LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Valentin Figueroa, a 47th Contracting Flight contracting specialist, was chosen by wing leadership to be the “XLer of the week” of Oct. 28, 2019 at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.
He utilized a brand new, expanded use provision for Laughlin’s government purchase card program to make several vital purchases for the wing’s groups. Most notably, the 47th Maintenance Group was able to acquire new tools for its maintainers, who are pivotal to the specialized undergraduate pilot training mission.
“Because, we were able to utilize this card we were able to make purchases on the last day of the fiscal year obligating all fall out money,” he said.
Figueroa also monitored Laughlin’s GPC purchases that provided oversight over the base’s $4 million transactions last fiscal year alone.
“The surveillance program monitors the use of the GPC program,” he said. “With Laughlin having about 140 cards, surveillance provides guidance and ensures customers are compliant.”
He also helped provide rationale for purchases made on base due to the U.S. Department of Defense’s new policy dubbed “Insights on Demand.” The program randomly flags purchases for extra review, which Figueroa helped process.
“Because this program was new to all card holders we conducted several cases that for customer information,” he said. “It took much coordination in order to correct the situation.”
Figueroa has spent over a decade at Laughlin and started out as a maintainer before moving over to the contracting flight. Just recently, he has taken on a supervisor position in his shop.
“I’m a new supervisor with a new team, but I understand that we are a very crucial part of contracting, in addition to the GPC program,” he said. “We help with all reports and new programs within contracting from writing, filing, storing, and reporting contracts.“
For his work in both ensuring Laughlin’s allotted funds are used, and providing oversight to the base’s purchases, Valentin Figueroa was awarded the “XLer of the week.”