Carol L. Thomas

Carol L. Thomas serves as a Contract Specialist at the Naval Air Warfare Center Air Division, where she plays a critical role in executing complex acquisitions for advanced naval aviation systems. Her responsibilities include managing the full lifecycle of contracts for mission-critical avionics, electronic warfare subsystems, and aircraft integration programs, ensuring alignment with Navy modernization priorities. She works closely with engineering and program management teams to translate technical requirements into compliant, risk-mitigated procurement actions under FAR and DFARS guidelines. Her portfolio primarily supports the development and sustainment of next-generation airborne platforms, emphasizing rapid prototyping, systems integration, and life-cycle support. Thomas maintains long-standing procurement relationships with leading defense contractors including SABRE SYSTEMS, LLC, THE BOEING COMPANY, SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, SYSTEMS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS, INC., and ONTIC ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING, INC. These partnerships reflect a preference for established industry leaders with proven expertise in aerospace systems engineering, sensor integration, and mission systems sustainment. Her contracting approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, technical rigor, and supply chain resilience, often involving complex sole-source or limited-competition actions grounded in unique technical requirements. While the majority of her acquisitions are unrestricted—reflecting the specialized nature of naval aviation technology—she consistently allocates approximately 15.4% of her portfolio to Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5. This demonstrates a deliberate commitment to fostering innovation through small business participation, particularly among firms capable of supporting niche engineering and systems integration tasks critical to fleet readiness. Her procurement focus is heavily concentrated in NAICS 336412 (Aircraft Engine and Engine Parts Manufacturing), with additional emphasis on research and development in physical and engineering sciences (541712). She routinely procures high-reliability avionics, flight control systems, electronic countermeasures, and mission computer hardware, demonstrating deep technical fluency in airborne systems architecture and defense aerospace manufacturing standards.