Larry J. Helton

Larry J. Helton serves as a key procurement professional within the Defense Human Resources Activity, supporting the Department of Defense’s mission to enhance workforce readiness and administrative efficiency through strategic human capital solutions. He manages a diverse portfolio of acquisitions focused on human resources modernization, including digital transformation initiatives, professional development platforms, and administrative support services. His work directly enables the agency’s priorities in streamlining travel systems, upgrading learning management infrastructure, and improving personnel data interoperability across defense components. Helton handles both full and open competitions and set-aside contracts, ensuring alignment with federal acquisition regulations and DoD human resources policy. Helton maintains established working relationships with a core group of contractors including Mullenlowe US Inc., Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., A-Team Solutions LLC, Weris, Inc., and Fors Marsh Group LLC. These partnerships reflect a blend of strategic consulting, research, and technical implementation capabilities, particularly in workforce analytics, organizational behavior studies, and HR systems modernization. His contracting patterns indicate a preference for long-term, performance-based engagements with firms that bring deep domain expertise in social science research and human-centered design, often supporting evidence-based policy development and program evaluation. Helton demonstrates a strong commitment to small business participation, with nearly half of his awards structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5. While no other socioeconomic set-asides dominate his portfolio, his consistent use of small business set-asides signals a deliberate effort to foster competition and expand opportunities for qualified small firms in the defense HR ecosystem. His procurement approach balances efficiency with socioeconomic objectives, ensuring broad vendor participation without compromising mission outcomes. His primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 721110 (lodging services for training and transient personnel), NAICS 541720 (social science and humanities research), and NAICS 541511 (custom computer programming). These reflect a technical domain centered on workforce analytics, behavioral research, and tailored software solutions for HR automation, aligning closely with the agency’s digital transformation agenda and evidence-driven human capital management.