Directorate of Procurement
The mission of SOF AT&L's Directorate of Procurement (SOF AT&L-K) employs procurement authorities to rapidly convert command-level acquisition strategies into Special Operations Forces (SOF) capabilities. The Directorate also administers USSOCOM Head of Contracting Activity authority for contracting offices supporting operations across the globe, and is to rapidly transform acquisition strategies into superior technologies, equipment and services for Special Operations Forces (SOF) worldwide. To fulfill this intent, SOF AT&L-K's vision is to be DoD's Gold Standard for procurement activities and provide agile, focused and innovative support to SOF. SOF AT&L-K directly supports the USSOCOM Acquisition Executive, SOF AT&L and other USSOCOM Joint Staff Directorates. SOF AT&L-K awards command-wide, large-dollar special operations equipment and performance-based service contracts. It accomplishes its mission through multiple contracting offices located throughout the continental United States and overseas contingency environments. Each office is geographically situated to provide support to a particular USSOCOM Program Executive Office, Directorate or Service SOF component or unit. |
| SOF AT&L-K strives to apply innovative and streamlined contracting practices in every acquisition process, within the DoD and through the Military Departments, it may take several weeks for a proposed contract award to be approved. In contrast, USSOCOM can approve contract awards in just a few days if needed. This streamlined process can be attributed to several factors.
- USSOCOM has been delegated its own procurement authority.
- USSOCOMs acquisition approval authorities are resident at the same location as the program and contracting teams at the headquarters.
- SOF AT&L-K professionals participate in integrated product team meetings and other early planning meetings to help accelerate the approval process and to minimize requirement changes before contract award.
Collectively, these factors effectively lessen the bureaucracy between the contracting officer and the approving official, which results in expedited approvals. SOF AT&L-K is able to execute acquisitions at the "Speed of SOF" which is crucial to the success of the SOF enterprise and global mission, by using innovative techniques, decreasing organizational friction and streamlining procurement processes. |