GAO upholds Afghan training contract protest
DynCorp International argues that the Army’s new proposed task orders were outside the scope of the underlying multiple awards contract.
The Government Accountability Office has upheld a protest by DynCorp International that will allow the contractor to compete for a $1.6 billion training contract in Afghanistan.
In a decision that has been widely anticipated by Defense Department contractors, GAO ruled on Monday that the Army's plan for purchasing training and logistical support for Afghanistan's National Police and Interior Department had veered outside the scope of the underlying multiple award contract.
"We are very pleased that the GAO ruled in favor of our protest and in support of a full and open contracting competition that will ensure maximum benefit to the taxpayer and the most qualified partner to support our warfighting men and women in Afghanistan," said DynCorp International President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Ballhaus.
DynCorp currently holds a State Department contract to train police in Afghanistan and Iraq. The work is scheduled to be shifted to the Defense Department later this year.
Rather than rebidding a new contract, the Army attempted to piggyback a pair of task orders onto an existing Defense counternarcotics technology contract. DynCorp was not among the five contractors that would have been eligible to bid for the work, a list which included Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Xe Services LLC, formerly Blackwater.
But, in an unusual move, DynCorp filed a protest in December 2009 -- before the new contract was even awarded -- challenging the Army's procurement strategy and limited bidding process. GAO agreed with the company, noting that the multiple awards contracts were geared for technology acquisition and not police training.
"In our view, the underlying multiple award contracts did not contemplate providing the services requested by these task order solicitations, as these services are significantly broader than the counternarcoterrorism efforts anticipated by the underlying contracts," said Ralph O. White, GAO's acting managing associate general counsel for procurement law.
GAO recommended the Army cancel the task order solicitations and either conduct a full and open competition, or request a waiver to limit competition for the work.