The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) took an unprecedented step on May 15, 2007, blocking troop access to MySpace, YouTube, and other popular Web sites. The official reason was to conserve bandwidth and safeguard security. But the DOD’s ban also highlighted a gap in understanding between senior military leaders and what demographers call Generation Y (alternatively known as the millennial generation or the baby-boom echo). Few members of this generation, born after 1978, can recall a time when the Internet was not at their disposal.

Not long ago, one of the authors of this article was asked to lead a U.S. Air Force study on the implications for the military of this new online generation. The request came from senior officers who had been appalled to discover a number of junior officers using the still-permissible Facebook Web site for the purpose of organizing their squadrons. These senior officers were having difficulty with the concept of using a civilian social-networking site for military purposes. What would that mean for military security? How would it affect the control and vulnerability of squadrons in the field? And from the perspective of DOD “middle management,” what was a major supposed to do? Forbid the behavior and risk losing the real benefits of an online community? Or protect it and risk the wrath of more senior officers who just didn’t understand?

This kind of conundrum is relevant not just for the U.S. military. A wide range of organizations, including most global corporations, will soon face a large, new cohort of young employees. Generation Y’s affinity for the interconnected world is just one of its intriguing characteristics….

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The US GAO’s 2008 Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs is proving to have a longer tail than usual. Booz Allen Hamilton is a strategic/ I.T/ program assistance consultancy with strong representation in the government and defense sectors. This May Day, we refer readers to the recent Washington Post article “One-Stop Defense Shopping,” wherein Booz Allen Hamilton VPs Dov S. Zakheim and Ronald T. Kadish discuss the state of competition in the American defense industry, and some of its consequences:

“The GAO report lays bare a festering problem in our nation’s military procurement system: Competition barely exists in the defense industry and is growing weaker by the day.

It was a different story just two decades ago. In the 1980s, 20 or more prime contractors competed for most defense contracts. Today, the Pentagon relies primarily on six main contractors to build our nation’s aircraft, missiles, ships and other weapons systems. It is a system that largely forgoes competition on price, delivery and performance and replaces it with a kind of “design bureau” competition, similar to what the Soviet Union used—hardly a recipe for success….”

America is certainly not the only country facing these pressures: Britain is even farther down this road, and Europe is aggressively moving to restructure its own industry into a very few global competitors. Ultimately, the policy implications described here will be played out on a near-global basis, with the possible exception of China.

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Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. of Herndon, VA received a modified contract for $28 million, in exchange for “survivability and vulnerability technical research and development analysis for U.S. Coast Guard ship, aviation, and Command and Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems.” At this time $7.7 million has been committed. Offutt AFB, NB issued the contract (SP0700-03-D-1380, Delivery Order: 0250).

C4ISR security has been an issue in the Coast Guard’s Deepwater recapitalization program, with claims that the systems used in the Island Class patrol cutter upgrades were inherently insecure, and that similar issues are present in the Legend Class National Security Cutters.

In 2006, DID covered the US Department of Defense’s serious accounting and finance-related issues. Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. is one of many consulting companies trying to help them change that, and in May 2006 they received a new blanket purchase agreement (BPA) under contract HQ-0423-06-A-0011 in support of the Defense Finance and Service (DFAS) agency transformation initiative. The contract covers program management, accounting, training, human resource services and Information Technology services in support of the Transformation Directorate at DFAS Indianapolis, IN. Booz consultants role will assist DFAS in planning and executing agency efforts and lead a team of vendors under the BPA through 21 contractor teaming arrangements. These services will be temporary support to closing DFAS locations, and are not anticipated to be required after agency transformation is complete.

The estimated total value of this contract was $25 million, with primary work performed at DFAS Indianapolis, IN, and temporary services provided to closing locations at the closing locations. Work will be performed between May 1, 2006 – April 30, 2011. Funding will be provided through defense working capital funds and BRAC funding, via the DFAS Contract Services Directorate in Columbus, OH (HQ-0423-06-A-0011).

A March 4/08 Booz Allen Hamilton podcast provides something we don’t often get: a retrospective look at the project, which was tied into BRAC 2005, consolidation of IT and accounting systems, and wider efforts within the DoD. The podcast doesn’t reach the high benchmarks set by Manager Tools; nevertheless, it is a useful way to begin to connect the award with the actual project, and understand the challenges involved.

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Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. in McLean, VA received a $10.5 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-06-C-0003), exercising an option for an estimated 149,760 man-hours of technical, engineering, professional and management services. The contract will support the Special Communications Requirements Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, which in turn supports programs for the US Department of Defense, plus American military services and federal agencies.

Work will be performed in Lexington Park, MD (50%); and St. Inigoes, MD (50%), and is expected to be complete in January 2009. The Naval Air Warfare Center (NAVAIR) Aircraft Division in St. Inigoes, MD issued the contract.

