FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
The merging of two directorates at the Mission and
Installation Contracting Command headquarters at Fort Sam Houston in August
marks another step in the command’s posturing to sustain operations in a
resource-constrained environment.
As part of the MICC 2025 transformation, the contract
support integration directorate and policy and compliance directorate combined
their resources to create the MICC Directorate of Contracting Operations, or
CONOPS.
While MICC officials have been working on the organizational
structure for months, the new directorate was officially established through an
operation order Aug. 14.
“The primary objective of the CONOPS is to leverage the
collective efficiencies of the command to be more effective in supporting our
contracting support brigades and field directorate office as well as their
subordinate contracting offices and battalions,” said CONOPS director Pat
Hogston.
He added that the new directorate is designed to provide
dedicated field support to each of the brigades and field directorate office
while still providing functional support in Government Purchase Card
management, contracting policy, business management operations, and oversight
and assessment.
CONOPS is comprised of two field support divisions; one
supporting the 412th Contracting Support Brigade at Fort Sam Houston and MICC
Field Directorate Office at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., and the second
supporting the 418th CSB at Fort Hood, Texas, and 419th CSB at Fort Bragg, N.C.
The directorate also has divisions dedicated to GPC, policy,
business management and oversight and assessment responsible for managing the
workload in support of the
field.
Hogston explained that the new CONOPS organizational
construct also establishes a support manager position for each brigade and
field directorate office that serves as the single entry point into the
headquarters for contracting-related matters. These support managers will also
be the central point for headquarters communications with the brigades and
field directorate office on contracting matters.
The standup of the CONOPS directorate is part of several
organizational realignment and workload-workforce rebalancing measures
implemented over the last year.
Organizational leaders in the field and at the headquarters
conducted a comprehensive analysis of the MICC organizational structure and
business processes at the direction of the commanding general to identify
inefficiencies that could help alleviate staffing and funding shortages.
“The transformation taking shape across the MICC is a
testament to our agile and adaptive workforce,” said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey
Gabbert, MICC commanding general. “The headquarters must also transform to be
more responsive to our subordinate units. This effort is one of many we are
implementing to provide better support.”
Headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, the MICC is responsible
for providing contracting support for the warfighter at Army commands,
installations and activities located throughout the continental United States
and Puerto Rico. Through August of this fiscal year, the command has executed
more than 27,400 contract actions worth more than $3.8 billion across the Army,
including $1.5 billion to American small businesses.