ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
DCMA and NASA stakeholders began their collaboration to create unrestricted access to space, return American astronauts to the moon’s surface, establish a long-term, off- world presence on the moon, and pre- pare for human spaceflight to Mars to fulfill a presidential directive issued in 2017. “DCMA Support to NASA RAT, led by Craig Bennett, represents a unified approach with NASA support and guidance harmonized with NASA’s vision, strategy, and the Presidential Space Directive of 2017,” McGinnis said. “DCMA will work with DoD and industry partners, in accordance with this directive, to return humans to the moon with a goal to eventually enable In another example of this com- mitment, DCMA Quality Assurance Specialist Marcos Otero-Cruz re- cently received NASA’s Silver Snoopy Award for identifying and resolving in- efficiencies in fuel-tubes cleaning. His initiative improved efficiency and cost savings for America’s space program, highlighting DCMA contributions to U.S. aerospace endeavors. humans to explore Mars.” A Winning Cleanup Otero-Cruz observed how ineffi- ciencies in critical fuel-tubing cleaning requirements flowed from the prime contractor to the tubing manufacturer and tube cleaning suppliers. “I saw the duplicating efforts that had a negative impact to agency re- sources,” Otero-Cruz said. “I brought it up to the customer and the suppli- er’s leadership and collaborated with them to streamline the process.” NASA reported that the redun- dancy cost unnecessary labor hours among all parties deliberating clean- ing methodologies and specifications. This led to multiple last-minute pur- chase order revisions, inspection de- lays, and re-inspections—frequently increasing the overtime requirements to complete complex mandated in- spections, NASA stated. “Eventually, those duplicated ef- forts were changed, leading to a re-
NASA recently awarded Marcus Otero-Cruz, a quality assurance specialist with Defense Contract Management Agency Southeast, a Silver Snoopy Award for his observations and insight, which improved efficiency and cost
savings for America’s space program. Source: NASA photo by Kim Shiflett
duction in waste, saving time and agency resources,” Otero-Cruz said. “If I had not stepped out of my normal duties of exercising the delegated ef- forts and shared what was observed, the risk would have increased, re- sources would have remained redun- dant, and duplicating efforts would have continued—potentially causing more delay in the program.” As a quality assurance specialist, Otero-Cruz said he is trained to con- duct a series of process audits and to detect potential technical issues through observation and data col- lection. “Then, we tackle those risk areas to mitigate that same risk from becoming a high risk, preventing fail- ure from occurring,” he said. Otero- Cruz explained that sometimes data reveal an inherent high risk embed- ded in products and processes, such as Space Flight applications. “I decided to be proactive and reached out to key players in the pro- gram that weren’t part of my normal lines of communication,” he said. “I presented the observations and, after some time and many hours spent on the issue, this led to a refinement of the process without compromising risk mitigation.” DCMA continues providing critical acquisition insight to NASA, reinforc- ing its longstanding role in support of
space exploration. The agency re- mains focused on ensuring mission success and safety. Along the way, both DCMA and NASA recognize and commend the teams and individuals whose dedication and expertise drive these space directives forward. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and not the Department of Defense. Reproduction or reposting of articles from Defense Acquisition magazine should credit the authors and the magazine.
DAU Resources • CMI 103 DCMA First Level Supervisor Support to NASA (Online Training) • CMQ 206 DCMA Quality Assurance Support to NASA (Online Training) • CMI 1500 Multifunctional Support to NASA (Online Training) • Leveraging DCMA Capabilities: DCMA as a Mission Partner (Webcast) • Leveraging DCMA Capabilities: Workload Acceptance; Tailored Contract Administration Services (CAS); DCMA Functional Roles (Webcast)
74 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION ONLINE | March-April 2025
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