AFLCMC offers OTA training to employees

  • Published
  • By Brian Brackens
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – In an effort to provide employees with additional resources to get capabilities to warfighters faster, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center recently held an Other Transactional Authority training event here, and is planning future training at other Center locations.

Specifically, the event highlighted OTAs for Prototyping and featured guest speakers from the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center, who shared success stories about using OTAs to rapidly acquire capabilities for the Army.

“In acquisition we have a myriad of different ways to buy things for the Air Force,” said Capt. Corey Wiechmann, a program manager with the AFLCMC Agile Combat Support Directorate and one of the event organizers. “This (OTA) is another way to buy and develop prototypes for the Air Force and military in general.”

He went on to add that a benefit of OTA’s for prototyping is that they allow the Air Force to engage non-traditional defense contractors who might be turned away by traditional Federal Acquisition Regulation or FAR based contracting.

Wiechmann said the event was successful and it helped familiarize folks with OTA’s as an acquisitions instrument.

“The training was great because it falls straight into line with the ‘Seven Steps for Incorporating Rapid Prototyping into Acquisition’ memo issued April 10 by the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, AT&L,” Wiechmann said.  “It (training) gave the workforce the chance to have their questions about OTAs answered by an organization (Army TARDEC) that has been doing this for 22 years. Any chance to increase knowledge and shed light on the unknown makes it easier to execute the next project as an OTA.”

The next OTA training session will be held May 16 at Eglin AFB. For organizations interested in scheduling an OTA session, please contact Capt. Wiechmann at corey.wiechmann.2@us.af.mil or (937) 938-3830.