Join Tom Essig, former Chief Procurement Officer of DHS and GTSC Strategic Advisor, and Josh Kussman, President of Sentinel Business Advisory Services at The Sentinel HS Group, to gain an in-depth look at every stage in the proposal process — from the RFI to your response to an RFP. They will especially focus on proposal writing for DHS and DOD.

About Mr. Essig

As a senior acquisition professional with more than 30 years experience with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of the Navy (DON), Mr. Essig has expertise in contracting and program management and is certified by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security at career level III in both the contracting and program management.

He currently advises government and commercial organizations on federal acquisition and procurement and contracting matters through his company TWE, LLC. He also currently serves as a Procurement Subject Matter Expert with Kearney & Company.

His most recent federal position was as the Chief Procurement Officer for DHS from 2006 to 2009 where he was responsible for the management, administration and oversight of the department’s acquisition, strategic sourcing program, competitive sourcing program and providing leadership over the department’s $17 Billion in annual acquisitions.

Mr. Essig reported to office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) in February 2004. As Director of the Program Analysis and Business Transformation Division, he was responsible for overseeing analysis and support of contracting and business aspects of DON acquisition and other procurement programs and for the development and support of business transformation initiatives within DON. His division reflected the merger of the former Program Analysis and Support Division with the DON Acquisition Reform Office, and he was responsible for functions previously performed by those organizations.

From 1999 to 2004, Mr. Essig served as the Executive Director of the U.S. Navy Office of Special Projects (OSP). The OSP is a second echelon command reporting to the Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command and provides logistics, transportation, finance and other business and supply-related support to the fleet and shore establishment of the Department of the Navy. OSP’s mission supports every facet of the Navy. While in this assignment, Mr. Essig also served as the Director of the Navy Engineering Logistics Office.

Mr. Essig was selected as a member of the Senior Executive Service in 1995 and served as the Director of the Surface Systems Contracts Division of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). In this position he led a major procurement organization that planned, negotiated, and administered approximately 2,000 procurement actions valued at greater than $3 billion dollars annually.

Mr. Essig earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland in 1976 and graduated, with distinction, from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1991. In 2000, he graduated from the Advanced Program Management Course at the Defense Systems Management College. He is a member of the Department of the Navy Acquisition Professional Community.

Mr. Essig began his federal career in 1976 when he entered the Navy’s Contracting Intern Development Program and was assigned to NAVSEA as a contract specialist, supporting various Naval weapon systems programs. In 1985, he was selected as the contracting officer for the Aircraft Carrier and Battleship programs. While in that position, he successfully negotiated what was then the largest shipbuilding contract in U.S. Navy history: a $4.3 billion contract for construction of two NIMITZ-class aircraft carriers. During his tenure at NAVSEA, Mr. Essig also served as the contracting officer for Standard Missile production, head of the Major Combatant Shipbuilding Branch, and Assistant Director of the Shipbuilding and Undersea Systems Contracts Divisions. In 1997, he received Vice President Gore’s Hammer Award for his work as a member of the Joint Navy/Industry Submarine Combat System Integrated Development Plan Team. He was awarded the Department of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award in 1999 and the Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2004.

About Mr. Kussman

Mr. Kussman served as Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner from Oct. 2003 to December 2005. In 2005, Commissioner Bonner named him Director of Policy for CBP. In that capacity, Mr. Kussman led the development and coordination of agency-wide policy for CBP.

Mr. Kussman has extensive experience on homeland security matters related to border security, terrorism, international trade & travel, customs, immigration, transportation and intelligence.

While serving as Senior Policy Advisor to Commissioner Bonner and Director of Policy for CBP, Mr. Kussman:

• Advised Commissioner Bonner on a wide array of matters relating to CBP operations and policies, including the integration of CBP into one agency following the creation of CBP and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
• Advised Commissioner Bonner and the Chief of the Border Patrol on policies and operations related to the transition of the Border Patrol into CBP and the establishment of a more nationally-directed, headquarters driven Border Patrol, including:
  • Drafting and implementing the new National Border Patrol Strategy.
  • Reorganizing and re-invigorating the Border Patrol’s new headquarters structure.
  • Developing the policies and strategies for the America’s Shield Initiative (ASI).
  • Developing strategies for the use by CBP and the Border Patrol of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

• Coordinated CBP’s efforts, in conjunction with DHS, to develop and implement the Secure Border Initiative (SBI).
• Led CBP’s process of creating CBP Air, which resulted from the merger of former Air and Marine Operations unit with the U.S. Border Patrol’s aviation division into a single integrated office within CBP. CBP Air is the largest civilian law enforcement air program in the world.
• Directed CBP’s efforts to coordinate CBP policies and operations with the Detention and Removals Office (DRO) of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
• Led CBP’s coordinated effort to expand the use of expedited removal procedures, for the first time, to Border Patrol Agents operating between ports of entry. This effort involved developing regulations, policies and procedures, providing training to thousands of Border Patrol Agents, and coordinating the implementation of this program with ICE and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS).
• Served as CBP’s primary representative to the Interagency Incident Management Group (IIMG), which advises the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on important policy and operational issues during significant incidents and contingencies.
• Developed international, multilateral, and bilateral strategies for increasing the security of our borders, including:
  • The Arizona Border Control Initiative (ABCI);
  • The Immigration Advisory Program (IAP);
  • Coordinated CBP’s participation in the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP);
  • Coordinated CBP policies related to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, the National Security Entry Exit Registration System (NSEERS), and the biometric collection of information from travelers.

• Worked closely with the Homeland Security Council, the State Department, the DHS Offices of the Secretary, the United States Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on visa, immigration, maritime security, intelligence, and other homeland security matters.

Before serving in the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Kussman was an attorney with the San Francisco office of O’Melveny and Myers, where he specialized in intellectual property litigation and white-collar criminal defense.
Mr. Kussman also served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Mr. Kussman is a 1998 graduate, with honors, of the University of Chicago Law School. He graduated cum laude from Williams College in 1994.