Contracting officer’s
representatives are
essential in managing
contracts in garrison
and in theater and
must be well trained
and knowledgeable.
D
uring military operations in
support of recent contingencies, the Army increased
its use of contractors because of
force capacity restrictions, troop rotation policies, and certain military
occupational specialty shortfalls.
The Army’s increased reliance on
contractors to support operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan caused a
parallel increase in the responsibilities of the requiring activities
and operational commands to administer the operational contract
support (OCS) functions of integrating, planning, and managing
commercial support. The increased
use of OCS resulted in increased
reliance on unit-level contracting
officer’s representatives (CORs) to
assist the requiring activities and
contracting officer in providing
contract oversight.
About the COR
After deciding to use contract
support to meet or mitigate an identified and validated requirement, the
requiring or supported unit leader
must nominate a qualified person
to serve as a COR. This is part of
the requirements package development and submission process. The
requiring activity must ensure that
the COR is trained and prepared
to provide government oversight of
contract execution.
The COR is a servicemember or
Department of Defense (DOD)
civilian appointed in writing by a
contracting officer. The COR normally serves in this position as an
additional duty, depending upon the
circumstances. However, it is a key
duty that cannot be ignored without
creating risk to the requiring activity, operational command or U.S.
government.
A COR’s responsibilities include
monitoring contractor’s performance and performing other duties specified in the appointment
letter. During the early phases of
Operations Iraqi Freedom and
Enduring Freedom, many requiring activities and supported units
did not have enough CORs nominated, appointed, and adequately
trained to meet contract support
requirements. Ultimately, the assignment shortfall affected the
abili