Contracting officers are easy target

As a contracting officer with more than 29 years' experience, I generally agree with the article "Contracting officers need training in critical areas, survey finds." However, I must point out that program management is a completely separate job series. Program managers are a large part of the problem with flawed contracts. They have no responsibility for the final product; they merely care about meeting schedule. The contracting officer is a convenient target because his/her name (and telephone number) is on the face of the document. Until the contracting officer is provided some top cover by his/her contracting manager from the pressures of the program management community, these types of problems will continue. Responsibility for the final contract (agreement) must be laid at the feet of the program management community. Anonymous
Air Force

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