Dr. Robert A. Boesen, CFCM, is a federal acquisition professional, scholar, instructor, and United States Navy veteran whose work focuses on the interpretation of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as a regulatory text.
He currently serves as an Administrative Contracting Officer with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), where he holds unlimited warrant authority. His professional background includes senior contracting experience across multiple agencies and mission environments, including Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the National Guard, where he previously served as Chief of the Contracting Office for the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
His acquisition experience spans contract formation, post-award administration, construction contracting, architect-engineer services, services acquisitions, contract modifications, contractor oversight, pricing, responsibility determinations, protests, closeout, and regulatory documentation. His work has included two separate F-35-related renovations and infrastructure upgrades, military construction projects exceeding $100 million, major contract closeout efforts, and acquisition support for mission-critical requirements.
Dr. Boesen is a Certified Federal Contract Manager (CFCM), an instructor for the National Contract Management Association (NCMA), a Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Contracting Level III professional, a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps, and a lifetime member of NCMA.
Professional Background
Scholarship and Research
Dr. Boesen earned his Doctor of Education from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. His doctoral research examined sustainable procurement behavior among Department of Defense contracting officers, with particular attention to whether affective commitment to change is related to the implementation of sustainable public procurement behavior.
His dissertation, Sustainable Procurement Behavior Among Contracting Officers, reflects his broader interest in federal acquisition judgment, regulatory implementation, workforce behavior, and the role contracting officers play in translating public policy into acquisition practice.
The study found a positive relationship between affective commitment to change and sustainable procurement behavior among Department of Defense contracting officers. This research informs Dr. Boesen’s continuing work on acquisition workforce development, sustainable acquisition, and the interpretation of the Federal Acquisition Regulation as a decision-making framework.
Professional Perspective
Federal acquisition is more than the purchase of supplies and services. It is a public decision-making system that turns mission need into lawful, supportable, and reviewable action.
Dr. Boesen’s work approaches contracting as both a regulatory discipline and a practical profession. Acquisition professionals do not simply process requirements. They interpret authority, test assumptions, examine market facts, select appropriate strategies, manage risk, and build the record that supports the decision.
That perspective also shapes his interest in sustainable acquisition and the broader public value of federal contracting. Mission performance, cost reasonableness, competition, small business participation, and environmental stewardship are not separate slogans. They are acquisition judgments that must be reasoned through the lens of the FAR.
The central professional habit is disciplined judgment: knowing when speed is necessary, when documentation is essential, when flexibility is available, and when the better answer is to hold the line.