Back to NDAA 2006 Contents

TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

House Conference Report 109-360

SEC. 817. JOINT POLICY ON CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING.

(a) Joint Policy-

(1) REQUIREMENT- Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall develop a joint policy for contingency contracting during combat operations and post-conflict operations.

(2) MATTERS COVERED- The joint policy for contingency contracting required by paragraph (1) shall, at a minimum, provide for--

(A) the designation of a senior commissioned officer in each military department with the responsibility for administering the policy;

(B) the assignment of a senior commissioned officer with appropriate acquisition experience and qualifications to act as head of contingency contracting during combat operations, post-conflict operations, and contingency operations, who shall report directly to the commander of the combatant command in whose area of responsibility the operations occur;

(C) an organizational approach to contingency contracting that is designed to ensure that each military department is prepared to conduct contingency contracting during combat operations and post-conflict operations;

(D) a requirement to provide training (including training under a program to be created by the Defense Acquisition University) to contingency contracting personnel in--

(i) the use of law, regulations, policies, and directives related to contingency contracting operations;

(ii) the appropriate use of rapid acquisition methods, including the use of exceptions to competition requirements under section 2304 of title 10, United States Code, sealed bidding, letter contracts, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity task orders, set asides under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)), undefinitized contract actions, and other tools available to expedite the delivery of goods and services during combat operations or post-conflict operations;

(iii) the appropriate use of rapid acquisition authority, commanders' emergency response program funds, and other tools unique to contingency contracting; and

(iv) instruction on the necessity for the prompt transition from the use of rapid acquisition authority to the use of full and open competition and other methods of contracting that maximize transparency in the acquisition process;

(E) appropriate steps to ensure that training is maintained for such personnel even when they are not deployed in a contingency operation; and

(F) such steps as may be needed to ensure jointness and cross-service coordination in the area of contingency contracting.

(b) Reports-

(1) INTERIM REPORT-

(A) REQUIREMENT- Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives an interim report on contingency contracting.

(B) MATTERS COVERED- The report shall include discussions of the following:

(i) Progress in the development of the joint policy under subsection (a).

(ii) The ability of the Armed Forces to support contingency contracting.

(iii) The ability of commanders of combatant commands to request contingency contracting support and the ability of the military departments and the acquisition support agencies to respond to such requests and provide such support, including the availability of rapid acquisition personnel for such support.

(iv) The ability of the current civilian and military acquisition workforce to deploy to combat theaters of operations and to conduct contracting activities during combat and during post-conflict, reconstruction, or other contingency operations.

(v) The effect of different periods of deployment on continuity in the acquisition process.

(2) FINAL REPORT- Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the committees listed in paragraph (1)(A) a final report on contingency contracting, containing a discussion of the implementation of the joint policy developed under subsection (a), including updated discussions of the matters covered in the interim report.

(c) Definitions- In this section:

(1) CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING PERSONNEL- The term `contingency contracting personnel' means members of the Armed Forces and civilian employees of the Department of Defense who are members of the defense acquisition workforce and, as part of their duties, are assigned to provide support to contingency operations (whether deployed or not).

(2) CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING- The term `contingency contracting' means all stages of the process of acquiring property or services by the Department of Defense during a contingency operation.

(3) CONTINGENCY OPERATION- The term `contingency operation' has the meaning provided in section 101(13) of title 10, United States Code.

(4) ACQUISITION SUPPORT AGENCIES- The term `acquisition support agencies' means Defense Agencies and Department of Defense Field Activities that carry out and provide support for acquisition-related activities.

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 813) that would require the establishment of a contingency contracting corps.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The Senate recedes with an amendment that would require the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to develop a joint policy for contingency contracting during combat operations and post-conflict operations.

House Report 109-89

SECTION 813--CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING CORPS

This section would require the Secretary of Defense to establish a contingency contracting corps through a joint policy developed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This corps would be directed by a senior commissioned officer with appropriate acquisition experience and qualifications who, when deployed, would report directly to the combatant commander in an area of operations requiring contingency contracting support. The joint policy would provide that contingency contracting operations during combat operations would utilize the rapid acquisition authority authorized in section 811 of the Ronald W. Reagan National

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (Public Law 108-375), to the maximum extent appropriate. In addition, this section would attempt to leverage contingency contracting assets in both deployed and non-deployed locations to efficiently carry out the mission of the contingency contracting corps. Training of the corps would take into account all relevant laws, regulations and polices related to contingency contracting and would be required even when the corps is not deployed.

The committee intends that the commander of the contingency contracting corps be appointed at a grade senior enough to interact effectively with a combatant commander. The committee believes that an officer in the rank of Lieutenant General, or Vice Admiral for the Navy, is appropriate for this responsibility. The committee intends that the contingency contracting corps maintains a sufficient level of readiness in peacetime to be able to rapidly deploy to emerging contingency operations. The commander of the contingency contracting corps should consider the development of a standardized contingency contracting handbook which summarizes all relevant laws, directives and regulations related to contingency contracting to assist the day-to-day operations of the contingency contracting workforce. Finally, the committee urges that contingency contracting corps utilize an integrated contracting and financial management system to ensure that contracting operations are not hindered by technological limitations that can be easily avoided through the use of readily available systems.