Heather East

Heather East serves as a key procurement professional within Mschq Norfolk, part of the Department of the Navy, where she manages critical acquisitions to sustain the operational readiness of U.S. Navy surface and auxiliary vessels. Her responsibilities center on securing specialized logistics, maintenance, and maritime transportation services essential to fleet sustainment. She routinely handles complex contract actions under FAR Part 13 and Part 15, focusing on repair, overhaul, and mission-critical marine equipment procurement. Her work directly supports the agency’s mission to ensure continuous naval deployment through timely, compliant, and technically sound contracting solutions. Heather maintains longstanding relationships with core contractors including EXXONMOBIL MARINE LIMITED for marine fuel and logistics support, VIGOR MARINE LLC for ship repair and maintenance services, and BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON INC for technical and operational analysis. She also collaborates with ONTIC ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING, INC for specialized marine components and the FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC for strategic maritime policy advisory services. Her contracting patterns reflect a preference for established, high-capacity vendors with proven track records in naval support environments, often leveraging indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) and performance-based service contracts. Her procurement strategy prioritizes open competition, with 89.5% of awards issued without set-asides. When small business participation is pursued, it primarily takes the form of Total Small Business Set-Asides (7.5%) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Asides (3.0%), demonstrating a measured but intentional commitment to socioeconomic goals without compromising mission-critical delivery timelines or technical requirements. Her technical focus is overwhelmingly centered on NAICS 811310, reflecting deep expertise in commercial and industrial machinery repair and maintenance for naval platforms. She also procures shipbuilding and repair services (NAICS 336611), along with niche contracts for plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and industrial machinery systems critical to vessel sustainment. Her domain expertise lies in maritime industrial maintenance, with an emphasis on reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) and naval engineering standards.