AACOG-JBSA BLANKET IGSA CASE STUDY

The historic Blanket Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA) between the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG) and Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), the first of its kind for the U.S. Air Force, continues to generate millions of dollars in reduced costs for the military at JBSA and hundreds of thousands of dollars in new non-tax revenue for local governments in the San Antonio region. A win-win-win and Partnership that Pays for Itself! 

SONRI brokered every aspect of negotiating this agreement and provides ongoing support for its execution, including conducting analyses for new Task Orders; facilitating workgroups to develop new opportunities; and providing coaching and advice to AACOG staff concerning intergovernmental relationships, Task Order execution, and billing and payments. In September 2025, JBSA and AACOG agreed to add Fiber Optic Cable installation to the agreement, when analysis found that the community can provide the services at savings approaching 70%. 

In 2017 AACOG identified the need for additional community investments in fostering IGSAs to better position the community and JBSA, not only to compete for new missions, but to prosper regardless of impacts caused by future Base Realignment and Closure process changes.

AACOG hired SONRI to help break a logjam in developing IGSAs, which would not only help the military save money, but also produce new revenue for local government and generate mission benefits for the military, such as promoting safety of flight at JBSA-Randolph AFB. The vision was to create a whole new level of cooperation and collaboration between JBSA and the many communities that host its diverse facilities and missions. 

SONRI convened a working group with a truly bold goal: develop the first ever Blanket IGSA created exclusively under the IGSA authority outside of Monterey, CA. The U.S. Air Force had never before attempted this daunting task, one that had been completed only one other time by the U.S. Army. The process required innovative approaches and innovative thinking on behalf of all stakeholders. Throughout, SONRI provided advice to stakeholders on how to communicate effectively with each other, facilitated working groups, and when necessary, utilized SONRI’s exclusive Bureaucratic Engagement Protocol© to overcome naysayers. The Protocol provides a framework in which to hold people responsible and accountable for timely, constructive work and contributions to the working group, and provides for graduated consequences for obstruction, obfuscation, or delay.

On September 25, 2019, AACOG’s Executive Director joined Brigadier General Laura Lenderman, Commander of JBSA and the 502d Air Base Wing, in signing the historic Blanket IGSA agreement. This created a novel approach to base operating support for the military and fundamentally changed the relationship of the community to the base in a host of ways. Instead of relying solely on organic capabilities or contracting under the Federal Acquisition Regulations, installations can now turn to their host communities for support, and anything a host state or local government does for themselves may be offered as goods or services to the installation. 

This truly innovative approach required leadership, political will, patience, persistence, and perseverance. It makes JBSA an even more attractive location for new and expanded military missions and creates new connections and opportunities between the base and AACOG. The Blanket IGSA approach holds the greatest promise for community support for military installations since the creation of the Monterey Model in the mid-1990s, as was recognized by General and Mrs. C.Q. Brown, Air Force Chief of Staff, at the 2022 Air Force Association convention. The visionary leadership of AACOG, with strong community support and open-handed partnership from JBSA, is transforming how communities and their installations interact and cooperate. SONRI is proud to have been the lynchpin of creating this historic agreement!