Warranted

I'm a real boy now!  There are many milestones in a career as a FSO with USAID.  Milestones include things like tenure, being commissioned, and as a Contracting Officer (CO) with USAID, being warranted.

The warrant is part of the US Government's procurement system in which authorized individuals are allowed to obligate government funding to procure goods and services or obligate grants.  At USAID, since development work is mostly implemented through partners (contractors or grantees), this is an important function.  A USG warrant is specific to each Agency and generally will require being certified through the Federal certification system as well as Agency requirements.

At USAID, the requirements for warrants for new COs include obtaining the first level of federal contracting certification, completion of Agency courses related to grants (assistance) and development, plus at least a year's experience at post.  I received my warrant recently and have been transitioning to the role of signing awards and documentation instead of only drafting and preparing documents.  Of course, I'll still maintain current responsibilities for awards outside my threshold but I'll have another level of responsibility in my work and I'm looking forward to the experience.

The next milestone to strive for now is becoming tenured.