Fort Belvoir, Va. –
DCAA’s Chicago Branch Office motto is Value People, Keep Promises, and Above All Do Right. The office strives to develop and foster teamwork in a growing office. They have been extremely successful in bringing new hires on-board, training them quickly, and giving them their own audits to complete, which makes the new hires feel like valued teammates from the first day. Over the past few years they hired many new talented auditors who bring a fresh perspective to the office and are constantly evolving to become the best they can be. They also encourage their senior auditors to develop into leaders, many of which have been promoted to GS-13. They feel no idea is too silly to try, and as a result, everyone is encouraged to be an active participant in both the office culture and in trying new ways to complete work.
The Chicago office and its suboffices in Milwaukee and Oshkosh, Wisconsin, are responsible for auditing most DoD contractors in Illinois, Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan. The office has 38 employees who are a mix of auditors and administrative professionals. The office supports about 200 contractors, many of which are small or medium sized. The office’s major contractors include
- Oshkosh Defense - manufacturer of trucks and heavy vehicles such as the MRAP and JLTV
- Alion – provider of advanced engineering and information technology
- Accenture – provider of information technology
The small and medium sized contractors manufacture a wide range of components used in larger pieces of military equipment including F-35 and A-10 aircraft, chinook helicopters, and Virginia class submarines. These contractors also provide many services to the military including recruitment advertising for the Army. This wide variety of contractors brings a full range of work, and the office performs every type of audit in the DCAA portfolio including foreign military sales.
While there is always plenty of to do, the office’s employees are a hard-working, yet fun loving group. They put everything they have into providing timely and invaluable audits to their customers, and also take the time to enjoy their teammates at occasional team outings and potlucks. The group has gone to the local escape room and game show simulators to have a few laughs and celebrate their successes. Plus, the year would not be complete without the annual Halloween costume contest.