Contracting Contractor

Thank you all for your thoughts, encouragement, and advice; they are very much appreciated. I am open to going as a fed or as a contractor. I am continuing to contact as many people as possible, both in the US and in the Middle East in search of a command that will take me. I intend to keep pushing until I find a way to make it happen!

I am a DoD civilian contract specialist with an agency that does not deploy any of its civilians to the Middle East (or anywhere). I have heard much about how the DoD desperately needs contract specialists to deploy to the Middle East (and other locations) and I am willing to go. I have been trying to find opportunities to deploy, but I have not had any luck. I have submitted applications with the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce, various USAjobs notices, Army Contracting Command, and other places, but I have not received any responses. I have about one year of experience, which I thought would be enough. Any advice? Also, I would appreciate any general thoughts on deploying to the Middle East as a contract specialist. Thanks!

That's what I thought too, but my boss has directed me to interpret it as applying to Part 13 as well.

I am looking over Policy Alert No. 10-42, which is found here: https://dap.dau.mil/policy/Lists/Policy%20D...629-10-DPAP.pdf The gist of the memo is that when solicitations are advertised for fewer than 30 days and only receive one offer (no specification whether this refers to quotation or proposal), the solicitation must be advertised again for at least 30 days. You can read the memo for the details. Anyway, our office does many simplified acquisitions, so I am trying to figure out whether this memo applies to ALL contracts or only to contracts under Part 15, as the memo specifically refers to Part 15. I interpret the memo to mean that it does NOT apply to acquisitions under Part 13. Somebody over at DAU agrees with this view too: https://acc.dau.mil/CommunityBrowser.aspx?i...response_410799 Susan Hildner at OSD was listed on the memo as the contact person. I called her but have not been able to reach her for comment. Any thoughts?

Does anybody have any feedback on CON 090? It looks like the first class is about to complete the training program. I am about to sign up for it, so I would like to get an idea of what to expect. I will be the first in my office to attend the training, so I have no point of reference. Thoughts?

Just finished "His Excellency George Washington" by Joseph Ellis; I highly recommend it. Started "Assassination Vacation" by Sarah Vowell, but got bored after 50 pages and laid it aside. Nearly halfway through my long-term project of finishing "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo in the original French (yep, all 1800 pages!)

Traipse: First paragraph was great. Second paragraph, not so great. Joe Montana's knowledge of the rule book was not the sole factor that contributed to his greatness as a quarterback, but he sure couldn't have become great without that knowledge. I also look forward to that future time when I can become less "serious" about contracting. FSCO: Spot on, thank you. Vern: Thanks for the excellent FAR reference.

I have a question for discussion: Do your offices work to ensure compliance with the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and other Free Trade Agreements? I am brand new to contracting and I have asked my colleagues about this, but have generally just received blank stares and/or mumbled responses. Thoughts?