HAZELWOOD, Missouri –
My DCMA showcases the Defense Contract Management Agency’s experienced and dedicated workforce and highlights what being part of the national defense team means to them. Today, Air Force Capt. Damian Cordiel shares his story.
My name is Air Force Capt. Damian Cordiel, and this is “My DCMA.” I am a lead contract administrator at DCMA Fixed Wing St. Louis assigned to various Defense Logistics Agency sustainment contracts, including the Boeing Captains of Industry contract. This contract enables Boeing and DLA to offer sustainment support to military services across multiple Boeing platforms with a ceiling value of $15 billion over 10 years. Instead of executing thousands of contracts for individual parts, the Captains of Industry contract enables the forecasting of required common parts and components across platforms, which are then pooled under a single contract. It’s like a Boeing parts supply store where we are paying to maintain and store inventory of high-use items.
As an administrative contracting officer in training, my duties include reviewing contract payment packages before ACO approval, training, guiding, and mentoring junior contract administrators on process outputs such as contract receipt and review, final delivery date management, contract closeout, funds lifecycle, and contract deficiency reports. I also work with the procurement contracting officer and the contractor to tackle complex contracting matters to ensure contracts are performed correctly and the contractor gets paid.
I joined the DCMA team two and half years ago. I like working for the agency because I get to work on different contracts from various Department of Defense organizations, including the Air Force, Navy, Army, DLA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, also known as DARPA. I get to see the movement of contracts and objectives, from when we receive the contract from the procurement contracting officer, through execution, and finally, to closeout.
DCMA is important to America’s warfighters because we are facilitating the delivery of products as well as overseeing the sustainment items and repair services to maintain those products. We ensure the warfighter is getting timely, quality products and services, that provide good value to the American taxpayer. It also feels great to scroll through my news feed and see an article about a contract objective that came from my contract management office because it helps validate the hard work that the men and women of DCMA put forth every day.
Some of the great things about working at my location include being co-located at a production facility, which allows me to see some of our CMO’s end products, not just in the manufacturing facility, but also in the sky as contractor and agency flight representatives conduct testing and evaluation. Furthermore, to see those same aircraft on national and sometimes international news, is a win for the agency and contractor as aircraft are delivered to DOD departments as well as to our allies.
Since I started working at DCMA, numerous changes have taken place. It started with Vision 2026, which later evolved to DCMA Vision, that drove internal realignments affecting supervisor to employee ratios all the way up to a complete reorganization of how organizational capabilities were aligned to better serve our customers. That does not include the numerous contract policy changes enacted to make us more agile and effective as we administer contracts. The only thing constant is change and the tree that bends doesn’t break. As we say in the Air Force, “Flexibility is the key to airpower.”
The goals that I have for myself and my team in 2025 are to meet and exceed the agency’s metrics for final delivery dates, canceling funds, on-time closeout, and contract receipt and review. We also aim to get our junior contract administrators their contract professional certification and build a more robust training program for current and future employees.
My future career goals include earning my DCMA warrant and moving into higher leadership positions to further help facilitate the objectives of the president and the secretary of defense in service to the U.S. Constitution and the American people.
My favorite hobbies include spending time with my family, conducting Bible studies, exercising and using my flight simulator because it’s cheaper than flying.
Something unique about me is that I started my military career as an enlisted airman in November 2002. I was an Air Force master sergeant with 17 years of active-duty service when I was commissioned as an officer in November 2019. I spent one enlistment term performing vehicle maintenance and three terms as a manpower analyst.