409th CSB hosts 405th AFSB job shadow

Story and photo by Rachel Clark
409th Contracting Support Brigade
Stephanie VanDine (right), contracting officer at the 409th CSB’s Theater Contracting Center, and Miranda Lee, budget analyst with the 405th Army Field Support Brigade, review a site map as part of on-the-job training for a job shadow program with Army Sustainment Command.
Stephanie VanDine (right), contracting officer at the 409th CSB’s Theater Contracting Center, and Miranda Lee, budget analyst with the 405th Army Field Support Brigade, review a site map as part of on-the-job training for a job shadow program with Army Sustainment Command.

The 409th Contracting Support Brigade recently played host to a 405th Army Field Support Brigade job shadow program in Kaiserslautern.

The 405th AFSB provided opportunities for its employees to work alongside or “shadow” employees in a different career field as part of the Army Sustainment Command’s Journey to Leadership program.

As part of a 20-day developmental assignment, Miranda Lee, budget analyst with the 405th AFSB, worked alongside Stephanie VanDine, contracting officer at the 409th Theater Contracting Center, to learn more about the ins and outs of contracting.

“I had to find a unit within Army Materiel Command to job shadow with, and I’ve always been interested in contracting,” Lee said. “I reached out to Dana Harris, the deputy director of TCC, since they are in the local area.”

Harris said the brigade was happy to show Lee how contracts are managed.

“Anytime we are able to support a sister brigade, we will,” Harris said. “Pairing her with Ms. VanDine worked because she represents what a good contracting officer is.”

During her time with the 409th, Lee helped with contract modifications and learned some of contracting’s peculiarities and technicalities.

“Working this job has given me a much better understanding of the acquisition process. There’s a lot more to it than I could have imagined,” Lee said.