AETC Contract Negotiator wins Small Business Award Published Aug. 25, 2006 By Megan Orton Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AETCNS) -- Reinette Alecozay, Air Education and Training Command Contracting Squadron contract negotiator, was named Small Business Contracting Professional of the Year at the Department of Defense 2004 Small Business Awards ceremony at the Pentagon Dec. 12. Ms. Alecozay was chosen for this award for her leadership as the contracting officer for a Foreign Military Sales contract with Northwest Florida Facilities Management, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., for flightline maintenance at Luke AFB, Ariz., in 2004. "Due to the smaller size of this acquisition, this was the first opportunity for small businesses to propose on an aircraft maintenance contract for Air Education and Training Command," Ms. Alecozay said. "My customers were in full agreement to restrict this acquisition to small business." Before this contract, the foreign flightline maintenance was performed by U.S. military personnel. The Office of Management and Budget estimates that as a result of this conversion, the DoD has the potential to save over $10 million over the 5-year life of the contract. "NFFM has been doing an excellent job, and we're very happy with them," Alecozay said. "That's what you want with aircraft maintenance. You don't want low bid; you want best value; you want better and safer." The Department of Defense tries to contract out to small businesses whenever possible, Ms. Alecozay said, and sets annual goals for small business participation. "We do our best to meet those goals, but in international contracting usually our hands are tied as far as who the contract is awarded to," Ms. Alecozay said. "The rest of AETC contracting has a little more liberty than we do because our contract sources are usually dictated by the country, so this was a very unique and exciting opportunity." Foreign governments have two choices when it comes to contracting with U.S. firms: buying directly or FMS. FMS requires a foreign country to trust contracting officers like Ms. Alecozay to locate and negotiate with U.S. companies, some of which they might never find without this aid. Ms. Alecozay's team was responsible for seeking sources through extensive research to find the best contractor for the best price. "Source selection is a big operation," Ms. Alecozay said. "Our source selection authority was a three-star general. After a very in-depth evaluation by the team, the source selection authority decides which proposal has the best value. You don't necessarily go with the low bidder." After resolving two small business protests, Alecozay faced her first Governmental Accounting Office protest. "Even though you may have done everything right, a disgruntled contractor can protest to the GAO," Alecozay said. GAO protests must be answered very quickly, and all contract work must be placed on hold until the protest is resolved. Ms. Alecozay said after a volume of work had been done toward making the case for NFFM, the opposing company withdrew the protest. NFFM began flightline maintenance work at Luke AFB in April 2004. The contract was awarded in a record time of nine months following the three protests. History has shown that other aircraft maintenance contracts take 12 to 18 months to finalize, Alecozay said. "This award means a great deal to me," Ms. Alecozay, a long-time advocate of small business, said. "Small business is the backbone of our economy."