PHILADELPHIA –
As their Deployable Tactical Operations Systems vehicle fleet began to run out of life and warranty, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began searching for potential suppliers to upgrade their operations.
After speaking with Rhonda Mustafaa, their Defense Logistics Agency liaison officer about needs, budget, and DLA’s capabilities, USACE found the perfect match with DLA Troop Support.
“Rhonda was a key and critical facilitator throughout the process and was essential in connecting DLA’s capacity with USACE requirements,” USACE Readiness Support Center Director Kent Simon said. “Once connected, the Troop Support team was incredibly helpful and did an amazing job tutoring the USACE team through the details of the contracting and acquisition process.”
DLA Troop Support's Construction and Equipment supply chain awarded an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract for six DTOS emergency command and control vehicles worth approximately $9.7 million in July. Deliveries are scheduled to begin February 2024.
“For USACE, this procurement was a monumental acquisition, since their DTOS fleet had never been replaced,” Mustafaa said. “They took great strides to ensure buy-in was received from their internal Contracting Community of Practice and other key stakeholders before [deciding] to use DLA."
The DTOS units, which consists of an ECCV, a mobile communications vehicle, and communications hardware, provide USACE with a tactical operations and communications platform that can be rapidly staged in forward areas to support initial emergency response missions.
“Our current fleet of vehicles is in excess of 10 years-old so this acquisition is providing a huge technological leap for both our communications and operational capabilities,” Simon said.
At several pre-decisional meetings C&E’s Customer Operations Branch Chief Adam Tutolo effortlessly described the procurement process and was the lead integrator during the actual procurement process, Mustafaa said.
“He served as my ‘go-to’ person to answer many procurement-procedural questions during this process,” she said “The DLA C&E team were really the ‘heavy’ lifters of this effort.”
Tutolo said that there were some restraints they had to overcome, but because of the partnership between the two organizations they were able to complete the mission.
“They had a max of $10 million they could spend, so we had to solicit our prime vendors with that in mind,” he said. “We had a handful of ‘synch’ calls prior to the procurement so they fully understood the process. Historically, over the past few years, we have had a very strong relationship with USACE, so that helped with this process.”
The new EVVCs will provide enhanced communications systems, data, and analytics improvements with predictive artificial intelligence, enhanced external safety supporting operations and maintenance and additional workspace & conference area.
Another major improvement is that the EVVCs will be able to deploy by military aircraft, a capability the older models did not have.
“While our MCV’s are certified to fly via MILAIR and have deployed to support emergency response operations in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, our larger ECCV’s, that will be replaced under this acquisition, are not,” Simon said. “The ability to rapidly deploy these larger units, that provide both communications capabilities and workspace, will significantly enhance USACE’s ability to respond to emergency requirements OCONUS.”