Make Every Dollar Count campaign spotlights contract court

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Anthony Nelson Jr.
  • Air Force Public Affairs Agency, Operating Location – P
The Air Force convened a service-wide contract court to streamline procurement of services sourcing and gain efficiencies within the service’s constrained budget.

This initiative is in line with the official memo sent to Airmen across the Air Force earlier this year from Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer asking Airmen to “Make Every Dollar Count.”

Contract court grew out of the necessity to ensure every budgeted dollar is wisely spent in the pursuit of the objectives outlined in the Air Force Strategy.

“Air Force senior leaders are asking us to take a deep look at all contracted services requirements, focus on identifying mission critical requirements, and ferret out what we can live without with a minimum of risk,” said Randall Culpepper, the Air Force program executive officer with the (Combat and Mission Support) office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force.

The Air Force’s ability to continue to acclimate and respond to operational demands within current and future budget realities and operations is the central focus in being relevant to meet tomorrow’s fight, senior leaders said.

“The key thing Airmen need to know is senior leadership is focused on areas like services contracts where significant dollars are spent in an effort to find efficiencies and savings to make every dollar count,” said Marilyn Thomas, the director of business transformation and deputy chief management officer with the office of the under secretary of the Air Force.

Air Force officials will look to Airmen for ways to recognize and evaluate current processes. The Make Every Dollar Count campaign does just that.

“There is significant opportunity for savings through better contracting processes and contract consolidation,” Thomas said. “As Airmen powered by innovation, if you see waste in contract redundancy or excess, identify opportunities for improvement to your supervisor or through the API website, which can be found on the (Air Force) Portal.”

The official memo stressed the importance of differentiating between “mission enhancing” and “mission critical” contracts.

“If the requirements are not mission critical, today's fiscal environment is driving us to just say no,” Culpepper said. “We are also looking to identify synergies and strategic opportunities that will help us expand our buying power within the limited budgets.”

The Air Force Council will conduct a final review in early spring.

“The Air Force cares about ensuring we take care of the warfighter while being good stewards of our tax payer's money,” Culpepper said.