GAO | The Contracting Education Academy

September 16, 2020 By cs

Pentagon, Defense contractors are out of step on tech innovation, GAO finds

The Pentagon wanted to fund ambitious research into future tech breakthroughs but contractors spend most of their money on safer bets, GAO has found.

Two years after the Pentagon set out to spend billions on 10 breakthrough research and engineering efforts, defense contractors instead are putting most of their money in less ambitious research projects.

The development gap between the military and its suppliers troubled investigators at the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, who determined in a report released last Thursday that the Defense Department isn’t keeping good watch over those private efforts and doesn’t know how much of it would fit into the military’s tech goals.

The Pentagon’s undersecretary for research and engineering in 2018 laid out several big idea research areas that would be most relevant to maintaining an edge on China or Russia. Many are in the very early stages of maturation; the biggest breakthroughs are expected in the second half of the coming decade.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/09/pentagon-defense-contractors-are-out-step-tech-innovation-gao-finds/168237/

September 8, 2020 By cs

GAO affirms denial of protest by contractor who failed to submit an adequately written proposal

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently denied a protest brought by a contractor who failed to submit an adequately written proposal for the award of a federal contract.

In Patriot Defense Group, LLC (B-418720.3, August 5, 2020, 2020 WL 4501318), the decision breaks no new ground legally but it serves as a timely reminder of how failure to identify the assumptions upon which a proposal is based will yield a disappointing result.

The details of this case begin with the Request for Proposals (RFP).

The U.S. Special Operations Command issued a request for proposals for multiple indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts to provide a variety of professional, technical, management, and administrative services. The RFP recited that an award would be made to all “qualifying offerors,” defined as offerors that received a pass rating for administrative and responsibility matters, an acceptable rating for an IDIQ evaluation factor, and a substantial confidence rating for past performance.

Among other things, offerors were required to submit a minimum of three past performance information sheets for contracts which were relevant to each offeror’s ability to perform the work described in the RFP. Prior contracts were to be assigned past performance relevancy ratings. The RFP warned offerors that they were required to include a rationale supporting the assertion of relevance. They were also to describe in detail how the company’s past performance on each contract applies to the “relevancy criteria” identified in the RFP.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/government-contracts-procurement-ppp/982362/gao-affirms-denial-of-protest-by-contractor-who-failed-to-submit-an-adequately-written-proposal

July 30, 2020 By cs

Verizon loses protest of use of LPTA

The Government Accountability Office has denied Verizon’s protest of the use of lowest price, technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection for telecommunications services under the $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) telecom and network modernization contract.

Verizon specifically protested requests for proposals by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), arguing that the reliance on LPTA violated the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, as well as the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, which both require the Department of Defense to try to avoid such source selection when acquiring information technology.

The telecom company suggested DISA instead use best value tradeoff (BVTO) source selection, which would see the task order awarded to the contractor offering the greatest value to the government — not the lowest-cost or highest technically rated offeror.

GAO rejected that idea.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/verizon-lpta-eis-protest-denied/

July 24, 2020 By cs

Two firms renew legal challenges to DoD’s $7 billion moving contract

A Pentagon contract meant to completely overhaul the military’s system for moving service members’ belongings around the world is once again under protest.

The same two companies who had initially challenged the $7.2 billion Global Household Goods Contract (GHC) in May filed new bid protests at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week, meaning the contract could continue to be tied up until Oct. 21, the due date for GAO to rule on the latest round of challenges.

GAO dismissed protests by Connected Global Alliance LLC, and HomeSafe Alliance LLC late last month after U.S. Transportation Command pledged to take corrective action on at least one of the issues they raised in their complaints. But less than two weeks later, TRANSCOM announced it wouldn’t be taking any corrective action after all, and re-awarded the contract to the same vendor it initially picked for the award, American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group (ARC).

“The decision to re-award GHC in light of the serious issues raised is extremely disappointing,” Al Thompson, HomeSafe’s CEO said in a statement. “We are confident GAO will agree that errors have been made on a major contract that touches every member of the armed forces and their families.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2020/07/two-firms-renew-legal-challenges-to-dods-7b-moving-contract/

See earlier article about this subject at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/2020/07/09/transcom-allegations-unsubstantiated-awards-7-2-billion-contract-to-privatize-household-goods-moves/

July 9, 2020 By cs

TRANSCOM: Allegations ‘unsubstantiated,’ awards $7.2 billion contract to privatize household goods moves

U.S. Transportation Command officials have confirmed their award to a New Jersey company of a $7.2 billion contract to outsource management of service members’ household goods, according to a statement from the command.

Allegations made against the company, American Roll On Roll Off Carrier Group, of Parsippany, N.J., were “unsubstantiated,” TRANSCOM officials said, resulting in the confirmation of the award Monday.

The $7.2 billion contract covers a nine-month transition period and three-year base period. But if all the options are exercised, the contract will be worth about $20 billion over nine years. The contract doesn’t affect service members’ moves currently under way; all household goods moves will continue under the current system, managed by TRANSCOM, until February, 2021.

“Team ARC remains committed to our proposal to provide exceptional customer service to TRANSCOM and the service members,” said ARC CEO Eric Ebeling, in a statement. “We look forward to getting started on the [Global Household Goods Contract.]”

TRANSCOM had previously pulled back the contract for the review, and notified the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of its intent to review the allegations on June 9.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.militarytimes.com/pay-benefits/2020/06/29/transcom-allegations-unsubstantiated-awards-72b-contract-to-privatize-household-goods-moves/

Also see: TRANSCOM offers explanation for reversal on corrective action, but it’s difficult to square with publicly-available evidence at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/dod-reporters-notebook-jared-serbu/2020/07/dods-7b-household-goods-contract-takes-an-even-stranger-turn/

The Pentagon wanted to fund ambitious research into future tech breakthroughs but contractors spend most of their money on safer bets, GAO has found.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently denied a protest brought by a contractor who failed to submit an adequately written proposal for the award of a federal contract.

The Government Accountability Office has denied Verizon’s protest of the use of lowest price, technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection for telecommunications services under the $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) telecom and network modernization contract.

A Pentagon contract meant to completely overhaul the military’s system for moving service members’ belongings around the world is once again under protest.

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