ST. LOUIS –
My DCMA showcases the Defense Contract Management Agency’s experienced and diverse workforce and highlights what being a part of the national defense team means to them. Today, Demetrius Griffin shares his story.
My name is Demetrius Griffin, and this is “My DCMA.”
I am an administrative contracting officer at DCMA Boeing St. Louis here.
My job duties include, but are not limited to, the administration of a variety of contracts such as fixed-price, fixed-price with incentives, cost-plus fixed fee, basic ordering agreements, commercial contracts, and hybrid contracts containing a mixture of contract line item numbers and provisions as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 42, which comprises contract administration and audit services.
There are a myriad of things I like about working at DCMA Boeing St. Louis, which includes working with a remarkable F/A-18 Super Hornet team, to whom I owe a significant part of my professional success. I enjoy the freedom and flexibility provided by my supervisor to execute my duties as an administrative contracting officer.
I have been a part of the DCMA team for six years. I like working at DCMA because of its diversity and inclusion. This opportunity has also provided me with the chance to make professional contacts and share ideas and concepts that will yield positive results toward the accomplishment of the agency’s mission.
DCMA is important to America’s warfighters because the agency works diligently to ensure the contractual requirements of products, supplies and services are delivered to warfighters on time, on schedule, and, at or under, cost.
As a Marine for 25 years, I have come to know the acquisition of supplies and services is critical not only to employing the force, but also to building the everyday readiness of the force. As a warfighter, I served three combat tours in the Middle East. I look at the various elements of readiness reporting reviewed by our senior leaders to discern the fundamentals of acquisition directly affect the majority of elements that define readiness across the services, which can impact personnel, equipment and supply readiness. This can, in turn, directly impact the capabilities of our warfighters to meet current and future deployment requirements and the on-going recruitment of military personnel needed to maintain our constitutional freedoms.
As DCMA evolves, I am excited about the fact that the agency encourages adaptive and versatile thinking through cross-functional training, mentoring and leadership development at all levels. This philosophy has the potential to bring out the best in its team members.
Since my arrival at DCMA Boeing St. Louis in May 2015, I have observed significant changes within the agency, especially within our contract management office’s contracting section. The most significant change that has occurred is the implementation and increased focus on training of new 1102-job series contracting personnel by our contracting leadership. This training encompasses a myriad of topics, which includes day-to-day contracting duties, taking the appropriate Defense Acquisition University courses and preparing for the Contracting Officer’s Review Board. This wide-array of training and preparation has been a tremendous asset to the contracting group and CMO in that it has embodied all aspects of mentoring, teamwork, and leadership, which has helped increase the camaraderie and esprit de corps among the team members.
My future goals include being a better person today than I was yesterday, all while maintaining a high degree of honor, courage and commitment to those standards, ethics, and values that have been the hallmark of my being a Marine for life.
My goals for my team in 2021 are ever evolving. What I desire most is for the individuals on my team to be better tomorrow than they were yesterday, while diligently working on their today. I want them to continue to be mindful that hard work, dedication and commitment to the mission will always win out over talent alone.
My favorite hobbies include traveling and playing golf. Something unique about me is that I embrace challenges, and I work hard to be successful at completing tasks and goals.