Tradewinds: What Every Acquisition Professional Should Know

Mr. Quentin McCoy is the Director of Procurement at the Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO). In this position, McCoy serves as the CDAO Head of Contracting Activity and is responsible for the management of all procurement activities and the stand-up of the CDAO Procurement Office supporting the DoD’s enterprise adoption of AI from the “boardroom to the battlefield.” Prior to joining CDAO, McCoy was the inaugural HCA for the United States Cyber Command. While there, he helped to posture and mature the Command for its increased budget from $600M(FY18) to now more than $3B(FY24) in support of the delivery of the DoD's joint-cyber capabilities, to include the DoD's Joint Cyber Warfare Architecture, an enterprise-wide cyber weapons platform. Mr. McCoy has been a public servant for more than 23yrs, with over 19 years of acquisition and procurement experience, most notably within the Intelligence Community (IC) and as a Contracting Officer supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. 

Mr. McCoy is a native Washingtonian. He holds an MBA in Aerospace and Defense from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville and is Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level III certified in contracting. McCoy is a recent recipient of the GovExec “Federal 100” award recognizing the nation’s top 100 leaders in the Federal IT community.

Benjamin McMartin, ESQ., CPCM, NCMA Fellow, is the Applied Research Institute (ARI) Industry Lead on the Tradewinds program. He is the Principal and Founder of NL1GHTN Acquisition Advisors, and a Senior Research Fellow at the George Mason University, Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting. McMartin holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. McMartin is the co-author of Public Procurement for Innovation: Research and Development at the US Federal Level, published in 2024, and has published numerous studies, reports, and articles related to Federal procurement policy and practice. McMartin is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, a Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM), and National Contracts Management Association Fellow. Mr. McMartin’s research focus areas include Federal and defense procurement policy, intellectual property, technology transition, Artificial Intelligence policy, and emerging technology trends for national security. Mr. McMartin has more than a decade of practical experience as a contracting and agreements officer and acquisition manager for the Department of Defense and was instrumental in the development and implementation of defense policy and guidance for the use of Other Transaction Authorities while serving as Chief of the Acquisition Management Office for the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command – Ground Vehicle Systems Center.

Ryan Connell is the Director of Strategic Acquisition Operations in the Department of Defense (DOD) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO). In this role, he supports AI acquisition policy, AI experimentation, and the Tradewinds Solution Marketplace. Mr. Connell joined CDAO in 2024, previously supporting the congressionally mandated commercial acquisition cadre of experts in DoD. Ryan spent the last 8 years focused on DoD contract strategy for the integration of commercial technology, leveraging commercial business practices, and removing barriers to entry for non-traditional defense contractors Mr. Connell has 15 years in Defense acquisition experience which includes cost estimating, pricing & negotiation, cost & compliance, commercial acquisition, and market-based pricing.. Ryan has his MBA, DAWIA certifications in both contracting and program management, is on NCMA Boston’s Board of Directors, and leads NCMAs agile and innovation Community of Practice.

Lt Col John Ellis is a Professor of Contract Management at the Defense Acquisition University, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Lt Col Ellis entered the Air Force in May 2009. After receiving his commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) at the University of Alabama in May 2009. Lt Col Ellis has served as a Contracting Officer in Support of the Air Operations Center at Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB), Mass, served as the Congressional Liaison Officer for the Air Force Installation Management Support Center. Prior to his current position, Lt Col Ellis was the Commander of the 380th Expeditionary Contracting Squadron at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.