Building partnership capacity in Portugal

  • Published
  • By Staff Reports
  • 65th Contracting Squadron
LAJES FIELD, Azores --  The men and women of the "small but mighty" 65th Contracting Squadron at Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal, continue their national strategic impact on U.S. military operations and capability in Portugal.

The 65th ABW, the Air Force's preeminent expeditionary combat support wing, moved 15,000 aircraft carrying 22,000 personnel from 21 countries in Fiscal Year 2010. Key to this effort, 65th CONS gets what's needed to keep the runway operational, the planes flowing, and the transient personnel well cared for. Vital to the responsive and critical support 65th CONS provides the war-fighting mission, is our well developed local vendor base.

65th CONS has had some recent successes that highlight years of hard work building the vendor capacity in the Azores. In fiscal 2010, nearly 79 percent of contract dollars were awarded to local vendors, and over 50 percent of GPC purchases are from the local economy year after year. These successes and the impact they have on the wing's mission effectiveness and quality of life haven't come over night.

Half of the 65th CONS family is Portuguese local nationals who work day in and day out, year after year, watching the military rotate every 15 to 24 months. They provide stability and the key link between the Department of Defense customers and the local business market.

Instead of relying on U.S. vendors and taking the lumps that come with waiting on supplies to ride the slow boat over, like contracting professionals worldwide, they made it happen--going door to door, speaking to vendors, encouraging them to make provisions to do business with the U.S. government.

In fiscal 1999, only 7 percent of GPC purchases were made to local firms. Each year, through the hard work and determination of the local national contracting professionals, that number increased. The 65 ABW learned buying locally meant they got what they needed more quickly, often more inexpensively, and with real-time customer service.

Local vendors learned that there was money to be made getting the U.S. airbase what we needed. In Fiscal 2010, a whopping 56 percent of GPC dollars were spent locally.

After many years of hard work, we have a strong local supply chain with robust competition and superb customer service. To continue to improve, 65th CONS leads a base-wide initiative to more closely partner with our host community. Beginning last May, 65th CONS chaired a forum of local government leaders and 65 ABW business organizations.

During the first meeting alone, several ideas were raised that will save the wing money, improve the wing's mission capability, and improve the quality of life for members of Team Lajes, all while building our local supply chain even further and giving back to our Azorean hosts.

Just five months later, 65th CONS has increased our vendor base and the members of the 65th ABW now have more access to local goods, services, and community events. The 65th Force Support Squadron has seen a dramatic increase in the number of local businesses sponsoring base events and participating in the newcomers' programs.

Azorean and Portuguese press has covered the wing's efforts several times, praising the efforts of the 65th ABW and the local business leadership to improve the working relationship between the two countries.

The "small but mighty" 65th CONS is leading the way to a stronger relationship between the U.S. and Portuguese governments and between the men and women of Team Lajes and our Azorean hosts.