700 CONS releases record-breaking contract

Members of the 700 Contracting Squadron pose for a photo at Kapaun Air Station Jan. 15. The team worked together to draw up the squadron’s largest contract to date.

The 700th Contracting Squadron released its most substantial contract to date, totaling 425 million dollars, Jan. 15.

The five-year contract covers a broad range of construction, maintenance and renovation projects for the Kaiserslautern Military Com­munity, Spangdahlem Air Base and supporting installations throughout Germany. A majority of the projects will be residential and commercial facility maintenance.

As installation housing, offices, restaurants and other facilities age, the mission must progress with the continued assurance of standards for personnel. The 700th CONS team is dedicated to ensuring bases receive timely, efficient maintenance and renovation.

The most significant aspect of the contract is it allows for much faster acquisition times.

“Reduced acquisition time means faster delivery,” said Elizabeth Preston, 700th Contracting Squadron construction flight team lead.

Preston says this expedited delivery enables air mobility and improves quality of life for military members and their families.

The contract is a multiple award construction contract, or MACC. This means six contractors, selected through a competitive process, will bid for each project. Since the 700th CONS now has a selected pool of contractors to work with, less time is spent on contractor decisions which can allow projects to begin sooner. The result? Personnel and families will see faster maintenance, renovation and construction around base.

“The MACC is the true backbone of the KMC and Spangdahlem,” Preston said. “There will be a number of quality of life improvements that will be made possible by this contract. Some of the more complex construction projects done under the MACC in the past include maintenance on airfield infrastructure, family housing, dorms, gyms, sports fields, playgrounds, Hercules Theater, PF Chang’s, Macaroni Grill and others.”

Over time, the construction needs around the KMC and Spangdahlem have grown, Preston said. In order to accommodate that growth, the new MACC is three times larger than the previous one. This is the largest construction contract in U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. The 700th CONS team also added contractors under the new MACC to accommodate the higher volume of construction projects.

The squadron will begin awarding contracts within two weeks. Construction, maintenance and renovation will commence across the KMC and Spandahlem. Projects are designed to affect buildings in sections rather than all at once, resulting in minimal disruptions to the mission.