Harry Humphry Mellon (born September 26, 1946) is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Army, American businessman, inventor of Job Order Contracting, entrepreneur, and founder and Chairman of The Gordian Group, Inc.
In 1982, Mellon conceived the idea of Job Order Contracting. He was working as the Chief Engineer at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium. In 1985, Mellon implemented the Job Order Contracting concept for the U.S. Army, which was called the "Mellon Plan" at the time. Following implementation at the U.S. Army, Mellon moved the idea into the U.S. Air Force and Navy. In 1990, Mellon started The Gordian Group for the sole purpose of providing the services, software, data and documents that would make facility and infrastructure owners successful at Job Order Contracting.
Early years
Mellon was born September 1946, in San Mateo, California to Commander Hugh and Margret Mellon, USN. The Mellons had five sons and a daughter of which Harry was the eldest. Mellon moved to Hawaii, Chicago and Guam before his family finally settled on Coronado Island in California. Mellon graduated from Coronado High School in 1964. Much to the disappointment of his father, a Navy officer and World War II POW, Mellon enlisted in the Army in 1965. Hugh Mellon's parting words to his son when dropping Mellon off to report for duty was, "Son, this is lowest day of your life, you can go no lower."
Military service
Mellon completed basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana and Engineer Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and was commissioned a second lieutenant at the age of 19. Mellon served in Vietnam as an Engineer Company Commander in the Mekong Delta. His primary mission was the construction of the Đồng Tâm Base Camp for the 9th Infantry Division. Following his service in Vietnam, Mellon was assigned to various Army installations including the Presidio of San Francisco. While serving at the Presidio in 1971, Mellon was responsible for coordinating the massive Federal Cleanup effort after the collision of two oil tankers under the Golden Gate Bridge. Following his service in San Francisco, Mellon attended San Diego State University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in Mathematics in 1973. Mellon was then assigned as the Resident Engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers at Langley Air Force Base, VA, where he was responsible for the timely construction of a number of facilities critical to the activation of the first squadron of F-15 fighter aircraft. While serving at Langley, Mellon earned a master's degree in business administration from George Washington University. Mellon was then selected for an appointment to the faculty of the Department of Mathematics at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. In preparation for that assignment, Mellon spent two years at Princeton University earning a master's degree in Civil Engineering. In 1978, Mellon joined the West Point faculty and taught Mathematics for three years. Following West Point, Mellon graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College and was assigned as the Chief Engineer, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium where he invented Job Order Contracting. In 1984, Mellon was reassigned as the Facilities Engineer for the United States Military Academy. That assignment was interrupted in January 1985 when Mellon was reassigned to Corps of Engineers Headquarters for the purpose of developing and implementing the Job Order Contracting process for the United States Department of Defense. Mellon retired from the U.S. Army in July 1986 after 21 years of active service.
Job Order Contracting History
1982-1984: The Origins of JOC
Job Order Contracting has become a multibillion-dollar industry focused on expedited construction procurement. Mellon invented Job Order Contracting (JOC) in January 1982 as a way to solve dire repair and maintenance issues at SHAPE. SHAPE Headquarters was built in 1966 following France's decision to leave the military arm of NATO, thereby forcing headquarters to be moved from Versailles, France to Mons, Belgium. The entire process of construction was completed in six months.