The Richard ‘Dick’ Ginman Contingency Contracting Officer Excellence Award
Contingency Contracting Officers (CCOs) are some of the first responders to an emergency, humanitarian and disaster relief, contingency, or outright war event. They often deploy with little more than a laptop and an understanding of the mission, concept of the operation, and commander’s intent. Contingency operations require a tremendous amount of work, improvisation, and dedication from our CCOs. This annual award honors those whose actions as a Contingency Contracting Officer are truly inspirational.
The award is named after Richard “Dick” Ginman, a retired Navy Supply Corps Admiral and former Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP). Mr. Ginman has steadfastly proven to be one of the staunchest supporters of CCOs and the contingency contracting mission. The award honors Mr. Ginman for his superlative service to the nation, both in and out of uniform, and his unparalleled support of the Contingency Contracting Community. While the award acknowledges the contributions of all CCOs, only one CCO will be selected annually to receive this prestigious award.
The nominations are scored in three categories on a scale of 0-3 points:
- Describe the contingency/operation/mission and the circumstances requiring a CCO.
- Describe the tasks accomplished and how they exceptionally supported the mission/commander’s intent.
- Describe any hardships endured and how the CCO innovatively overcame adversity to ensure contract awards were timely, compliant with prescribed policies and regulations, and in the best interests of the U.S. Government and taxpayer.
Based on the consolidated scores for each category, a winner will be chosen by the DPAP staff who review the nomination packages. A call for nominations will go out in April announcing the award date for submissions. For more information about this award, please email: osd.pentagon.ousd-atl.mbx.contingency-contracting@mail.mil.
| Year | Recipient | Service | Official Memo |
|---|---|---|---|
2014 |
Army |
||
2015 |
Air Force |
The recipient of the 2015 Richard “Dick” Ginman Contingency Contracting Officer Excellence Award is Master Sergeant Jeremy J. Swistak. Master Sergeant Jeremy J. Swistak served as the Senior Enlisted Leader and Base Support Team Lead at Headquarters (HQ), International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF)/Resolute Support (RS), Kabul, Afghanistan, in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. He trained and mentored international and local Afghan contracting specialists to award and effectively administered 572 service, commodity, and construction contracts valued at $125 million supporting HQ Allied Command Counterintelligence, Combined Joint Communications, Combined Joint Engineers, AFCENT Combined Air Operation Center Detachment, and the Base Support Group (BSG). With threat conditions so restrictive that local contractors were unable to deliver critical materials, Sergeant Swistak joined a mounted patrol executing a six-hour mission to escort a 22-truck convoy successfully through enemy territory with no loss of materiel or personnel. Not only was his presence required to verify Contracting Officer authority with Afghan security forces, but he had to charge his weapon and pull perimeter security amid crowded streets at each of over 12 checkpoints throughout Kabul. When the office experienced hardship due to emergency absence of the Office Chief, Sergeant Swistak bridged the gap as the sole warranted CCO and ensured seamless workload management with no time lost. Congratulations to Master Sergeant Swistak.
Photo: Ms. Claire Grady (Director, DPAP) and Master Sergeant Jeremy J. Swistak (Award Recipient)