The U.S. Coast Guard celebrates its contracting and procurement enterprise during the Head of the Contracting Activity annual awards ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., May 17, 2022.Seven awards in individual and team categories recognized exceptional performance during fiscal year 2021. Nominations for the awards were made by peers within the 1,100-member extended contracting and procurement community.U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Paul Thomas, Deputy Commandant for Mission Support, was keynote speaker at the event, and emphasized the importance of contracting and procurement to the Coast Guard during his remarks. Every life we save, every ounce of cocaine that comes off the water, every vessel we inspect, passengers that we protect, fisheries law that we enforce, every single one of those missions starts with a contracting action.”