Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Houston Chronicle
April 18, 2008 By David Ivanovich, Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Houston-based KBR has again been selected to participate in a 10-year military logistical support contract valued at up to $150 billion, the U.S. Army announced Thursday.
The Army Sustainment Command, at the insistence of the Government Accountability Office, had re-evaluated its decision last summer to award the massive contract to KBR, Fort Worth-based DynCorp International and Fluor Intercontinental of Greenville, S.C.
But after rebidding the contract, the Army chose the same three players.
Jim Loehrl, the Army Sustainment Command's executive director for acquisition, called the selection process "painstaking and thorough."
KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said the company is "honored to have been selected as one of the executing contractors that will continue to provide support and vital services to our troops."
From big to small
Under what is the fourth iteration of the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, known as LOGCAP IV, the three companies will be responsible for providing a host of support services for U.S. troops, from building bases to serving up soup.
Under the contract, each company will have an opportunity to bid for work as the Army rolls out assignments. Each participant is limited to $5 billion worth of work in any one year and $50 billion over the life of the contract.
Currently, KBR has sole responsibility for providing support services to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world, under a logistics contract valued at $27 billion. The bulk of that work — more than $24 billion obligated to date — has resulted from the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, Army records show.
KBR's record
Since being awarded the current contract in 2002, KBR has served up more than 720 million meals, driven more than 400 million miles in convoys, produced more than 12 billion gallons of potable water and more than 267 million tons of ice, company officials said.
But when awarding the contract this time around, Army officials opted to split up the contract work in the hopes of stimulating competition among the three participants.
The Rock Island, Ill.-based Army Sustainment Command awarded the newest logistics contract to KBR, DynCorp and Fluor last June, after taking bids from six companies.
Two firms on the losing end of that decision, IAP Worldwide Services and Contingency Management Group, filed protests.
After reviewing their complaints, the GAO found flaws in the Army's evaluation of the proposals from KBR and Fluor.
The GAO, Loehrl said, pointed to a discrepancy in one of the proposals, as well as lack of clarity about where the contractors would obtain equipment, how they would evaluate their business systems and how they would consider employing host-country nationals.
So the Army started over, receiving new bids from the three previous winners and two protesting firms.
But after evaluating the offers anew, the results were the same.
'Thoughtful and fair'
KBR officials thanked the Army on Thursday for what spokeswoman Browne described as a "thoughtful and fair review process." The company considers its selection as part of the next contract as "recognition of the quality services that we have already provided our troops," she said.
Loehrl said Army officials don't expect the companies that did not win a share of the contract to file new protests.
"I think we'll do a good job of debriefing them," he said.
Responding to the decision, Arlene Mellinger, a spokeswoman for IAP, said, "We congratulate the awardees and have no additional comments at this time."
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., a critic of KBR's performance in Iraq, declined to comment on the contract award.
Since the earliest days of the war in Iraq, KBR has come under criticism for its performance under the contract, for issues ranging from overbilling problems to worker deaths.
Army officials took the bidders' past performance into account when awarding the contract, Loehrl said.
Personnel movements
The Army expects to launch the new program in about 60 days, Loehrl said, and Army officials anticipate some sizable movements of personnel as KBR begins to share duties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Controversy has long swirled around KBR's big Pentagon contract, partly because Vice President Dick Cheney previously served as head of KBR's former parent company, Halliburton. The companies split more than a year ago.
April 18, 2008 By David Ivanovich, Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Houston-based KBR has again been selected to participate in a 10-year military logistical support contract valued at up to $150 billion, the U.S. Army announced Thursday.
The Army Sustainment Command, at the insistence of the Government Accountability Office, had re-evaluated its decision last summer to award the massive contract to KBR, Fort Worth-based DynCorp International and Fluor Intercontinental of Greenville, S.C.
But after rebidding the contract, the Army chose the same three players.
Jim Loehrl, the Army Sustainment Command's executive director for acquisition, called the selection process "painstaking and thorough."
KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said the company is "honored to have been selected as one of the executing contractors that will continue to provide support and vital services to our troops."
From big to small
Under what is the fourth iteration of the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, known as LOGCAP IV, the three companies will be responsible for providing a host of support services for U.S. troops, from building bases to serving up soup.
Under the contract, each company will have an opportunity to bid for work as the Army rolls out assignments. Each participant is limited to $5 billion worth of work in any one year and $50 billion over the life of the contract.
Currently, KBR has sole responsibility for providing support services to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world, under a logistics contract valued at $27 billion. The bulk of that work — more than $24 billion obligated to date — has resulted from the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, Army records show.
KBR's record
Since being awarded the current contract in 2002, KBR has served up more than 720 million meals, driven more than 400 million miles in convoys, produced more than 12 billion gallons of potable water and more than 267 million tons of ice, company officials said.
But when awarding the contract this time around, Army officials opted to split up the contract work in the hopes of stimulating competition among the three participants.
The Rock Island, Ill.-based Army Sustainment Command awarded the newest logistics contract to KBR, DynCorp and Fluor last June, after taking bids from six companies.
Two firms on the losing end of that decision, IAP Worldwide Services and Contingency Management Group, filed protests.
After reviewing their complaints, the GAO found flaws in the Army's evaluation of the proposals from KBR and Fluor.
The GAO, Loehrl said, pointed to a discrepancy in one of the proposals, as well as lack of clarity about where the contractors would obtain equipment, how they would evaluate their business systems and how they would consider employing host-country nationals.
So the Army started over, receiving new bids from the three previous winners and two protesting firms.
But after evaluating the offers anew, the results were the same.
'Thoughtful and fair'
KBR officials thanked the Army on Thursday for what spokeswoman Browne described as a "thoughtful and fair review process." The company considers its selection as part of the next contract as "recognition of the quality services that we have already provided our troops," she said.
Loehrl said Army officials don't expect the companies that did not win a share of the contract to file new protests.
"I think we'll do a good job of debriefing them," he said.
Responding to the decision, Arlene Mellinger, a spokeswoman for IAP, said, "We congratulate the awardees and have no additional comments at this time."
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., a critic of KBR's performance in Iraq, declined to comment on the contract award.
Since the earliest days of the war in Iraq, KBR has come under criticism for its performance under the contract, for issues ranging from overbilling problems to worker deaths.
Army officials took the bidders' past performance into account when awarding the contract, Loehrl said.
Personnel movements
The Army expects to launch the new program in about 60 days, Loehrl said, and Army officials anticipate some sizable movements of personnel as KBR begins to share duties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Controversy has long swirled around KBR's big Pentagon contract, partly because Vice President Dick Cheney previously served as head of KBR's former parent company, Halliburton. The companies split more than a year ago.