Posted on February 2, 2026
Michelle Mandel became the chief of the Contracting Division for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District on January 25, 2026. In this role, she oversees contracting work for the diverse mission portfolio of the district, which includes military, civil works, environmental and other agency construction projects across the state and in multiple countries.
Before this position, she served as the deputy chief of the Contracting Division at the Alaska District. As deputy chief, she supervised a team of senior contract specialists who contribute to significant civil works and military projects as well as large capacity Architect-Engineer and services IDIQ contracts. In addition to supervising the administrative aspects of the Contracting Division, she contributed as an active contracting officer with an unlimited warrant for projects totaling over $1 billion annually.
Prior to her most recent role, Mandel worked as a contract specialist and contracting officer for 23 years, beginning her career completing simplified acquisition and small service contracts as a contracting intern at the Army Regional Contracting Office at Fort Richardson, Alaska. She returned to USACE in 2006, where she began her federal service as a summer hire at the age of 17. In the Military Branch of the district’s Contracting Division, she worked with military construction and A-E projects and obtained her first $10M warrant in 2009, transitioning to a $50M warrant in 2011 and an unlimited warrant in 2021.
Mandel became the Chief of the Military Contracting Branch in 2015 and played a key role in executing the F-35 beddown program at Eielson AFB, an eight-year effort comprised of 23 separate contracts totaling half a billion dollars. In her years of military construction procurement, she became a subject matter expert on best value and tradeoff source selection, acting as a source selection authority and contracting officer for a variety of projects.
Her awards and decorations include Department of the Army’s Achievement Medal for Civilian Service; the POA Talley Award for Superior Service; the Army Office of Small Business Programs 2015 Contracting Professional of the Year Award; the USACE Small Business Program Contracting Professional of the Year Award in 2022; and numerous awards for exceptional performance.
Mandel is a graduate of Wayland Baptist University with a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Education and holds a Level III DAWIA certification in Contracting. She also completed the Army Management Staff College Leader Development program.
