TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Air Force contracting specialists are responsible for soliciting, negotiating, completing and verifying contracts requiring Air Force funding. Contracts are issued for a wide range of needs, from purchasing pens to staffing a fleet of F-35A Lightning IIs.
The 325th Contracting Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base has a whole section dedicated to one thing, the “Installation of the Future”. Tyndall has been on a journey of rebuilding from the ground up since the base was struck by Hurricane Michael in 2018.
“I am the contract administrator for all our [demolition] projects and a couple of the new engineering and design requirements,” said Senior Airman Andrew Grant, 325th Contracting Squadron contract administrator. “A lot of my day to day is focused on all our [demolition] projects and preparing new contracts for next [fiscal] year. We’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars for these contracts and it has to be accurate down to the penny.”
The 325th CONS infrastructure team was responsible for 33 contracts in the 2022 fiscal year related to the rebuild of Tyndall. However, from those 33 contracts, 15 were done in September alone.
“In a perfect world, funding would be planned and spread out evenly throughout the year,” said 1st Lt. Dan White, 325th CONS contracting officer. “However, sometimes plans change or things fall through, and before you know it’s the end of the fiscal year.”
While focusing on this year’s budget, the infrastructure team must ensure this year’s budget has been properly allocated and contracts are nearing completion, they are also starting the preliminary work for the next fiscal year’s contracts.
“After Sept. 30, every project we place on contract are not forgotten,” White added. “Now the team transitions into the administration phase which ensures the successful completion of each project.”
Start to finish, Airmen within the infrastructure team wear many hats such as business advisor, buyer, negotiator, administrator and contracting officer. This can make the job tedious and time consuming, which can be stressful when considering quick timelines and the number of contracts being handled at Tyndall.
“When you look around Tyndall, you can see that because of the rebuild, there’s a lot going on here,” continued White. “To my knowledge, the amount of construction happening here at Tyndall is not happening at any other base. That comes with a heightened number of contracts and tasks, done in the same amount of time and constraints as any other contracting squadron.”
The 325th CONS infrastructure team will likely see even more contracts coming their way as Tyndall continues to rebuild and transforms into the “Installation of the Future”.
“Even with the intense workload and unprecedented goals,” White concluded “the 325th CONS lives by its moto “Live Free, Buy Hard” to get the mission done.”