Rachel Arentsen

Rachel Arentsen serves as a key procurement professional within the Telecommunications Division (HC1013) of the Defense Information Systems Agency, where she manages acquisitions critical to securing and modernizing the Department of Defense’s global communications infrastructure. Her responsibilities include planning, soliciting, and awarding contracts for mission-critical telecommunications services, network modernization initiatives, and secure connectivity solutions. She specializes in complex IT and telecom procurements that support resilient, high-capacity, and interoperable defense networks, ensuring alignment with DISA’s strategic goals of replacing legacy systems and deploying encrypted virtual private networks across military and federal operations. Arentsen maintains consistent working relationships with leading telecommunications and systems integration contractors, including AT&T Technical Services Company, Inc., Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, Liberty Communications, Inc., AOC Connect LLC, and Norfolk Fiber, LLC. These partnerships reflect a focus on vendors with proven expertise in fiber-optic deployment, secure network design, and enterprise-grade telecom services. Her contracting approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, technical compliance, and long-term service reliability, fostering collaborative vendor engagement grounded in mission-critical requirements. Her procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for full and open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside categories. This indicates a deliberate focus on technical capability and scalability over socioeconomic preferences, prioritizing mission readiness and system interoperability above small business set-asides. While she does not routinely utilize 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, her awards remain open to all qualified vendors capable of meeting stringent DoD security and performance standards. Arentsen’s acquisitions are heavily concentrated in NAICS 541519 (Other Computer Related Services) and 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services), with additional emphasis on 517919 (Other Telecommunications) and 541712 (Research and Development in Physical Sciences). Her technical domain expertise spans secure network architecture, fiber-based backbone infrastructure, and integrated telecom systems, ensuring the DoD’s communications platforms remain agile, encrypted, and operationally resilient.