Rachael Knapp

Rachael Knapp serves as a key procurement professional within the MSC Program Management Centralized, part of the Department of the Navy, where she manages critical acquisitions to sustain the U.S. Navy’s global maritime logistics infrastructure. Her role centers on the planning, solicitation, and award of contracts for deep-sea freight transportation and navigational services essential to fleet readiness and operational mobility. She ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while aligning procurements with strategic naval priorities, including supply chain resilience and assured access to international sea lanes. Her portfolio predominantly involves complex, long-term service contracts requiring rigorous performance monitoring and maritime domain expertise. Knapp works with a limited but highly specialized pool of contractors, primarily large, experienced maritime logistics providers with proven capabilities in ocean-going freight movement and vessel support services. Her contracting patterns reflect a preference for established vendors with proven track records in global deep-sea operations, navigational charting, and specialized vessel management. While she maintains relationships with a small number of prime contractors, her approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, contract compliance, and operational reliability over volume-driven procurement. Her set-aside preferences are overwhelmingly aligned with open competition, with 97.2% of awards issued without socioeconomic set-asides, reflecting the highly specialized nature of the services procured and the limited pool of qualified vendors. Only 2.8% of awards are designated as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, indicating a targeted but minimal use of small business programs, reserved for niche capabilities where qualified small entities exist. Her primary industry focus is on NAICS 483111 (Deep Sea Freight Transportation), which accounts for 94.4% of her acquisitions, alongside NAICS 488330 (Navigational Services to Shipping). She routinely procures ocean transport of military cargo, fleet replenishment support, and hydrographic and navigational services critical to safe and efficient naval operations worldwide. Her technical expertise lies in maritime supply chain logistics, vessel chartering, and compliance with international shipping regulations.