ABOUT BEN ZASLOW

I am a recently retired Senior U.S. Government Acquisition Official. I was initially trained by the Department of Defense as a Contracting Officer, and achieved DAWIA Level III certification - the highest level attainable.

 

For those that may not be aware, Government Contracting Officers are the only officials authorized to sign contracts and obligate the U.S. Government to the expenditure of funds. They have oversight over the entire acquisition process, including ensuring the integrity and fairness of the competitive acquisition process, as well as having responsibility for enforcing the complex set of procurement rules known as the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

 

As a Senior Supervisory Contracting Officer at both the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation, I awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in Government contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements, and am a recognized expert in U.S. Government procurement.

 

My most recent position was with the Department of Energy, as Director, Field Assistance and Oversight Division, where I supervised a staff of Senior Procurement Analysts responsible for providing acquisition oversight and guidance to the Department’s $30 billion in procurement actions.

 

I graduated from Temple University with a BA in Communications, and from the University of Maryland with a MS in Management. I subsequently attended the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI), and the Federal Executive Institute (FEI), where I received further education in a variety of acquisition related disciplines including contract law and regulation, cost/price analysis, performance-based and incentive contracting techniques, quality assurance, and executive leadership to name just a few.

 

In joining the Government, I followed in my Dad’s footsteps. He was a pioneer in the development of the nation’s Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities, having been the program manager for the P3 ASW ANEW program in the 1960s. He subsequently applied for, and was appointed, as the Science Advisor to the Sixth Fleet, based in the Mediterranean.  As a result, I spent much of my teen years in Naples Italy, where I graduated high school in 1977.