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Booz Allen Hamilton in Norfolk, VA received a $25.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract to provide expertise in change management, organizational barrier identification and removal, and key enterprise performance metrics to the US Navy. This contract includes a base year and 4 one-year options, which if exercised, bring the total estimated value of the contract to $120.1 million.

Work will be performed in various locations around the continental United States (CONUS), and the base year will be complete by January 2009. Contract funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured though Government-wide Points of Entry, Navy Electronic Commerce On-line, and Federal Business Opportunities websites, with 3 offers received by the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk (N00189-08-D-0022).

Back in March 2005, DID noted that the US Army had narrowed the field for its $20 billion ITES-2 IT contract to 17 potential prime contractors. At the time, we also noted the Army’s plan to issue the formal RFP in May 2005. Later, in April 2005, DID covered Kevin Carroll, “the $36 billion man” who leads the office in charge of ITES and ITES-2 as the Army pursued its vision of a major long-term contract vehicle for a wide range of information technology and computing services.

In September 2005, The U.S. Army has released its RFP for its $20 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-2 Services program via the Army Small Computer Program, the Army Contracting Agency, and the Information Technology, E-Commerce, and Commercial Contracting Center. After that, things didn’t go as well. A major kerfuffle and 2 rounds of GAO protests followed the award, which led to a revised list of winners in November 2006.

This happened a while back, by DID hadn’t updated our ITES-2 RFP coverage, and the whole episode is instructive in some ways. See below for DID’s spotlight article and timeline re: ITES-2 – which doesn’t end in November 2006…

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The US General Services Administration (GSA) is a procurement hub for many US government agencies. In late July 2007, the GSA announced a continued special focus on easing acquisitions for its largest customer, the Department of Defense (who has some surprising most-requested GSA items), including the launch of a full DoD/GSA portal site.

They’ve also just announced the selection of 29 firms for award under the maximum $50 billion Alliant Governmentwide Acquisition Contract. The Alliant umbrella contract provides all US federal government agencies, including the Pentagon, with a centralized source to acquire integrated Information Technology (IT) solutions worldwide. The contract has a 5-year base period with a 5-year option period, and replaces two similar contracts set to expire: Millenia, and ANSWER (Applications ‘N Support for Widely diverse End user Requirements)....

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The US Navy has issued a set of consulting firm contracts to help the Director of Material Readiness and Logistics (OPNAV N4) with business process improvements. These are cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contracts with options. Contract funds associated with the contract guaranteed minimum amounts will expire Sept. 2007, while work is expected to be complete Mar. 2008. Work will be performed in Washington, DC (95%); and other Department of Navy CONUS locations (5%). These contracts were competitively procured and solicited through Navy Electronic Commerce Online, with 15 offers received by the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Philadelphia Division. Winners included:

• Accenture National Security Services LLC in Reston, VA. $11.6 million, $57.5 million if all options are exercised (N00189-07-R-Z018).
• AMSEC LLC in Virginia Beach, VA. $8.9 million, $44 million if all options are exercised (N00189-07-R-Z019).
• Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. in McLean, VA. $9.5 million, $47 million if all options are exercised (N00189-07-R-Z020).
• IBM in Fairfax, VA. $9.3 million, $47 million if all options are exercised (N00189-07-R-Z021).
  
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Air strike… priceless
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Back in August 2005, we noted that “ENCORE I.T. Contracts Raise Ceiling to $2.5B Until ENCORE II Arrives.” Services under ENCORE II will include high level enterprise IT policy, integration management, communications engineering, and asset management. According to the Encore II RFP, DISA intends to use the contract to support users in the military services and agencies as they transition from legacy systems to Net-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES), which embodies the new techno-organizational opportunities described above. Encore II will help them effectively use core NCES product lines, including collaboration and discovery tools, and a planned joint services knowledge portal. That’s the vision, anyway. In January 2006, we followed that up with “Pentagon’s $13 Bn “Encore II” RFP Gets Revised, Extended,” explaining the ENCORE vision, its origins, and its likely obstacles.

Now the wait is over. Six (6) companies have now received indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity multiple-awards contracts. They include provisions for Firm, Fixed-Price, Time-and-Materials or Labor-Hour and Cost-Reimbursement (CPFF, CPAF, etc), and will run from March 12, 2007 through March 11, 2017. The maximum not-to-exceed value for the ENCORE II contract over a 5-year period, plus 5 one-year option period, is $12.225 billion, slightly less than the $13 billion projected. Performance will be at various locations within the Continental United States (CONUS), and also outside the CONUS (OCONUS). The solicitation was issued as a full and open competitive action with 16 proposals received – but the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization DITCO) at Scott AFB, IL picked just 6 winners:

• Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (HC1013-07-D-2016)
• CACI, Inc (HC1013-07-D-2018)
• EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation (HC1013-07-D-2019)
• Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Inc. (HC1013-07-D-2020)
• SAIC, Science Applications International Corporation (HC1013-07-D-2021)
• Systems Research and Applications Corporation (HC1013-07-D-2022)
  
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