U.S. Army Contracting Command personnel recognized for streamlining small business procurement

For small businesses, navigating the defense acquisition system often presents significant administrative challenges. Complex regulations and intensive bureaucratic requirements can inadvertently exclude the non-traditional suppliers and innovative vendors necessary to sustain military modernization. For Army Contracting Command, mitigating these barriers is an operational priority directly tied to expanding and stabilizing the domestic defense industrial base. The effectiveness of these efforts was recently recognized at the Department of War and Department of the Army Small Business Awards, where several ACC components received top honors for acquisition reform. The awards highlight a systemic shift within the command away from routine procurement toward strategic, metrics-driven industrial base expansion. Demonstrating this shift at the enterprise level, the Headquarters ACC Office of Small Business Programs secured the Command Socioeconomic Award after hitting historic benchmarks in fiscal year 2025. The office obligated more than $12.86 billion and executed 40,748 contract actions with small businesses. These actions accounted for 53.6% of the Army’s total small business expenditures, reflecting a deliberate effort to diversify the supplier pool. To sustain this volume of small business integration, the headquarters team addressed systemic procurement delays that historically strained smaller vendors. Led by Director Thaddeus Martin alongside team members Gherin Fracasso, Anthony Piccolo, Suzzane Anderson, Kenneth Batz, Scott Kelly, David Christ and Anne Carman, the office launched the "Did You Know" Training Campaign. The initiative introduced an abbreviated Justification and Approval process designed to simplify Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 19 authorities. This streamlined process reduced administrative lead times and expedited the delivery of capabilities to the field, earning the group both the Department of War Vanguard Verdure Award and the Army Vigor Team Award. The modified documentation facilitated rapid direct awards to Women-Owned, HUBZone and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses while maintaining regulatory compliance and securing cost avoidance. To institutionalize the practice, the team trained more than 1,000 acquisition personnel and industry partners. While headquarters established enterprise-wide frameworks, regional contracting offices executed localized strategies to broaden the vendor pool. In Texas, Ambre D. Wallitsch, a small business professional supporting the 418th Contracting Support Brigade and the Field Directorate Office Fort Sam Houston under the Mission and Installation Contracting Command, was named the Army Small Business Professional of the Year. Wallitsch managed expanded supervisory responsibilities during high-visibility contingency operations, securing more than $1.68 billion in small business awards without compromising operational timelines. Concurrently, at ACC-New Jersey, Army Contracting Professional of the Year Polia M. Quiles leveraged existing regulatory incentives to increase socioeconomic participation. Quiles executed ACC-NJ’s first 5% incentive payment under defense acquisition regulations, obligating $32,000 to support Native American enterprise involvement. By structuring a subcontracting pathway between prime contractor IBIS Tek and a Native American enterprise, Quiles established a repeatable, data-backed acquisition strategy for the command. Together, these individual and collective initiatives reflect an ongoing command-wide effort to modernize defense procurement. By reducing entry barriers and optimizing socioeconomic programs, ACC personnel continue to strengthen the resilience and capacity of the defense industrial base in support of the warfighter. Social Media Post Army Contracting Command personnel were recently recognized at the Department of War and Department of the Army Small Business Awards for their efforts in fiscal year 2025 to expand the defense industrial base. Through targeted acquisition reform and strategic procurement, these professionals expanded opportunities for small and socioeconomic business entities while supporting operational readiness. Congratulations to the fiscal year 2025 award recipients:

• Department of War Vanguard Award & Army Vigor Team Award: HQ ACC Office of Small Business Programs Team (Thaddeus Martin, Gherin Fracasso, Anthony Piccolo, Suzzane Anderson, Kenneth Batz, Scott Kelly, David Christ and Anne Carman) for developing the abbreviated J&A process.
• Command Socioeconomic Award: HQ ACC Office of Small Business Programs for directing 53.6% of the Army's small business spend, totaling over $12.86 billion.
• Army Small Business Professional of the Year: Ambre D. Wallitsch (MICC) for enabling $1.68 billion in awards during critical contingency operations.
• Army Contracting Professional of the Year: Polia M. Quiles (ACC-NJ) for implementing innovative socioeconomic incentives supporting Native American enterprises.

These achievements underscore ACC's commitment to building a resilient, diversified industrial base to support the warfighter.