Page 3 - FCW, November, December 2018

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U.S. Cyber Command seeks to grow its acquisition capacity
The Defense Department’s newest com- batant command is nearly a decade old but still doesn’t steer its own acquisi- tions. That could change in fiscal 2019, however, as U.S. Cyber Command staffs up its contracting office and seeks a big- ger acquisition budget.
“Acquisition authority is limited at the moment,” said Stephen Schanberger, acquisition executive at U.S. Cyber Command, during an event in Sep- tember. “It’s capped at $75 million and has a sunset date, currently, of 2021. So the command is actively pursuing getting that increased on the ceiling amount as well as the sun- set date.”
Cyber Command has only had acqui- sition authority for two fiscal years, but Congress extended that authority through 2025 in the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, four years beyond the original sunset date.
Schanberger said the command awarded only one contract in fiscal 2017, partly because it lacked a contract writ- ing system and technical personnel. This year, the command made $40 million in contract awards, and Schanberger
expects to reach the $75 million cap sometime in 2019.
“We are really hamstrung at the moment in relying on the current [con- tracting] vehicles out there from others,” he said. “And in some cases, we’ve had to adjust our scope to match up to the contract versus waiting for them to put
way it’s supposed to be and start to stand on the backbone of what it takes to be a contracting organization,” he added.
Schanberger’s team now includes a contracting officer, specialist and sup- porting contractors. He hopes to double the team’s size by the end of this year.
“We are putting down the foundation
“We are really hamstrung at the moment
in relying on the current [contracting]
vehicles out there from others.”
— STEPHEN SCHANBERGER, U.S. CYBER COMMAND
another whole contract vehicle or task order onto a contract.”
Schanberger said he would like to more than triple Cyber Command’s acquisition authority to $250 million to allow for multiyear contracts.
Congressional scrutiny has been the main impediment to securing additional acquisition funds because the command needs to prove its contracting abilities, but Schanberger said increasing staff and demonstrating success will help.
“Congress would like us to show that we actually can use our authority the
of the personnel and the skills...to be able to activate, put together solicitation packages, plan our contracting strategy for [multiple] years and be able to effec- tively implement and put out RFPs on the street,” he said.
Furthermore, the command is explor- ing capabilities that could benefit all the service components. “Once we get the skills in place, I think we’ll be able to demonstrate to everyone around us that we can execute the authorities we have and grow them responsibly,” he said.
— Lauren C. Williams
FCW CALENDAR
11/28 Cybersecurity
FCW’s Big Issues: CDM Conference will explore all the latest
regarding the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program, including the Dynamic and Evolving Federal Enterprise Network Defense task orders.
Washington, D.C.
FCW.com/BigIssues
12/13 Charity
AFCEA’s Washington, D.C., chapter hosts its 43rd annual Winter
Gala, which benefits the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program and AFCEA’s STEM scholarships.
Washington, D.C. is.gd/FCW_winter_gala
Nominations for the 2019 Federal 100 awards are due by Dec. 24. Details, tips on crafting a compelling nomination and the nomination form itself are available online at
FCW.com/2019Fed100.
November/December 2018 FCW.COM 3