Rhonda Coles

Rhonda Coles serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division, supporting the Department of the Navy’s mission to advance ordnance systems, explosives, and precision instrumentation for naval warfare. She manages a diverse portfolio of acquisitions focused on engineering services, specialized manufacturing, and maintenance of critical defense technologies, ensuring the reliability and modernization of munitions and detection systems. Her work directly enables the development and sustainment of high-risk, high-impact weapon systems, requiring rigorous technical oversight and compliance with Department of Defense acquisition regulations. Coles maintains consistent partnerships with a select group of specialized vendors, including TOTAL CONCEPTS OF DESIGN INC, Boh Environmental, L.L.C., CHUCKING MACHINE PRODUCTS, INC., CANADIAN COMMERCIAL CORP, and DEVAL LIFE CYCLE SUPPORT LLC. These relationships reflect a preference for contractors with deep expertise in ordnance engineering, environmental compliance for hazardous materials, precision machining, and life cycle support services. Her contracting patterns emphasize long-term technical collaboration over transactional procurement, fostering vendor engagement in complex, mission-critical development efforts. Coles’ procurement portfolio exhibits a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside classifications. This indicates a focus on technical capability and mission readiness over socioeconomic targeting, aligning with the specialized, non-redundant nature of the technologies procured. While small business participation is not formally prioritized in her award structure, the technical specificity of requirements often naturally attracts qualified small and mid-sized firms with niche capabilities. Her primary NAICS focus areas include Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing, Engineering Services, and Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturing, reflecting expertise in precision instrumentation, ordnance system integration, and specialized munitions production. She routinely procures custom-engineered components, test and evaluation services, and maintenance solutions for explosive handling systems, demonstrating deep domain knowledge in naval ordnance lifecycle management.