STILL FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT
coordination with HHS and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) was accomplished.
Te speed at which these acquisition processes moved is unprec- edented for an effort this large. To ensure everything was completed in the short window, the team worked around the clock. In some cases, ACC-JCRD officers were awarding contracts at three o’clock in the morning. Tere was always someone there to respond. Te team was frequently in virtual meetings into the late night hours. Tey had to ensure the solicitation made clear that these new contracts to procure the needed COVID-19 over- the-counter tests didn’t disrupt existing orders for hospitals and nursing homes.
But contracting was not the only hurdle. HHS was tasked with ensuring product quality and efficient distribution of the tests, which were challenges all their own. How could this effort ensure that these tests were effective? To answer this question and others, the screening and diagnostics team participated in program-level discussions with HHS, DLA, Defense Contracting Management Agency and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), which carefully coor- dinated the technical inspection activities that took place at DLA locations to ensure they were received as ordered, undamaged and ready for shipment.
DOD is particularly adept at supporting such major logistical efforts on behalf of the nation—JPEO-CBRND does this for warfighters and has the staffing and skills to help HHS solve these challenges. Following inspection, agencies needed to get the kits from the DLA locations to doorsteps throughout the nation. Te senior leaders from HHS and DOD worked closely with USPS leadership to ensure the processes of downstream shipping were in place so everyone who requests tests from the official COVID-19 ordering website will receive them. Equity was paramount in this process, which enabled Americans without internet or commu- nications access to obtain the tests as well.
CONCLUSION Te JA2 screening and diagnostics team, alongside counterparts from HHS, DLA and USPS, accomplished this mission. As of this writing, they procured approximately 900 million of the one billion tests in four months. Tis is a feat that would normally have taken at least a year to accomplish; and it was all thanks to strong leadership, excellent team-work and a wide network of U.S. government and industry partners.
While this mission was taxing on all interagency organizations involved, Pitzer said the efforts were worth it. “Te test-kit mission
74 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2022
“Contracts had to be awarded and requirements written based on
information in real time.”
was such that the [screening and diagnostics] team, in coordi- nation with and as part of the larger program mission, was able to procure almost one billion tests for Americans who needed COVID-19 tests the most.” Tending to the condition of the nation means looking after every citizen regardless of income, status, race, ethnicity or religion.
It was only through this team-focused DOD acquisition mindset that one billion tests and COVID-19 vaccine doses were procured for the nation. Since reaching these milestones, tests and vaccines are being distributed around the globe.
It is important for the acquisition community to remember the accomplishments we have achieved and the challenges we will continue to address when called on by our nation. COVID-19’s surges will eventually feel more endemic, but our purpose—to tend to the condition of the American people, whether military or civilian—will never fade.
For more information, go to
https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/ Coronavirus-DOD-Response/,
https://www.whitehouse.gov/ covidplan/,
https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/index.html and
https://www.jpeocbrnd.osd.mil/Coronavirus/.
MASON ABERLE is a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton currently under
supporting the JA2 strategic communications the JPEO-CBRND. He has worked in support of
team JA2
since the beginning of 2022. He holds a B.A. in political economy from Hillsdale College, where he studied with an emphasis on praxeology and Austrian business-cycle theory.
ALEX HILLMAN is the public affairs officer and lead for JPEO- CBRND’s JA2 strategic communications team. She has been with the JPEO-CBRND for almost two years. She has dual master’s degrees in public health and public policy and administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
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