My DCMA Remember 9/11: Mark Wolfe, administrative contracting officer

My DCMA Remember 9/11: Mark Wolfe, administrative contracting officer

By Tonya Johnson Operational Business Center Public Affairs

My DCMA "Remember 9/11" edition showcases the Defense Contract Management Agency's experienced and dedicated workforce as they reflect on the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The campaign highlights that tragic day's personal and professional impact on agency team members. Today, Mark Wolfe shares his story.

My name is Mark Wolfe, and this is "My DCMA." I am an administrative contracting officer at DCMA Mountain Pacific, and I am based in Denver. My contract management office is a part of the Geographic & Systems Support Command.

My job duties include administering an ever-increasing post-award portfolio of federal awards with many small businesses and some large businesses. As of Aug. 20, I actively administered 135 awards worth nearly $400 million with 48 entities total, with most awards pertaining to innovative research and development or vehicle part repairs.

Reflecting on 9/11

I recently have been reflecting that this September marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On Sept. 11, 2001, I was in fifth grade and was playing dodgeball in gym class when the gym teacher abruptly told us to stop playing, go congregate in the locker rooms and await further instructions. My classmates and I were confused about what was happening and were eventually told that we would be sent home early on the school bus because our country was under attack. When I arrived home, my parents and I watched the news for hours. We were shocked and distraught by the images on our television screen.

In 2024, when I visited New York City for the first time, I visited the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. I stood beside the gaps where the towers once stood that have now been converted into large fountains with the names of victims engraved on their perimeters. I saw physical building ruins, contorted into twisted shapes and burned by fire. I watched video clips, heard audio testimonies, and read personal stories from the tragedy and its aftermath. This visit left a lasting impression in my mind of both the pain and suffering that Americans experienced and the valiant sacrifice and efforts made by local first responders on that solemn day.

I am proud of my work at DCMA to support our warfighters in protecting the homeland. We must never forget the impact of 9/11 on our country, and we must continue to strive for peace so an attack like 9/11 never happens again.

Being part of a mission-focused team

As an ACO, I am responsible for reviewing new awards received; developing contract administration plans for the entire award life cycle; approving interim and final payments; identifying and dispositioning excess funds for other purposes by our mission partners; settling matters of contractual compliance and cost allowability; and performing final award closeout.

I offer my expertise in supplemental projects, including providing data analysis and validation, policy development, talent management, mentoring, and training. In 2025, I created a key contract requirement data validation methodology to ensure data integrity for my team, which reduced audit findings and received commendable status during an internal audit.

Within DCMA Mountain Pacific, I serve as a lead subject matter expert for the new Request for Mechanization of Contract Administration Services action system that better streamlines data integrity actions compared with legacy data integrity request systems. I frequently contribute to agency-wide feedback requests on draft policies. In addition, I serve as a member of DCMA's Talent Management Steering Committee Action Group, also known as TAG, and provide formal and informal mentoring and training to new DCMA staff, especially incoming military service members.

I have been a part of the DCMA team for five years. I started my federal career with DCMA in 2019 as a contract administrator supporting an ACO and served in this role for two years. In 2021, I left the agency and accepted a procuring contract specialist position with the Bureau of Reclamation, where I performed cradle-to-grave acquisition activities. In 2023, I accepted a procuring contracting officer promotion with the Department of Energy. I realized that "there is no place like home" and accepted a lateral transfer back to my original DCMA office at the end of 2023 to serve in my current role as an ACO.

I enjoy having a measurable public service impact in my day-to-day work, where I am supporting projects that are creating a novel vaccine to combat certain life-threatening diseases; increasing our understanding of outer space; and developing new technologies for quantum computing, space and underwater exploration, missile defense, and material repair. For every project, I am on the frontline of managing award funds across the life cycle to ensure taxpayer dollars are safeguarded and well-spent.

I like working at DCMA because of my friendly and helpful colleagues. One of the best predictors of job satisfaction is your coworkers, and I have some great ones! We also have excellent mountain views and other scenic views from our office. Another great thing about working at my location is that our group enjoys team-building events. Outside of work, I have hosted a volunteer food distribution event at the Food Bank of the Rockies and coordinated board games and scavenger hunt events.

As my workload continues to evolve, I'm receiving assignments for many contractors that are new to DCMA and new to defense contracting in general. I hope to continue fostering these new working relationships to improve DCMA's mission outcomes. My future career goals include continuing to use my talents to serve the public, wherever that may take me.

DCMA is important to America's warfighters because I think of us as the "Defense Complexity Management Agency." The federal government is the largest single buyer of goods and services in the world, and the Department of War is responsible for more than half of that spending on a yearly basis. When a complex project requires extra attention and extra oversight, our mission partners rely on DCMA to handle the complexities and focus on the details to ensure project success.

DCMA has changed over the years. When I first started working at DCMA as a contract administrator in 2019, we had more outdated systems, and we tracked many things manually in Microsoft Office products using Excel or Access. As DCMA continues to evolve and innovate, nearly all our work systems have changed, but our mission has remained the same, which is to ensure the timely and cost-effective delivery of quality products.

Editor's note: DCMA's "Remember 9/11" is a campaign reflecting on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the lasting impact 25 years later through stories of remembrance, resilience and service. We invite you to share your story by emailing the DCMA Public Affairs inbox. DCMA Public Affairs hopes to share as many stories as possible but cannot guarantee every submission will be published.

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