Laura Leigh Churnside

Laura Leigh Churnside serves as a key procurement professional within the FA8726 Aflcmc Hnk C3IN, a critical unit of the Department of the Air Force responsible for sustaining and modernizing expeditionary command, control, communications, intelligence, and network (C3IN) capabilities. She manages acquisitions that enable secure, resilient, and interoperable communication systems for global air and space operations, with a focus on deployable infrastructure, cloud-enabled productivity platforms, and artificial intelligence-integrated network solutions. Her portfolio centers on engineering services and hardware procurement essential to maintaining operational readiness across contested environments. Churnside maintains a primary contracting relationship with FEDCON-1, LLC, a trusted vendor providing specialized systems design and communications infrastructure support. Her procurement patterns reflect a preference for established industry partners with proven expertise in C3IN modernization, indicating a reliance on vendors capable of delivering rapid, field-deployable solutions under stringent security and interoperability standards. While she engages with a limited number of core contractors, her approach emphasizes performance reliability, technical compliance, and mission-critical delivery timelines. Churnside’s contracting activity is entirely non-set-aside, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a strategic emphasis on technical capability and mission urgency over socioeconomic preferences, prioritizing the most qualified providers regardless of business size or certification status. While small business participation is not formally incentivized in her portfolio, the nature of her acquisitions still permits eligible small firms to compete on technical merit. Her procurement focus is heavily concentrated in NAICS 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services), underscoring her leadership in acquiring integrated C3IN architecture development, network optimization, and cybersecurity-enabled systems engineering. She also regularly procures under NAICS 334220 for radio and wireless communications equipment, demonstrating deep technical expertise in expeditionary signal systems and secure RF infrastructure. Her work directly supports the Air Force’s transition to cloud-native, AI-augmented battlefield networks.