John Lingrel, 460th Contracting Squadron

  • Published
John Lingrel, from the 460th Contracting Squadron, is Team Buckley's Star Performer for the week of Sept. 22-Sept 28.

Time in Service: Three years civilian and four years active duty

Duty Title: Contract specialist

Hometown: Air Force brat. The longest stay in one place was Waynesboro, Penn.

Hobbies: Golfing and skiing

How do your day-to-day duties contribute to mission success? 
Contracting has a very important role when it comes to mission success because we supply the warfighter with the commodities and services they need in order to successfully perform their part of the mission. Contract specialists can be viewed as the grease for a wheel because without the grease, the wheel will not work as efficiently as it should.

The job of a contract specialist is often oversimplified and misunderstood by many individuals. A contract specialist must balance the needs of the warfighter with regulations that have been put in place by Congress.

A contract specialist's primary purpose is to support the warfighter during times of peace and war, and Buckley Air Force Base has a very unique mission. Buckley is just not building a technically advanced military base but it is also providing much-needed support to many foreign theaters. I have told many people I am truly lucky to work at Buckley because I have been given the opportunity to build a base.

There are not too many people in the world that have been given the opportunity to gain the type of experience Buckley provides.

If you could change one thing about the Air Force what would it be?
The two things I would change about the Air Force are I would like to be in a position, sometime in my career, to make it easier to support the warfighter.

Until then, try to make those I support understand how difficult it can be to legally fulfill their requirements.

What has been your most memorable experience in the Air Force? 
Again, I have two answers. The first is heading the source selections for the Buckley Annex Security and Buckley Dental services requirements. The second being the day I received my Air Traffic Control Ground Control Approach full facility rating at Little Rock AFB, Ark.

Duties, responsibilities, and accomplishments:
While assigned to Buckley, I have had the opportunity to furnish the headquarters building, the Fitness Center, and the Chapel (which is the first military chapel to be built in more than 30 years). I have also headed the source selections for a recently awarded, $3.5 million contract for armed security services for the Buckley Annex and the current requirement for Dental Services. Another high profile contracting action I have worked on is to supply services for the Presidential directed, Shared Early Warning System. These are just a few of the acquisitions I have worked on, but there are numerous small purchases I have completed, for instance, purchasing the surround sound equipment for Panther Dorm's new theater room, which only took 18 days.