Vanessa Bouknight

Vanessa Bouknight serves as a key procurement professional at the Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, supporting the U.S. Navy’s mission to sustain and modernize its surface fleet through shipbuilding and repair acquisitions. She manages the full lifecycle of contracts under NAICS 336611, overseeing complex maintenance, dry-docking, structural overhauls, and hull and machinery upgrades essential to extending the service life of naval vessels. Her work ensures operational readiness by aligning acquisition strategies with fleet-wide modernization priorities, coordinating closely with engineering, logistics, and shipyard teams to translate technical requirements into enforceable contractual deliverables. While specific contractor names are not publicly enumerated, Bouknight’s procurement patterns reflect deep engagement with a network of specialized ship repair vendors, marine engineering firms, and industrial contractors capable of performing classified and non-classified naval maintenance work. Her working relationships emphasize technical proficiency, compliance with naval specifications, and adherence to stringent quality assurance protocols required for military vessel sustainment. She consistently prioritizes vendors with proven experience in dry-dock operations, propulsion system overhauls, and naval structural integrity upgrades. Bouknight exhibits a strong commitment to socioeconomic contracting, with 90% of her acquisitions set aside for small businesses under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to maximize participation from small disadvantaged businesses, HUBZone firms, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, ensuring broad industry engagement while maintaining mission-critical standards. Her contracting approach actively promotes competitive small business participation without compromising technical or schedule requirements. Her primary technical focus is exclusively on NAICS 336611, encompassing the full spectrum of naval ship repair and conversion services. She procures specialized marine fabrication, welding, electrical system retrofits, corrosion control, and propulsion modernization work, demonstrating deep familiarity with naval shipyard practices and Department of Defense technical manuals governing vessel sustainment.