JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – With teammates at Scott AFB, Illinois, and Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina, the 763rd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron executes enterprise and above wing-level Air Mobility Command mission requirements through agile, cost-effective acquisition solutions.
One of nine enterprise sourcing squadrons within the Air Force Installation Contracting Center, the 763rd ESS also serves as the Center of Excellence for Category Management, Category 7, Transportation and Logistics, delivering business-line strategic contract support across the enterprise, eliminating duplication of effort and contract execution for the same requirements. At Pope, the squadron also provides dedicated acquisitions support to all Air Force tenants for non-base operations related to mission requirements and contracting support for base operating support requirements that are above sustainment levels provided by the Army.
While tasks and responsibilities may vary from day to day for the squadron, the team stays focused on its mission partners.
“No contract action is the same; you have to think on your feet,” said Allye Wuest, a section chief and contracting officer with the squadron.
“You learn something new every day within contracting so you have to be a mission-focused business leader. You have to really understand your requirements to be able to write and award the contracts to the best of your ability to get the mission partner what they need to execute the mission,” she said.
To that end, the team brings a wide variety of experience and expertise to the table. The acquisition program managers, contract specialists, contracting officers and small business professionals collaborate to develop requirement and acquisition packages to execute contract actions, provide cross-functional support for squadron programs, and match small business capability within mission needs.
“We all work together and collaborate on a day-to-day basis and, because of that, it sets our team apart. We have multi-faceted teammates involved with every single contracting action and that helps us deliver a better product (for the mission partner),” Wuest said.
By bolstering combat capability through contract support for command and control IT services, pilot training, aeromedical evacuation, transient alert services and Air Force-wide explosive ordnance support, the squadron’s impact is felt across the Air Force.
For example, they rapidly delivered COVID-19 emergency operations support in 2020 including transport isolation systems and needed training, aircraft decontamination and ventilators to AMC in days – in some cases hours – well ahead of the normal 30-60 day turnaround. In 2021, they helped fast-track a suicide prevention pilot program at AMC by building and awarding a contract to quickly develop and deliver virtual reality training.
At the height of the pandemic, the squadron also brought in more than 300 small businesses virtually to an industry day event, which allowed them to collaborate with mission partners, contracting teams and governmental small business agencies.
“This was a really great event. We know that small business was hit hard by the pandemic, so for us to be able to contribute to their growth and the strengthening of the defense industrial base … I was proud of that,” said Myaleca Malone, the squadron’s small business professional.
To learn more about the 763rd ESS mission and meet a few people behind that mission, check out the videos above.