Air Force Contract Consolidation: A Progress Report The Air Force’s strategic sourcing effort is still a work in progress, hampered by uncertain budgets and a personnel freeze. But by 2015 the Air Force Materiel Command’s Enterprise Sourcing Group intends to consolidate contracts for a broad range of services and products at 71 domestic bases. “We’re looking at the common spend across a multitude of bases,” said Col. Bob Mitchell, deputy director of the Enterprise Sourcing Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. “Market intelligence is driving the acquisition approach we take.” Since the new contracting shop stood up in October 2010, it has established commodity councils to develop acquisition strategies in many areas, including IT, force protection, furnishings, knowledge-based services, civil engineering, medical services, office supplies and fitness equipment. Strategic sourcing may not be the solution for every category. Services such as custodial, refuse collection and grounds maintenance “are not on our radar,” Barb Liptak, director of the ESG small business office, said in an interview. For small businesses that want a piece of the action, her advice is, “Please, please, please respond to RFIs.” Requests for information are a key component of ESG’s market intelligence. Liptak said she and her staff meet with small businesses to determine their capabilities and encourage them to form teams for large procurements. “We have had absolutely no problem whatsoever in getting enough small businesses for a robust competition,” she added. More than 500 companies were represented at ESG’s first industry day in October. In its first year of operation, ESG has awarded one consolidated contract, for airfield taxiway lighting. RFPs are now open for three multiple award contracts for various medical services. All are full or partial small business set-asides. The goal of the consolidations is to leverage the Air Force’s buying power. Budget cuts and uncertainty about future spending levels make planning difficult. ESG was authorized more than 400 positions, but is not yet at full strength. “Whatever estimates we had come up with, I don’t know where they’re going to land now,” Col. Mitchell says.