Cathy Butler

Cathy Y. Butler serves as a Contracting Officer for the FA8823 Sustainment MCPNT SSC/PKL under the Department of the Air Force, where she manages complex acquisition programs critical to sustaining aerospace and space-based defense systems. Her responsibilities include planning, soliciting, awarding, and administering contracts for engineering services and research and development initiatives that ensure the operational readiness of guided missile systems, satellite communications platforms, and global positioning infrastructure. She plays a pivotal role in executing the agency’s mission to modernize and maintain national security-critical space and avionics assets through compliant, efficient, and technically sound procurement practices. Butler’s contracting portfolio is primarily supported by a broad base of engineering and R&D service providers, with no single contractor dominating her award profile. She cultivates collaborative relationships with prime contractors possessing deep technical expertise in aerospace systems integration, navigation technology, and command and control architecture. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting, technical rigor, and lifecycle sustainment, fostering partnerships with firms capable of delivering high-assurance, mission-critical solutions under stringent DoD compliance standards. Her set-aside preferences reflect a strong emphasis on open competition, with 92.9% of her awards issued under unrestricted solicitations. However, she consistently allocates 7.1% of her portfolio to Total Small Business Set-Asides in accordance with FAR 19.5, demonstrating a measured but intentional commitment to small business participation without compromising mission readiness or technical requirements. Butler’s procurement focus is concentrated in NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services) at 75% and NAICS 541712 (Research and Development in Physical and Engineering Sciences) at 25%. She routinely procures systems engineering, test and evaluation, sustainment engineering, and advanced technology development services essential to maintaining space and missile system integrity. Her domain expertise spans satellite payload integration, RF communications architecture, and navigation system modernization, positioning her at the nexus of defense engineering innovation and operational sustainment.