By Amanda Jordan
KANSAS CITY, Missouri – More than 45 senior leaders and others from across the Army contracting enterprise gathered April 19-21 to attend the Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting (PARC) Leadership Workshop hosted by Harry P. Hallock, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for procurement (DASA(P)).
The workshop gave Army PARCs the chance to meet with the DASA(P) to address enterprise-wide issues and tackle challenges facing Army contracting. The three-day event also afforded unlimited opportunities for collaboration and training, including an informative dialogue with Claire Grady, director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
Other guest speakers included Col. Renee Richardson, senior contracting official for Headquarters Pacific Air Forces; Lt. Col. Shane Upton, commander of the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant; Timothy Kurgen, deputy chief of Planning, Programs and Project Management for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Michael Doelling and Mike Neeb, project leads from the Army’s Virtual Contracting Enterprise.
By combining the workshop with other events, participants accomplished three primary objectives:
- Set the strategic direction and initiatives for the Army Contracting Enterprise;
- Expanded knowledge of real-world contracting through onsite engagements at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant and Fort Leavenworth; and
- Celebrated the contracting workforce by honoring 11 winners of the Secretary of the Army Excellence in Contracting Awards.
Harry P. Hallock, DASA(P), back row center, with senior leaders of the Army contracting enterprise poise in front of the Lewis and Clark Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, during the PARC Leadership Workshop in April. (Photo by Fred Kraft, P. E. Chief, Construction Support Branch, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District)
