Susan Bryan

Susan Bryan serves as a key procurement lead within the W6QK Acc-rsa, a critical unit under the Department of the Army focused on sustaining and modernizing the U.S. Army’s aerial and missile defense systems. She manages complex acquisitions for mission-critical aerospace components, including avionics, propulsion systems, and auxiliary equipment for platforms such as the UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache. Her work directly supports the agency’s mission to enhance operational readiness through the procurement of high-reliability, defense-grade technologies, ensuring timely delivery of components vital to national security. She oversees full lifecycle contracting from solicitation to award, with a focus on technical compliance and supply chain resilience. Bryan maintains strategic relationships with prime contractors including Lockheed Martin Corporation and Alaska Aerospace Corp., leveraging their expertise in advanced aerospace integration and mission support services. Her contracting approach emphasizes long-term vendor partnerships grounded in technical proficiency and performance reliability, often engaging these firms for high-complexity, low-volume systems requiring specialized engineering validation. She frequently collaborates with industry leaders to align procurement timelines with programmatic milestones, ensuring seamless integration of new technologies into existing defense architectures. Her procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 85% of acquisitions conducted without set-aside restrictions. Nevertheless, she consistently allocates 15% of opportunities to total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a deliberate commitment to fostering innovation and capacity within the small business industrial base. While she does not prioritize socioeconomic set-asides like 8(a) or HUBZone, her small business awards are strategically targeted to firms with proven capability in aerospace manufacturing. Bryan’s primary technical focus lies in NAICS 336413, overseeing procurement of other aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment, with additional emphasis on aircraft engine components (336412) and fabricated wire products (332618). Her expertise spans the acquisition of flight-critical systems, including fluid power components and specialized sensors, reflecting deep domain knowledge in military aerospace engineering and systems integration.