Photo By William Farrow | With 20 engineers working in the Engineering Directorate’s Construction and Service...... read more read more
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – Versatility allows individuals and organizations to adapt to changing environments, solve problems from different angles, and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving world.
For example, a versatile employee might have “cross-functional expertise” understanding both marketing and sales, or both design and technology. Instead of just being an expert in one thing, this person has a broader range of skills that allow them to work with different teams and understand various parts of the business.
At the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center Huntsville (Huntsville Center), versatile employees are an important aspect of the Center’s vision of “A certified, professional workforce with an expeditionary mindset capable of pioneering solutions to unique, complex, and high-risk missions.”
With roughly 20 engineers working in the Engineering Directorate’s Construction and Service Support Branch (CCSB) branch, their versatility is focused on contract administration, pointing its engineers to being delegated as an Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO) with a $500,000 warrant authority.
An ACO warrant allows an engineer to make contract modifications, monitor compliance, and perform overall contract management.
Four engineers in the branch are delegated as ACOs with another four in the branch are authorized to carry a warrant but aren’t actively warranted.
Wes Trammell, CCSB chief, said engineers with contracting warrants are common in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with almost every field office having a delegated ACO.
However, Trammell said ACOs were not widely utilized for Huntsville Center projects until 2016 when the Center did a ‘beta test’ delegating one ACO in the Medical Repair and Renewal branch for a single project.
“As the program saw success in utilizing ACOs, we began to increase the number of ACOs along with migrating to a more widely known process utilized throughout the rest of USACE with an ACO delegated on most of our construction projects,” Trammell said.
“We currently have ACOs delegated on approximately 75% of our construction projects at Huntsville Center and in my branch, we currently have four delegated ACOs managing around $750 million in construction contract value.”
Trammell said one key benefit of ACOs on projects is the execution of contract modifications.
Contract modifications can be time consuming, he said, as changes to the scope, price, or schedule of a contract are handled through a structured process, typically involving a written notification, evaluation by the Government, and potentially a change order or amendment, following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) guidelines.
“Our ACO engineers can work modifications faster,” Trammell said.
“Overall, engineers with ACO warrants add immense value to the Project Development Team (PDT) by enhancing efficiency, communication, and decision-making, all of which are crucial for the successful and timely delivery of projects.”
Project Development Teams are crucial for successful project outcomes at Huntsville Center.
By leveraging diverse skills and expertise to achieve the desired results, PDTs encompass various roles like engineers, architects, project managers, legal staff, safety specialists and contracting representatives, all responsible for managing projects from planning to completion and all working towards achieving client satisfaction and project success.
As federal contracting is an intricate and multifaceted field involving numerous roles and responsibilities in the PDT, the role of the ACO is particularly crucial.
Trammell said engineers holding ACO warrants are valuable to PDTs for several key reasons including streamlined decision-making, direct control over contractual aspects, improved communication and coordination, cost control and budget management, risk management and faster dispute resolution.
Engineers who take the training and are certified as ACOs are issued a $500,000 warrant for modifications to construction contracts under the contract clauses to include changes, differing site conditions, variations in estimated quantities, value engineering, suspension of work, and time extensions under default, Trammell said.
To become an ACO, engineers must be acquisition coded as contracting, Defense Contracting certified to include 24 semester credit-hours of study from an accredited institution in disciplines such as accounting, business, finance or economics. For most ACOs this means completing a masters-level degree along with obtaining a professional engineering certification.
Chad Braun, CCSB service order administrator lead, said engineers often seek extended certification in their specified skills to enhance competency and knowledge.
Adding certification as a contracting officer with a warrant, Braun said, contributes to the increased effectiveness and efficiency throughout U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Braun received his ACO warrant in 2015 after completed extensive training through the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and gaining two years of hands-on experience in government contracting.
After fulfilling all training, educational, and experience requirements, Braun successfully passed the Contracting Officer Review Board (CORB), which involved an interview-style question and answer session with the Senior Contracting Official.
Braun said obtaining an ACO warrant was a goal he pursued actively.
“I began my career in construction as an engineer working in a USACE resident office, during which I completed the required DAU training and earned the 24 business semester hours,” Braun said.
However, he said an ACO opportunity didn’t arise until he transferred to Huntsville Center.
“Shortly after my arrival, I was presented with the opportunity to pursue the ACO warrant, which I eagerly seized,” Braun said.
“Securing the warrant was one of the highlights of my career, as I had always admired the work of my resident engineers and ACOs, and achieving this milestone felt like a significant accomplishment.”
| Date Taken: | 03.19.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.19.2025 12:07 |
| Story ID: | 493214 |
| Location: | REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 24 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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