ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. –
Charles Schultz knows his job as a quality assurance specialist is to protect warfighters’ lives and be a good steward to America’s taxpayers.
Schultz, who works at Defense Contract Management Agency Great Lakes, recently prevented non-conforming parts from reaching his Air Force customer at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. He also saved the government and taxpayers $254,966 in the process.
“The QAS may be the last position in the procurement process to stop non-conforming materials from getting into the supply chain,” he said. “I am proud every time I stop a shipment of a non-conforming product. I am here to protect our warfighters by not allowing non-conforming or counterfeit material into the supply chain. I am proud to support our military every day.”
Schultz prevented faulty hinge pins from being sent to the Air Force base, which could have been used on aircraft such as the KC-135 Stratotanker and caused significant mission harm or even death. Based on his research, there had been some previously non-conforming parts with that specific cage code number. He spoke with the contractor and received information he said was not verifiable regarding the manufacturer of the part. In addition, he had some product traceability concerns.
“I worked with my DCMA team on the West Coast who was responsible for the contract’s place of performance,” said Schultz. “When my colleague in the DCMA Western Region command verified that the contract’s facility code for the place of performance was not a source for the original equipment manufacturer part, I then suspected fraud.
“As I dug deeper, I discovered the contract price was close to 200 times what the last contract price was for. When I presented the new information regarding traceability to the contractor, his story changed again as to who or what facility code was the actual manufacturer. There was no traceability to the contract sources. I initiated a Contract Deficiency Report regarding traceability as well as a report to DCMA fraud line. I also notified my supervisor, Jeff Case, and he helped push the issue to someone who could act.”
As a result of his actions, Wolf Petermann, DCMA Great Lakes director, said Shultz may have saved warfighters’ lives.
“Charles prevented counterfeit aircraft parts from entering the supply system, and his actions likely prevented an aircraft accident,” said Petermann. “He successfully pushed through roadblocks to ensure that our warfighters at Tinker Air Force Base did not receive suspect and likely counterfeit aircraft hinge pins. This included cancelling contracts prior to the inspection as well as an order of hinges previously delivered to Tinker Air Force Base via a destination acceptance contract.”
Petermann is grateful Schultz worked with the Central Region senior leaders and attorneys as well as the Defense Logistics Agency, DCMA Western Region, Contract Integrity Center, and contacted the Fraud, Waste and Abuse hotline, to make sure the situation was rectified and ensure the hinge pins did not enter the supply chain.
“DLA eventually cancelled the contracts and notified Tinker Air Force Base of the suspected product on their shelves,” said Petermann. “The counterfeit parts were pulled from stock, thus keeping our aircrews safe. Not only was the product suspect, but the price per piece was astronomically higher than recent contract awards. Subsequent contracts by DLA have been awarded at a hinge price much more consistent with previous awards. Charles’s actions saved the government and taxpayers $254,966 and kept the suspected product from entering the Air Force’s supply chain. His efforts, tenacity and accomplishments reflect great credit upon DCMA Great Lakes, Defense Contract Management Agency and the Department of Defense.”
Schultz, who joined DCMA in 2018, has more than 20 years of experience in manufacturing and quality assurance. He retired from the Navy Reserve in 2012 as a senior chief petty officer where he had supported maintenance activities with the Naval Sea Systems Command and Submarine Force Pacific Command. He earned many awards throughout his military career and worked in various positions, including as a machinery repairman.
Prior to his current position at DCMA, Schultz worked at the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command in Great Lakes, Illinois, where he worked on the command’s Maintenance Team West. His position involved maintaining and making sure the heating and air conditioning units and other vital systems stayed in operational condition.
“Throughout the years, I have acquired skills in quality assurance by working with a team of quality tradesmen,” he said. “This sense of pride helps me to protect the warfighter by accepting only conforming products. In my previous jobs and in this current one, I work as part of a team to get the job accomplished on time and within budget. I served in the Navy for 27 years, which instilled a deep sense of pride and respect within me for the warfighter.”
According to Schultz, there are multiple skills that make a good QAS.
“A good QAS needs to ask questions and verify the answers,” said Schultz. “A QAS needs to have the technical skills of reading and understanding contracts. They need to review and analyze technical drawings, and they need the ability to listen carefully. They must understand traceability requirements to trace the material being procured back to the OEM or cage codes designated in the contract. I was recently told by another contractor that I have great attention to detail as I informed him of a witnessed nonconformance to the testing procedure. In this case, I wrote the contractor a corrective action request for using expired material during the official First Article Testing procedure.”
A good QAS also must be able to handle challenges. Communication is key. Schultz maintains rapport with his various contractors’ points of contact as well as individuals within DCMA and other federal agencies. He said sometimes a DCMA commander must talk to the buying command’s senior leaders when there are problems, and other times, he must take formal action as a QAS.
“Challenges typically arise because of potential non-conforming parts,” said Schultz. “A lot of them originate from the contractor not doing a formal contract review. A DCMA QAS has many tools to overcome challenges, such issuing as a corrective action request or non-acceptance of the non-conforming product. I often get pushback from the contractor, but I have developed multiple ways of handling that pushback by using my many resources.”
Schultz has gained a lot of experience during his last seven years working at the agency. He is committed to enhancing his knowledge and helping his colleagues learn more about the quality assurance career field. Schultz is dedicated to teaching and mentoring others so that DCMA employees are prepared to do their current and future positions to support the nation’s warfighters. He said the workforce should be proud of DCMA’s recent 25th anniversary in March and remember the agency’s mission and vision.
“My future career goal is to take my acquired knowledge and pass it to the new generation of technical pros,” he said. “When my career is finished, I would like to look back and say I made a difference. The agency’s anniversary means that DCMA employees have proven their worth time and time again. To keep the agency going, we must all make sure that we keep fighting for our warfighters and save taxpayers’ money at the same time.”