LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas—Alejandro Alvarado, 47th Contracting Flight contracting officer, was chosen by wing leadership to be the “XLer of the Week”, for the week of March 25, 2019, at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.
The “XLer” award, presented by Col. Lee Gentile, 47th FTW commander, is given to those who consistently make outstanding contributions to their unit and the Laughlin mission.
Alvarado’s role as a contracting officer involves numerous tasks, some of which is soliciting, evaluating, negotiating, and awarding contracts, furnishing products and services to the Federal Government. He partakes in much analyzing, administration, planning developing strategy and dealing with the kinks in between.
Alvarado has worked for almost six years with Laughlin’s contracting team and is currently the section lead. As section lead, he led four colleagues and dealt with a $160 million portfolio, and he handled 36 projects.
This ensured the engine regional repair center (ERRC), transient alert, telephone maintenance, custodial services, recycling services, refuse services, washer and dryer services, client network support services, official mail center services, and commodities remained at the service of the base.
“I supervise contract specialists to make sure the many parts of our job get accomplished,” Alvarado said. “I supervise the way assignments are made, instructions are given to the contract specialists, priorities and deadlines are set and objectives and boundaries are defined.”
He also stepped in as the administrative contracting officer. As the ACO, he lined up a $48 million contract the ERRC who repairs an average of 21 engines per month. The ERRC contract repairs the J-85 engines for the T-38 Talon aircrafts for Randolph, Sheppard, Vance and Laughlin.
“To be an administrative contracting officer you have to be a contracting officer,” he said. “You have to be in this career field for at least two years, take a number of classes, take the contracting officer test, be nominated to and pass the contracting officer warrant board; to be able to handle one of the biggest contracts.”
Leadership awarded the “XLer of the week” to Alvarado for his accomplishments and for stepping up to the tasks at hand and giving them his best.
“It means to keep trying your best, never stop and one day people will recognize your work,” Alvarado said.