CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait –
My DCMA Deployment showcases the Defense Contract Management Agency’s experienced and dedicated workforce and highlights what being a part of the Contingency Response Force, or CRF, means to them. Today Cheryl Rox shares her story.
My name is Cheryl Rox, and I joined DCMA as a contract administrator in 2020. Previously, I worked the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA, and when not deployed assisting with disaster relief, I worked as a regulatory compliance officer for a home health agency. I learned about the CRF program and became a volunteer through the program’s recruitment website. Coming from FEMA, I was used to deploying, primarily as a disaster survivor assistant.
I was selected to deploy to Kuwait and have been here since June 2025 with the 408th Contracting Support Brigade. My duties include serving as subject matter expert in the closeout of complex, high-risk and aging contracts in contingency and deployed environments. While supporting ongoing operations, my job entails reviewing legacy contract files, many of which span multiple fiscal years and contain unresolved fundings, claims, or Wide Area Workflow submitted document issues. A significant part of my work involves examining these workflow invoices to build detailed expenditure reports. These reports give a clearer picture of the issues.
For this deployment, I entered as a contract administrator with a foundational level of experience. The intensity and complexity of the mission accelerated my professional growth. Within six months, the hands-on demand for contingency operations, complex closeouts and multi-year contract issues transformed that baseline experience into deep subject matter expertise. The deployment has provided an environment where I can use problem-solving skills, independent judgement and continuous communication skills.
My experience isn’t about completing the mission; it’s about rising to the challenge in one of the most complex environments imaginable as a contract administrator. Policy changes and rapid changes demand flexibility and lots of patience. At home, DCMA processes are more structured and predictable – in theater the environment shifts constantly and priorities move overnight.
What we did yesterday might not apply the next day. You must be flexible. Moreover, you must be retaught through a contingency lens and sometimes that can be challenging. For example, Federal Acquisition Regulation clauses take on different weight in contingency operations. Closeouts are influenced by redeployments, contractor evacuations and funding shifts. Communication requires coordination across commands, time zones and security channels.
The most challenging aspect of my job is learning to separate my traditional DCMA contracting experiences from the realities of operating in a contingency environment. Contract closeout in theater requires navigating constantly evolving guidance to support the mission requirement. This must be done while ensuring not to offend the host nation providing contractual support with their cultural differences and belief systems.
DCMA exists to ensure that contract oversight and management is executed properly so that the warfighter receives what it paid for. Our behind-the-scenes work supports that reality. As a mother of two veterans, it’s important to me to keep the mission going without sacrificing integrity so our military and Department of War employees return home safely.
My DCMA colleagues and leadership laid the foundations that allow me to confidently operate in a continuously changing environment. Their professionalism set the standard I carried forward onto this mission. Moreover, they’ve sent care packages, weekly emails, or texts to encourage and support me. None of this would be possible without them or my family.