A Rock Solid Warrior: 1st Lt. Allan Cameron

Published Aug. 14, 2014
By Staff Sgt. Jeremy Bowcock
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- This week's Rock Solid Warrior is 1st Lt. Allan Cameron. He is the Operations Flight Chief with the 386th Expeditionary Contracting Squadron. The Knoxville, Tennessee native is deployed from the 48th Contracting Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom.

Q: What is your family's military heritage (anyone else in your family who was/is in the military?):
A: Both of my grandfathers served in WWII. One served in the 675th Glider Field Artillery and the other served at the Advanced Naval base in Funafuti, Ellice Islands, Special Battalion, "B" Company. My younger cousin just enlisted in the Air Force as well.

Q: What is your mission here (in general terms)?
A: I am an Air Force Contracting Officer (CO) forward-deployed from 405 ECONS to 386 ECONS in order to provide contracting support in the area of responsibility. My main responsibility as a CO is the procurement of any essential/necessary commodities, services, and/or construction that enables base operations to continue without interference.

Q: What are some of the best parts of your mission?
A: Working with local vendors and contractors off-base. Our job constantly places us into roles as informal diplomats of the United States Air Force. Many of the host nation contractors do not work with Americans on a day-to-day basis and are unaware of our business practices/culture. Strengthening these business partnerships/relationships with our contractors while delivering essential commodities/services to our customer definitely creates a high-sense of mission-impact and job satisfaction.

Q: What are some of the challenges you face while conducting your mission, and how do you overcome them?
A: In a contingency environment, U.S. contracting officers face many cultural differences/barriers between us and the local populace (i.e. language, holidays, business practices, etc). Identifying these differences and communicating effectively can be as much of a challenge as it is fulfilling to successfully complete our contractual arrangements.

Q: How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base?
A: Contracting in a deployed environment is very different than home station contracting. In a contingency, the mission tempo is much higher with greater responsibility placed on individual contracting officers. Acquisitioning requirements in a contingency have higher-dollar thresholds for a standard warrant ($150K Home-station vs $1M Deployed) which "raises the stakes" when soliciting requirements to the public. Overall, the extra responsibility coupled with an increased workload provides a pretty fast-paced environment when completing mission-dictated requirements (especially during End-Of-Year).

Q: How many times have you deployed?
A: This is my first deployment.

Q: What makes this deployment unique?
A: I was originally deployed to 405 ECONS. Due to the need for extra contracting support, I was forward-deployed to 386 ECONS for additional functions and responsibilities that our base was taking on. Currently, I hold a unique role working in joint-capacity by assisting our joint partners with their contracting needs and working for 386 ECONS as the Operations Flight Chief.

Q: Why did you join the Air Force?
A: When I was young, I always enjoyed hearing military stories from my grandfather who had served in WWII and seeing the WWII model airplanes that he constructed. I decided that I wanted to join/serve in the Air Force and, when I was 18, I was fortunate enough to receive admittance into the Air Force Academy. Since then, I have thoroughly enjoyed my Air Force career and hope to be fortunate enough to continue serving.

(The Rock Solid Warrior is a weekly spotlight focused on an outstanding member of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing. These unsung heroes have been nominated by their unit leadership to be recognized for their efforts while deployed.)