James Batty

James Batty serves as the primary procurement lead for the USDA Forest Service’s Incident Procurement unit, where he enables rapid acquisition of mission-critical resources to support wildland fire response and all-hazard incident management. He manages time-sensitive contracts for logistical, operational, and infrastructure services essential to field operations, including mobile command units, heavy equipment, water systems, and temporary housing. His role is pivotal in ensuring incident management teams receive timely, compliant, and scalable support across national forests and grasslands, often under dynamic and high-pressure conditions. Batty specializes in expedited acquisition pathways, including emergency and urgent requirement procedures under FAR Part 18, to meet the agency’s mission-critical timelines. Batty maintains a broad network of vendors specializing in forestry support, emergency logistics, and aviation services, with frequent engagement with small businesses and niche contractors capable of rapid mobilization. His procurement patterns reflect a preference for agile, performance-based contracts that prioritize responsiveness over rigid specifications. He collaborates closely with regional incident management teams to align contracting actions with operational needs, fostering strong vendor-partner relationships built on reliability, adaptability, and compliance with federal acquisition standards. Batty demonstrates a strong commitment to socioeconomic contracting, with 87.5% of his acquisitions set aside for small businesses under FAR 19.5. His portfolio consistently prioritizes small business participation, including HUBZone and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, reflecting a deliberate strategy to strengthen local economic resilience and enhance the diversity of the supplier base supporting federal emergency operations. His primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), where he acquires fire suppression support, fuel management services, and wildland firefighting logistics. He also procures specialized air transportation support under NAICS 488190 and facility maintenance services under NAICS 811420, demonstrating expertise in cross-sector logistics coordination for incident response environments.