Creative contracting helps Troop Support deliver Army chemical protective gear

Facing a looming fiscal deadline, the Defense Logistics Agency’s Troop Support Clothing and Textiles unit shifted $7.8 million from an Army aircrew protective suit buy to ground-troop gear, ensuring the money was obligated in time and yielding 23,820 chemical-protective coats and trousers, officials said.

The Customer Operations team spotted that fiscal 2021 funds for the Army’s Individual Chemical Equipment Management Program earmarked for the Joint Protective Aircrew Ensemble (JPACE) would expire by September. With deliveries on the original requirement unlikely before the cutoff, the team manually created 20 new requisitions for Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST) items that could be filled under an existing contract.

“We have very transparent communication with this customer, not just emailing weekly, we have monthly calls with them,” said Kevin Mackenzie, who supervises the customer relationship management cell for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) equipment. “We were able to be predictive on this, will all the communication we had, and we knew this was coming up.” He added, “We have a contract in place for this item, and the vendor is producing this material.”

The two ensembles serve similar protective functions but are designed for different missions: JSLIST is a two-piece suit used by ground forces, while JPACE is a one-piece coverall worn by aircrews, said Elena Khovanskaya, the lead customer account specialist for CBRN items. “We had a chance to provide them with materials we had available and to substitute the orders that otherwise would expire,” she said.

Because JSLIST is in high demand, Clothing and Textiles maintains safety stock and coordinated with other military services to push orders and fill the new Army requisitions. “This is a great example of collaboration, not just between us and ICEMP, but between the services as well,” said Richard Miller, division chief for Readiness and Global Logistics Support.

The team also synchronized efforts internally; while Khovanskaya was on leave, customer account specialists Marissa McGlinn and Maryann Santos assisted Mackenzie to maintain a seamless customer experience, according to Khovanskaya. Mackenzie emphasized that preserving the expiring funds for the customer was a key outcome.

Redirecting funds for CBRN gear is a tactic the organization has used before. Nearly two years ago, about $3 million for Lightweight Joint Protective Aircrew Ensemble requisitions was transitioned to JPACE, Khovanskaya said. Mackenzie noted such pivots are more common in the chemical-protective arena given supply constraints. “This is rare to happen for most programs, it’s not that unusual though for (chemical items) based on material availability,” he said. “With the way our industrial base is, it’s harder to find vendors that are able to produce this material, so this is why this occurs more on the regular with this program.”

“We are, as the CAS team, doing everything we can to satisfy our customers’ needs,” Khovanskaya said.