Dawn M. Bare

Dawn Bare is an influential chess master, but she doesn’t spend much time thinking about rooks and pawns. Instead, her strategic expertise centers on offering commercial IT hardware, software and services for her Army customers through the Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions program.

The no-fee CHESS vehicle, which falls under the Army’s Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems, ensures flexibility for its customers by relying on indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts.

Bare manages three enterprise licensing agreements, two enterprise software initiatives and nine vendor contracts that have a combined value of $802 million and support almost 20,000 customers.

Her colleagues said she was also instrumental in awarding the $2.8 million Minitab blanket purchase agreement, which helps the Army’s weapons and service buyers get software licenses through subscriptions.

In short, Bare knows her CHESS moves and strategies inside and out.

“Dawn’s influence extends far beyond the walls of the CHESS building on Fort Belvoir,” CHESS Product Lead Douglas Haskin said.

“Her daily actions directly impact the entire Army and [Defense Department], saving customers tens of millions of dollars on mission-critical software without them even knowing it,” Haskin added. “She is a…tough negotiator on behalf of the government. I know I can always count on Dawn to get the best deal for the Army and DOD while ensuring that terms and conditions are tweaked to comply with the Army’s complex operating environment.”

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