Herbert W. Hankins

Herbert W. Hankins serves as a key procurement lead within the SFLC Procurement Branch 1 (70Z080) of the U.S. Coast Guard, operating under the Department of Homeland Security. He is responsible for managing the acquisition lifecycle for shipbuilding, repair, and maintenance contracts critical to sustaining the Coast Guard’s fleet of cutters and maritime assets. His work directly supports operational readiness by ensuring vessels remain mission-capable across coastal, offshore, and open-ocean environments. Hankins specializes in complex naval procurement actions, including dry dock overhauls, propulsion system upgrades, and structural modernization efforts, typically executed under firm-fixed-price and cost-reimbursement contract types. He maintains long-standing relationships with a select group of qualified shipyard and marine industrial contractors, including Fairbanks Morse, LLC, Bay Ship & Yacht Co, Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, L.L.C., Automatic Coating Limited USA, and Technico Corporation. These partnerships reflect a preference for vendors with proven expertise in naval vessel maintenance, corrosion protection, and marine propulsion systems. Hankins fosters collaborative, performance-based contracting environments that emphasize technical compliance, schedule adherence, and quality assurance in high-stakes maritime environments. Hankins consistently applies a 100% Small Business Set-Aside strategy under FAR 19.5, ensuring all acquisitions are reserved exclusively for small businesses. This reflects a strong institutional commitment to socioeconomic contracting, with no use of large business set-asides or unrestricted awards. His approach prioritizes capacity-building among small maritime contractors, enabling them to compete for and execute technically demanding naval maintenance and repair work. His procurement focus is exclusively aligned with NAICS 336611 — Ship Building and Repairing — encompassing all phases of vessel sustainment, from hull refurbishment and dry docking to mechanical and electrical system overhauls. He specializes in procuring services related to marine engineering, naval architecture, and Coast Guard-specific compliance standards, demonstrating deep domain expertise in the technical and regulatory demands of federal maritime asset management.