Debbie D Tatum

Debbie D. Tatum serves as a Contracting Officer within the FA8823 Sustainment MCPNT SSC/PKL, a critical unit under the Department of the Air Force responsible for sustaining and modernizing high-priority aerospace and space-based defense systems. In this role, she manages the full lifecycle of procurement actions for complex navigational, guidance, and space-based instrumentation systems, ensuring operational readiness of global positioning satellites, missile guidance systems, and associated command and control infrastructure. Her acquisitions directly support mission-critical capabilities essential to national security, requiring strict compliance with federal acquisition regulations and technical rigor in evaluating contractor proposals. Tatum works with a broad base of defense contractors specializing in advanced avionics, precision navigation systems, and space vehicle sustainment, though no single vendor dominates her portfolio. She fosters collaborative, performance-based relationships with industry partners capable of delivering highly engineered, ruggedized systems under stringent military specifications. Her contracting approach emphasizes technical competence, past performance, and systems integration expertise, often engaging firms with proven experience in DoD aerospace sustainment programs. Tatum’s procurement activity is exclusively non-set-aside, with 100% of contracts awarded under full and open competition. While she does not prioritize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, her office maintains strict adherence to FAR guidelines and ensures equitable access for all qualified vendors, prioritizing capability and mission alignment over socioeconomic classifications. Her primary focus lies in NAICS 334511, encompassing the procurement of search, detection, navigation, guidance, aeronautical, and nautical systems and instruments. She routinely manages contracts for GPS augmentation technologies, inertial navigation units, satellite communication payloads, and missile terminal guidance systems, demonstrating deep technical familiarity with defense electronics, signal processing, and space systems integration. Her expertise ensures the Air Force’s enduring superiority in space-enabled operations and precision strike capabilities.