It’s an impressive feat, even in a normal year. But this year, as Hurricane Ian skidded across Florida in late September, military bases battened the hatches and Contracting Department personnel were asked to telework, with no idea if they would lose power, internet service and even the ability to stay in their homes.
“This end of fiscal year was unique,” said Cmdr. Andrea Davis, the military contracting officer who heads the 101-person department. “It’s always hectic at the end of the fiscal year, especially in contracting shops. This year we were balancing the normal stress of closing out the fiscal year and a hurricane coming in. We had to work to front-load as much as we could.”
Davis was handed a potential lifeline: The Contracting Department at NAVSUP FLC Norfolk offered to handle the remaining contracts. But it wasn’t necessary in the end.
“The team did a tremendous job, and we were done pretty early on the 30th, at 4:30 p.m. -- and that’s usually not the case for contracting shops,” Davis said. “It was pretty remarkable.”
In total, the Jacksonville office handled an estimated 1,600 awards of new contracts and modifications to existing contracts for the Southeast region in fiscal year 2022, with a total obligated value of over $145 million.
They also oversee contracts for the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI), the massive information technology backbone of the Navy and Marine Corps. For 2022, that entailed 26,485 contract actions totaling over $461 million to support NCMI hardware and software networks globally.
All of that work couldn’t be finalized without participation from FLC Jacksonville’s Office of General Counsel and Office of Small Business Programs.
In a final twist for fiscal year 2022, an 11th-hour request hit Davis’ inbox. With Hurricane Ian swamping parts of Naval Air Station Key West, some Navy families there had to relocate fast and take their belongings, too.
Late Friday, Sept. 30, after Jacksonville personnel had shut down their computers, the call came for temporary storage units and moving vans to help 21 Key West families. So the department rebooted and continued working into the weekend.
“My team, within 24 hours, had 50 storage units on contract for these families. And within roughly 48 hours, they had another contract in place for 12 moving vans and packing materials for these families,” Davis said.
“It was fast and furious over the weekend. But the fact that the team was able to provide this level of support to these Navy families, it was a tremendous effort across the board,” she said.
Fiscal year 2022 also brought personal achievement milestones for Contracting Department employees. These included
- Laura Donson’s Richard "Dick" Ginman Contingency Contracting Officer Excellence Award
- Margaret Florez’s acceptance into the National Contract Management Association’s 2023 Contract Management Leadership Development Program
- Navy Civilian Service Commendation Medals presented to Laura Donson and Heather Elkhay
- Navy Civilian Service Achievement Medals presented to Shelley Conyers and Donna Curry
- Jacqueline Garrison graduated from Tier 1 of the NAVSUP Leadership Development Program