SOUTHWEST ASIA -- I’m Staff Sgt. Erica Garcia, a 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron contract officer representative. I am deployed from the 633rd Civil Engineer Squadron at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. I joined the Air Force because of the camaraderie, the structure, the travel opportunities, the educational benefits, and to know that I can do my part to defend our country.
As a contract officer representative, I deal with all of the 386 ECES service contracts that are used to maintain the base. I monitor those contracts to support septic pumping, custodial cleaning of facilities, refuse and recycling, and sand removal and berm maintenance. The best parts of my mission are the personnel you get to meet and the jobs you get to do. The overall outcome of all the work put in from the entire service contract and to see that happen is very satisfying.
My job here differs from home station in that I am the only one who does my job. The section that does the job I do here at home station is comprised of only civilians. At home, I program Air Force Form 332’s as a part of the requirements and optimizations programming section.
The biggest challenge I face daily is personnel requesting jobs outside of my contract scope. To overcome this, I work with the customer to get the best result within the contract scope while maintaining the integrity of my service contract.
Some of my professional goals are to complete my degree to help support my career and to make it through the enlisted ranks and become a chief master sergeant in the civil engineer career field.