Air Force Capt. Grant Wilson earned his commission from ROTC Detachment 835 at the University of North Texas and received a BS in Economics in June 2020. Wilson was stationed in Spangdahlem, Germany from December 2020 to May 2023. In that time, Wilson performed Contingency Contracting efforts in support of the Space Force’s first deployment to Europe, served as the Primary Contracts Manager for the largest Indefinite Delivery Vehicle contract at Spangdahlem in over a decade, and deployed to Ramstein in support of Operation Allies Refuge. From June 2023 to December 2024, Wilson was assigned to the Naval Postgraduate School where he earned his Master’s in Defense Contract Management and received the Air Force Academic Excellence Award for his efforts. Wilson is currently stationed at Barksdale AFB as a Contracting Officer specializing in Small Business Innovation Research for Air Force Global Strike Command. Wilson is joined by his spouse, Gabriella, and their four children.
Many of the skills and research techniques I learned at NPS actively play a role in my daily operations as a Contracting Officer working on Small Business Innovation Research contracts. Specifically, many of the challenges of my current role revolve around understanding a process quickly, researching effective solutions, and presenting my ideas with confidence. NPS’ approach through classes such as Process Mapping and Hacking for Defense enable me to be more effective in my role and make a difference in my negotiations with vendors.
The biggest barrier we found was the lack of automated systems capturing basic data. As anyone at NPS or other academic institutions who have tried inputting data manually into Tableau can tell you, humans are prone to error. In our interviews, many experts told us stories about how many times they would input many data points into ATO approval systems only for just as many items to be flagged for small errors and the process would restart.
Additional barriers include the synthesizing of this data into meaningful and impactful statements that can easily be translated across technical fields. When one technical expert uses their jargon when writing their proposal document and a separate expert is unfamiliar with what is translated, confusion and backlogs occur. Being able to accurately and quickly synthesize data is important for any complex system but certainly is needed to get new technology into the hands of the warfighter.
The recommendations found in our study that relate to these recent developments include implementing automation, shifting to continuous integration for tenant applications, and shifting from administrative to technical controls. As indicated in our paper, the Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS) is now set to be overhauled and integrated with the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS). Comparing this to the current ATO framework we developed with our interviewees, the initial risk and project documents would be automatically developed and prepared for system accuracy.
Although the process of the SWIFT system would need to be mapped to fully understand the implicated changes, the expectation is that a Software Bill of Materials (developed by industry) can quickly be validated against Governmental system integration software. This should accelerate the timeline when compared to the ATO process, especially with the shift of responsibility toward the contractor with Government validation. A study into a comparative analysis between the new SWIFT and ATO process would be recommended in the future.
Creating a more industry-friendly path requires greater awareness by the Government of the procedures and processes of industry. On the surface, this concept is straightforward with the moniker “Do What Industry Does.” Unfortunately, it’s much more complicated for Government systems to operate this way due to policy, regulations, and differing mission purposes. The largest of which, the Government (or more specifically the DoD) operates as a no-fail mission. To achieve this, many regulations are put into place to slow growth in favor of lessening risk. Industry does not operate this way and is at odds with the way the Government does business.
To get around this problem for contracting professionals, while staying within the bounds of the law, contract vehicles such as Other Transaction (OT) agreements offer an innovative solution to a rather complex problem. I appreciate classes taught at NPS which touched on OT procedures and actively encourage their usefulness for creating a more industry-friendly path. NPS should continue to expand their teaching of these methods while adhering to industry practices found in the Contract Management Standard (CMS).
The Acquisition Research Symposium & Innovation Summit provides a phenomenal forum for acquisition professionals to gather and understand nuanced topics that require in-depth analysis. A fantastic example of this in action is from my co-panelist Mr. Richard Beutel on his research regarding “major changes proposed to Artificial Intelligence based software acquisitions.” Without forums such as the Acquisition Research Symposium & Innovation Summit, I am afraid new techniques and knowledge may be lost or determined irrelevant by ignorance. Decision makers and acquisition professionals should seek opportunities to enrich their knowledge base and expand upon techniques they may have never heard of for us all to better each other.
