Liz Poole

Liz Poole serves as a key procurement lead within the FA2299 Afnwc/pzhw organization under the Department of the Air Force, where she supports the development and acquisition of advanced national command, control, and communications (NC3) systems. Her role centers on managing complex engineering and manufacturing contracts for airborne and space-based communication infrastructure, ensuring the integration of secure, resilient, and interoperable technologies critical to national defense. She oversees the full lifecycle of acquisitions—from requirements definition through contract award and performance monitoring—focusing on high-priority modernization initiatives that enhance NC3 resilience against emerging threats. Poole’s contractor relationships are primarily with specialized manufacturers and systems integrators capable of delivering classified and unclassified communications equipment meeting stringent DoD technical and security standards. While no single vendor dominates her portfolio, she consistently engages with firms possessing deep expertise in RF systems, satellite communications, signal processing, and hardened electronics. Her procurement approach emphasizes technical capability, supply chain security, and compliance with military specifications, fostering long-term partnerships with vendors who can meet rapid prototyping and low-rate initial production timelines. Her contracting activity shows no use of socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of acquisitions conducted under full and open competition. This reflects a mission-driven prioritization of technical readiness and operational urgency over socioeconomic preferences, aligning with the high-stakes nature of NC3 modernization. Poole’s procurement focus is exclusively within NAICS 334290—Other Communications Equipment Manufacturing—targeting custom-built, non-standardized hardware for military aerospace platforms. She procures secure transceivers, jam-resistant waveform modules, tactical data links, and embedded encryption systems, demonstrating deep expertise in electronic warfare-compatible communications architectures and DoD certification pathways such as TEMPEST and FIPS 140-3.