John Waters

John Waters serves as a LRS Procurement Technician at the Aviation Logistics Center (ALC), supporting the U.S. Coast Guard’s mission to sustain and modernize its rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft fleet. In this role, he executes end-to-end procurement activities for mission-critical aviation components, including avionics, maintenance parts, and auxiliary equipment essential to aircraft readiness. His responsibilities encompass solicitation development, source selection support, contract administration, and vendor coordination under FAR and agency-specific guidelines, ensuring timely delivery of sustainment solutions for legacy platforms such as the MH-65E Dauphin and HC-144 Ocean Sentry. Waters operates within the Logistics Readiness Squadron, bridging technical requirements with acquisition execution to maintain operational continuity across the Coast Guard’s aviation enterprise. Waters maintains consistent procurement relationships with key industry partners including ROCKWELL COLLINS, INC., AIRBUS US SPACE & DEFENSE INC, AVIATRIX INC, and GOLDBELT INTEGRATED LOGISTICS SERVICES, LLC. These partnerships span complex systems integration, parts manufacturing, and specialized logistics support for aging aircraft fleets. His working patterns reflect a preference for established defense contractors with proven sustainment capabilities, while also engaging specialized small businesses for niche components and rapid-response services. Collaborations are often performance-based, emphasizing reliability, technical compliance, and lifecycle support for mission-critical systems. Waters demonstrates a strong commitment to small business participation, with over 43% of his procurements structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5. While the majority of acquisitions remain open to all competitors, his portfolio consistently prioritizes small business engagement, with minimal use of 8(a) competed set-asides. This pattern reflects a strategic balance between leveraging established industry capacity and fostering competition among qualified small firms, aligning with Coast Guard socioeconomic goals without compromising operational urgency. His procurement focus centers on NAICS 488190 (Other Support Activities for Air Transportation) and 336413 (Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing), reflecting expertise in aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services and non-airframe components. He routinely acquires avionics support equipment, flight control subsystems, and specialized tooling critical to sustaining Coast Guard aircraft, demonstrating deep familiarity with aerospace supply chain dynamics and technical specifications governing military aviation sustainment.