PARTNERING UP


LIFESAVER


U.S. Marines assemble a water storage unit at Al-Taqaddum Air Base, Iraq, in June 2015. With help from the 900th Contracting Battalion, the Marines secured necessary life support items such as bulk water at Taqaddum. Contracting support allows coalition forces to focus on their primary mission to advise and assist Iraqi security forces in their fight against the Islamic State group. (U.S. Army photo by CPT Christopher Noll)


several training exercises together, from standard day-to-day operations at division headquarters to a U.S. Africa Command simulation that spanned multiple continents.


Te first priority, though, should be the two-week OCS course offered by the Army Logistics University. NCOs and officers who complete the course are awarded the 3C OCS additional skill identifier. Te integrated contracting unit should encourage the supported headquarters to send as many personnel to the course as possible. Tis course will give the OCS integration cell person- nel, in particular, the necessary skills to generate requirements. It is important for supported customers to understand that require- ments generation and planning form the foundation for the entire OCS process and play a significant role in determining success or failure.


After the members of the OCS integration cell have been iden- tified and have received initial training, their training should


84 Army AL&T Magazine April-June 2016


continue with opportunities to generate real-world requirement packets through the local contracting battalion and U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command office. Perform- ing management, forecasting and administration of real-world requirements is an important step in taking OCS from a concep- tual idea to a tangible process for the integration cell. In addition, such opportunities can help the aligned contracting battalion to strengthen the relationship between the battalion and the cell, and identify the cell’s strengths and weaknesses.


Te contracting battalion and supported headquarters should conduct joint training exercises in which OCS is incorporated within the mission-essential task list. In March 2015, elements of


the 900th Contracting Battalion participated in Judicious


Response 15.2 at Grafenwoehr, Germany, which certified the 82nd Airborne Division as a JTF. Te integration efforts of the 900th Contracting Battalion as an enabling JTF staff proponent in the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters allowed simulated


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