Rachel J. McCluskey

Rachel McCluskey serves as a primary contracting professional at DLA Maritime – Portsmouth, where she plays a central role in securing critical mechanical, electrical, and industrial components essential to U.S. Navy fleet readiness. Her responsibilities encompass the full lifecycle of acquisitions for mission-critical shipboard systems, including fasteners, valves, wiring devices, abrasives, and specialized metal fabrications. She ensures timely delivery of parts that maintain operational integrity under extreme maritime conditions, aligning procurement actions with DLA’s strategic mandate to sustain naval forces through reliable, performance-based sourcing. McCluskey routinely manages complex solicitations under FAR Part 12 and Part 15, prioritizing technical compliance and supply chain resilience. She maintains established working relationships with key contractors including Huntington Ingalls Inc., Advanced Structures Corporation, Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, and Polytech Defense Spares LLC, among others. These partnerships reflect a mix of large prime contractors and specialized suppliers with deep domain expertise in marine-grade components and industrial fabrication. McCluskey fosters collaborative, performance-driven vendor relationships grounded in rigorous quality assurance and delivery reliability, ensuring alignment with naval engineering standards and lifecycle support requirements. McCluskey demonstrates a strong commitment to small business participation, with over 60% of her portfolio structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. Her contracting patterns consistently prioritize small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, and other socioeconomic categories, reinforcing DLA’s mandate to broaden supplier diversity. She actively leverages small business set-asides to cultivate a resilient, competitive vendor base capable of meeting the Navy’s specialized technical demands. Her procurement focus centers on NAICS codes including 327910 (abrasive product manufacturing), 334513 (industrial process control instrumentation), and 331420 (copper rolling and extruding), reflecting deep technical expertise in materials science and precision industrial components. She routinely sources high-integrity metal fabrications, specialized hoses and belting, and control systems critical to shipboard functionality, demonstrating a nuanced understanding of naval engineering specifications and material performance under operational stress.