10 U.S.C. § 4502 — Procurement of contract services: senior officials responsible for management of acquisition of contract services

The service acquisition executive^* of each military department shall be the senior official responsible for the management of acquisition^* of contract services for or on behalf of the military department.

The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall be the senior official responsible for the management of acquisition of contract services for or on behalf of the Defense Agencies and other components of the Department of Defense outside the military departments^*.

Except as provided in paragraph (2), the senior officials responsible for the management of acquisition of contract services shall assign responsibility for the review and approval of procurements in each contract services acquisition category established under section 4501(d) of this title to specific Department of Defense officials, subject to the direction, supervision, and oversight of such senior officials.

With respect to the acquisition of contract services by a component or command of the Department of Defense the primary mission of which is the acquisition of products and services, such acquisition shall be conducted in accordance with policies, procedures, and best practices guidelines developed and maintained by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment pursuant to section 4501 of this title, subject to oversight by the senior officials referred to in paragraph (1).

implement the requirements of this section and section 4501 of this title and the policies, procedures, and best practices guidelines developed by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment pursuant to section 4501(b) of this title;

authorize the procurement of contract services through contracts entered into by agencies outside the Department of Defense in appropriate circumstances, in accordance with the requirements of section 854 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (10 U.S.C. 2304 note), section 814 of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (31 U.S.C. 1535 note), and the regulations implementing such sections;

dedicate full-time commodity managers to coordinate the procurement of key categories of services;

ensure that contract services are procured by means of procurement actions that are in the best interests of the Department of Defense and are entered into and managed in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, directives, and requirements;

ensure that competitive procedures^* and performance-based contracting are used to the maximum extent practicable for the procurement of contract services; and

monitor data collection under section 4505 of this title, and periodically conduct spending analyses, to ensure that funds expended for the procurement of contract services are being expended in the most rational and economical manner practicable.

The term “procurement action” includes the following actions:

The term “contract services” includes all services acquired from private sector entities by or for the Department of Defense, including services in support of contingency operations. The term does not include services relating to research and development or military construction.