Transition to contractor base support starts Nov. 1

  • Published
  • By Susan Griggs
  • Keesler News Staff
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. --  Keesler leaders and Computer Sciences Corp. officials are working together to ensure a smooth transition from government to contractor responsibility for base support operations. 

"From my perspective, we're ready and CSC is ready to begin picking up the workload on Nov. 1 as required by the contract," said Col. Jeffrey Jackson, 81st Mission Support Group commander. "We've been working closely with CSC for several months to make sure everything is ready and the handoff is smooth." 

Roger Condit, CSC program manager at Keesler, said his company's recruiting efforts have resulted in more than 1,300 applicants to date. 

"We've filled well over 90 percent of our hiring requirements and are ready for our first day of work on Nov. 1," Mr. Condit said. "We'll continue to interview and hire as we pick up additional workload throughout our transition period which runs until Jan. 31." 

From the time the support contract was awarded, CSC's plan has been to hire locally, including as much of the civil service workforce as possible, according to Mr. Condit. 

"With few exceptions, we've achieved this goal and are very pleased with the results," he pointed out. "This will be a great mix of employees that combines first-hand knowledge of Keesler with the successful experiences of workers from areas outside of the Air Force environment. 

"We've had a steady stream of good partnering with the Air Force and are close to the point now where we'll begin the initial moves into some of the work areas to observe daily performance," he continued. "This is part of the Air Force transition plan and provides an opportunity to overlap with the current workers." 

When the transition period begins, the base community will see many familiar faces along with some new ones. 

"Our transition plan is designed to be as transparent as possible," Mr. Condit explained. "If we do this right, you won't see many changes. For example, the customer service center will continue to use the same telephone number. In some instances, the only thing that will change is that on Nov. 1, the person doing the job will have exchanged a government badge for one that says CSC." 

One visible change is that government vehicles used to support the contract will have a red-and-white CSC tag on the front, he added. 

Other familiar faces are going to staff the government's performance management of-fice which oversees the CSC contract. Today, the federal employees begin their initial training for their new duties. 

As of Oct. 8, 12 of the 20 positions on the PMO staff had been filled with current Keesler federal employees. Two contract administrator slots are being filled by the 81st Contracting Squadron. Requests for personnel action have been submitted for four other positions and details were being ironed out on two other positions. 

"Brian Drake, the infrastructure support division chief, will be responsible for monitoring the contract and making sure the government is getting its money's worth," Colonel Jackson said. Mr. Drake currently serves as the 81st Civil Engineer Squadron's deputy commander. 

Nov. 1, the 90-day transition period begins, when government employees start turning over responsibilities to the CSC team. The transition turnover timeline: 

Nov. 1 -- all base operation support service contracts, community services (community centers, library and community support), resource management, human resources (civilian personnel management system, civilian awards and decorations, civilian training, education services and formal training), housing maintenance, operations and maintenance (self-help, heavy repair, major work orders, locksmithing, alarms, cathodic protection, fire suppression, boiler plant operations and airfield lighting), space management, grounds and sites (airfield maintenance), engineering services, environmental management, supply services (inspection element, computer operations and CEMAS), marketing and publicity, energy and utilities (energy management and operation and maintenance of control, electrical, water and gas systems). 

Nov. 15 -- emergency management training. 

Nov. 30 -- operations and management (planning, facility maintenance, heating/ventila-tion/air conditioning maintenance and customer service), grounds and sites (horizontal projects and entomology), engineering services (as-built record management), energy and utilities customer service). 

Dec. 15 -- emergency management (operations planning, disaster preparedness, response and recovery) and logistics. 

Dec. 30 -- supply services (combat element support flight, fuels management, management and systems flight), community services (fitness centers). 

Jan. 15 -- weather services. 

Jan. 31 -- human resources (military records awards and decorations, military personnel and system management). The "big picture" of performance management is gauged by different players at different time periods. 

Daily -- constant interaction between customers, PMO and service provider. 

Weekly -- 81st MSG commander and PMO meet with the service providers and group commanders meet with the 81st Training Wing commander. 

Monthly -- service provider submits performance management report to PMO; business requirements analysis group meets and performance management council consisting of the 81st TRW commander, key stakeholders, the PMO and service providers convenes. 

Semi-annually -- award fee board meets and performance management council approves metrics and areas of interest for next fee period. 

The 90-day mobilization and transition period is the first award fee period for CSC . The award criteria is based on overall transition implementation, assumption of functional areas and acceptance of contractually-required documents. 

As of Oct. 7, the reduction-in-force update showed 48 federal employees being moved to a lower grade or pay band, 39 reassigned and 41 separated. Ninety employees were eligible for Priority Placement Program registration.