HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. - Col. Karen A.F. Landale, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center deputy director of contracting is reflecting on her successful 22-year military career as she retires Jan. 15.
Landale leads a 500-person mission focused contracting workforce to deliver innovative and agile solutions to the warfighter. She oversees more than $4 billion in annual contract obligations and supports multiple program executive officers across approximately 300 programs.
Landale earned her commission in 2002 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Tampa. Prior to her current position, Landale was the contingency contracting policy chief of defense pricing and contracting at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.
Her promotion to colonel became effective two months before joining Team Hanscom. In taking on leadership roles, Landale leveraged her professional experience to develop future leaders on her team.
“Good leadership is giving people opportunities and removing roadblocks, as well as encouraging them to be leaders,” said Landale.
Landale’s prior assignments also include commander, 773rd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, where she led 45 military and civilian personnel executing a $6.1 billion contract portfolio, including $163 million in annual obligations.
She supported Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom through five contingency deployments. During this time, she served as an administrative contracting officer for the U.S. Army Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, an administrative contracting officer for the U.S. Air Force Civil Augmentation Program and as deputy chief of the Delaram II Regional Contracting Center in Delaram, Afghanistan.
A highlight she recalls as her proudest career achievement was leading Project Rabbit. The project confirmed employment of Afghan citizens employed as U.S. Department of Defense contractors in Afghanistan. Overcoming certain barriers, including the region’s low literary rates and lack of personal identification numbers, contributed to the project’s ultimate success.
“Confirming Afghans’ employment is a critical piece to qualify for a Special Immigrant Visa from the U.S. Department of State,” she said. “Project Rabbit was developed before the fall of Kabul in August 2021 and verified the employment of nearly 5,000 Afghans. When you add family members, we helped approximately 20,000 Afghans enter the U.S. It is the project that I am most proud of in my career.”
As a contracting officer, Landale earned an unlimited contracting warrant that is a legal authorization of the highest expenditure authority granted to execute contracts on behalf of the U.S. Air Force. The path to qualify for this level of authority is selective.
Landale said the unlimited warrant opens opportunities she strives to offer as a leader, such as career advancement, and the required education to obtain such a status.
“An unlimited warrant is the weapon school patch for our field,” said Landale. “Government civilians need the unlimited warrant for promotion and officers need it to become squadron commanders. It is not a requirement, but it opens opportunities in the career field.”
Upon retirement, Col. Landale plans to search for private sector employment, and plans to do so, with an advantage.
“Federal contracting is not common, and I am finding this professional experience to be well sought after in the private sector.”
Advancements in artificial intelligence are also beginning to support contracting officers’ ability to expedite the procurement of warfighting capabilities.
“At Hanscom, we are in the perfect location to integrate AI in the contracting process,” Landale said. “I am so impressed with our workforce, that I know Hanscom will be at the forefront of integrating AI.”
The integration of AI technology to support the contracting and acquisition process, specifically proposal reviews, is a solution she endorses.
“Did the AI algorithm pick up on what individuals did not? Once we have perfected that, we can speed up the acquisition process,” she said.
Even with AI in the equation, Landale added, the human element remains a vital component.
“We still require skilled professionals to review acquisition documents and proposals for accuracy,” she said. “The acquisition process produces a significant amount of data, and this is data we require to improve the process.”
On guidance for prospective contracting officers, Landale advises new recruits to, “try everything and get involved. Each challenge you take leads you to new opportunities.”
Landale’s recent notable achievements include the 2017 Air Force Innovation in Contracting Team Award, for category management support; 2018 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Team Award, for innovation in acquisition; 2020 Gears of Government Team Award, for category management support; and the 2021 Office of the Secretary of Defense Group Achievement Award, for COVID-19 response.
Landale’s major awards and decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Air and Space Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Air and Space Organizational Excellence Award and the Air and Space Recognition Ribbon.