Michael West

Michael West serves as a secondary contracting professional within the Department of the Air Force, supporting the acquisition of critical aerospace and information systems essential to air superiority and space dominance. Though not a primary contracting officer, he plays a vital role in facilitating the procurement lifecycle for engineering services that underpin modernization initiatives, including C5ISRT integration, next-generation avionics, and AI-driven analytics platforms. His work ensures alignment between technical requirements and contract execution, enabling rapid fielding of capabilities across combat and support domains. He routinely engages in complex, high-priority acquisitions tied to defense innovation and system sustainment. West maintains consistent procurement relationships with industry leaders including The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation, partnering with these prime contractors to deliver advanced aerospace platforms and secure information systems. His interactions reflect a strategic focus on large-scale prime vendor collaboration, typically involving technical integration, systems engineering, and mission-critical sustainment services. These partnerships are structured to support long-term modernization roadmaps and are often executed under indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) or other performance-based contract vehicles. A defining feature of West’s procurement pattern is a 100% preference for Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a strong institutional commitment to small business participation. All engineering services acquisitions are deliberately reserved for small businesses, ensuring equitable access to high-value defense contracts and fostering innovation through agile, specialized vendors. This approach aligns with Department of Defense mandates to expand the defense industrial base and enhance competition. His procurement activity is exclusively focused on NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services), encompassing systems engineering, technical analysis, integration support, and cyber-enabled architecture development. He specializes in contracting for advanced engineering solutions that enable secure command and control, sensor fusion, and digital thread implementation across air and space platforms, reflecting deep technical fluency in defense systems engineering domains.