, and how plans for and the organization and execution of contingency contracting activities might be improved so that Contingency Contracting Officers (CCOs) can better support the warfighter in future operations. The motivation for undertaking this study was twofold. First, the contracting community did not have a comprehensive, detailed database of contingency purchases that would allow analyses of the types and amounts of goods and services purchased to support Air Force mission activities. Second, it was thought that insights from analyses of recent contingency contracting experiences would help inform decisions about a number of important policy issues related to planning, training, and CCO assignments. Such data could also be used to seek improvements in purchasing practices across the theater. The analyses presented here are based on CCO purchases occurring at purchasing organizations located within the CENTCOM AOR that supported OIF during FYs 2003 and 2004. The authors provide a baseline analysis of purchases, and then they describe the details of these transactions in terms of who made purchases, what types of goods and services were purchased, when the purchases were made, how the purchases were made (contracting tools used), and from whom (suppliers) the purchases were made. They then use these data to illustrate how such analyses can be applied to improve the following: (1) the alignment of contracting personnel with demands in theater, (2) the preparation of CCOs prior to deployment, (3) the ability of combat support planners to make trade-offs between advanced purchasing and management of resources and purchasing in theater as needed, and (4) the sharing of lessons among CCOs in theater.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA480884
Entities
People
- Charles R. Roll Jr.
- John A. Ausink
- John G. Drew
- Laura H. Baldwin
- Nancy F. Campbell
Organizations
- RAND Corporation