ABCK-AmCham Kuwait hosted a 2-session workshop on ‘Contracting with the U.S. Military and Registering in Federal Government Systems’ with speakers from the U.S. Air Force’s 386TH ECONS, the U.S. Army’s Regional Contracting Center – Kuwait (RCC-KU), and Joint Contingency Contracting System (JCCS). The goal of the event was to educate and inform vendors on how to do business with the U.S. military, the systems required to do so, and upcoming opportunities with each of the military entities that participated.
The first presentation discussed the purpose of JCCS, a U.S. Government IT system supporting contingency contracting since 2006. It is required for vendors to do business with the U.S. government to have an active and complete JCCS registration for all contracts in the CENTCOM AOR. The speaker highlighted that companies should view solicitations, submit proposals, and stay in contact with their local contract office for opportunities.
Consequently, the U.S. Air Force 386th ECONS presented on the topics of the Government Purchase Card (GPC) Program, Base Operations Support and Services (BOSS), Infrastructure (construction), Air Force Contract Augmentation Program (AFCAP), and SAM registration. The speakers mentioned that the Government Purchase Cards (GPCs) are used for lower dollar purchases of supplies, services, and constructions, however, the BOSS Flight also makes purchases of communication support, camp support, engineering operations/security services, logistical support services, and airfield support.
Presenters provided an in-depth presentation on how to register as a vendor in SAM, which is mandatory for vendors to be eligible for contract awards above the $35,000 USD micro-purchase threshold. They also discussed technical aspects of SAM such as creating a Sam.gov Login, creating NCAGE, and requesting a UEID number.
Furthermore, speakers discussed the importance of the Synchronized Predeployment Operational Tracker (SPOT). SPOT is the U.S. federal government database for tracking and accountability of contractor personnel and equipment during contingencies, as he mentioned that it is important for CENTCOM Commanders to know how many, where, and what type of contractor personnel are in their AOR. Vendors who are not already registered in SPOT should reach out to their local contracting office for direction and update their Contracting Office representative whenever the POC and/or others entered in SPOT change(s).
To finalize the presentations, the U.S. military spoke about their efforts in combating human trafficking (Counter Trafficking in Persons (CTIP)), Federal Acquisition Regulations as well as compliance and meeting minimum requirements when it comes to vendors doing business with the U.S. Military and their employees. Presenters highlighted that companies get an annual CTIPS compliance certification based on their review, and explained the process of remediation if a company is found to be in violation of CTIPs.
The event concluded with a workshop in which vendors were able to meet with several entities from the U.S. military including the 408th Contracting Support Brigade, the U.S. Army’s Regional Contracting Center- Kuwait (RCC-KU), The Air Force’s 386th ECONS, the Joint Contingency Contracting System (JCCS), The Theater Contracting Center (TCC – SWA), RCC-OIR, The Army & Air Force Exchange Service and Host Nation.