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The Contracting Experience
Similar topics: contracting and acquisition
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COPS - The Contracting Officer Platform
by Mission Contracting Group (MCG)
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Latest episodes
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Topic A13 - Blanket Business: The Debate of IDIQ vs BPA
October 27, 2026 · 22 minSomewhere on an installation, a forklift is broken, the customer needed it fixed yesterday, and somebody has confidently announced, “Just put it on a BPA.” Three people nod. Somebody forwards a template that still has a fax number…
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Topic 013 - Blanket Business: The Life of a BPA
October 27, 2026 · 56 min“Just put it on the BPA.” A beautifully efficient sentence. It can end a meeting, lower everyone’s blood pressure, and leave the Contracting Officer with approximately fourteen follow-up questions. Which BPA? Under what authority? Who can…
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Topic A12 - The Bid Box DEBATE
August 29, 2026 · 25 minIn this episode of COPS – The Contracting Officer Platform, we’re debating one-step versus two-step sealed bidding. One-step is simple: describe what you need, receive sealed prices, open the bids, and make the award. Two-step exists…
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Topic 012 - The Bid Box
August 29, 2026 · 48 minIn this episode of COPS – The Contracting Officer Platform, we’re diving into sealed bidding—a process that sounds simple until an actual bid shows up. Publish the IFB, collect the bids, open the box, and award to the lowest…
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Topic 011 - Commercial Pricing Decoded
July 24, 2026 · 46 minWelcome back for another episode of The Contracting Officer Platform. A quick heads up.... "Looks about right" isn't a pricing technique. At some point, every Contracting Officer has looked at a proposal and wondered, "Okay... but how do I…
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Topic 010 - Understanding the CSO Playbook
July 13, 2026 · 49 min(Ignore the FAR 13 reference they gloss over.) Every acquisition starts with a mission. Most start with a solution. Only a few start with a problem. And that's exactly where Commercial Solutions Openings (CSOs) change the game. Welcome…
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Topic A09 - Commercially Speaking (The Debate)
July 7, 2026 · 24 minCOPS Debate Night: Commercially Speaking - RFO Part 12 vs. RFO Part 15 Welcome back to COPS Debate Night, where the regulations are real, the opinions are stronger, and everyone is convinced their acquisition strategy is the one the FAR…
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Topic 009 - Commercially Speaking
July 7, 2026 · 43 minIn this episode of COPS – The Contracting Officer Platform, we're diving into one of acquisition's favorite pastimes: arguing over whether something is actually commercial. Is it a commercial product? A commercial service? COTS? Or is…
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Topic B08 - Match the Mission: IDIQ vs BOA Agility (Debate)
June 17, 2026 · 25 minCOPS Debate Night ROUND TWO: IDIQ vs BOA — Structure vs Agility In this special double header of COPS debate episodes, two acquisition heavyweights step into the ring to settle a question every contracting professional has wrestled…
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Topic A08 - Match the Mission: FP vs CR Risk (Debate)
June 17, 2026 · 21 minFixed-Price. Cost-Reimbursement. Incentives. Time-and-Materials. Every contract type comes with a different balance of risk, control, flexibility, and performance. In this special debate-style episode of COPS – The Contracting Officer…
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Topic 008 - Matching the Mission with Contract Types
June 17, 2026 · 1 hr 3 minWhat do contract types, delivery vehicles, special contract forms, and agreements all have in common? They're tools—and every tool was built to solve a different problem. In this episode of COPS – The Contracting Officer Platform, we take…
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Topic 007 - The Competition Compass
June 7, 2026 · 55 minIn this episode of COPS – The Contracting Officer Platform, we take a practical — and occasionally painful — journey through the world of federal competition requirements and acquisition exceptions. Using RFO part 6 and Topic 007: The CO’s…
About the show
Knowing the rule is one thing. Knowing what to do with it is the job.
COPS—The Contracting Officer Platform—is the podcast for acquisition professionals who want to sharpen the judgment behind the warrant. Brought to you by Mission Contracting Group (MCG), each episode tackles the decisions that make contracting difficult: incomplete facts, competing priorities, mission pressure, changing policy, and the gray areas no regulation resolves for you.
From warrant board scenarios and GAO decisions to fiscal law and real-world acquisition problems, COPS breaks down more than what the rule says. We examine how to apply it, where people get tripped up, and what makes a decision defensible.
You won’t get scripts to memorize or someone reading the FAR into a microphone. You’ll get practical frameworks, candid discussions, and the kinds of questions good contracting officers ask before signing their names.
Because when the answer is “it depends,” you should know what it depends on.