After resisting the creation of a new bureaucratic office for some time, The Pentagon is creating the Business Transformation Agency, moving dozens of its most extensive business modernization programs under a single roof. The result will centralize management of several department-wide programs, including the Pentagon’s e-mail system, the Defense Travel System, the Acquisition Spend Analysis Service and the Defense Acquisition Management Information Retrieval program. Among others. A two-star general or an equivalent member of the Senior Executive Service with the title of Defense business systems acquisition executive will oversee purchases for the programs transferred to the agency.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is calling to reduce “burdensome, extraneous congressional reporting requirements” and create more flexibility to transfer funds between spending accounts, while moving to address other concerns raised by Congress and the GAO over issues like the defense procurement spiral and concerns about the length of the acquisition process. These kinds of moves are not uncommon in efforts to streamline and improve government services outside the military, and Congress’ own role in creating many of the problems it decries in the military acquisition system is certainly an under-investigated topic.
The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC has recently issued a trio of naval nuclear power related contract modifications, worth a total of $898.5 million. Specific contracts included:
STIDD Systems Inc. in Greenport, NY received $6.8 million under previously awarded GSA Federal Supply Schedule contract M67854-05-F-1039 to exercise an option for 76 Diver Propulsion Devices (DPD), DPD spares, training, and other miscellaneous items.
So, who wants this equipment? Besides thousands of civilian SCUBA divers who have their own versions, that is.
General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. in Sterling Heights, MI received a $14.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for Generation II Suspension Upgrade Kits for the family of light armored vehicles (LAVs). National Defense Magazine article looks at the lessons of Operation Iraqi Freedom and some of the ongoing challenges for the Marines’ LAV fleet. A subsequent article discusses the upgrades the Marines are contemplating for their LAVs, and provides a briefing on the status of several other programs and the Corps’ overall vehicle timeline as well.
Work on the suspension upgrade contract will be performed in Ontario, Canada, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 31, 2007. This was a sole source contract initiated on Aug. 17, 2005 by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (W56HZV-06-C-0008).
It isn’t always about the glamorous stuff. King Fisher Marine Service L.P. in Port Lavaca, TX received a $5 million increment as part of a $15.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for dredging of the Port Arthur Canal. Work will be performed in Jefferson, TX, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2006. There were 36 bids solicited on Jan. 18, 2005, and four bids were received. The Army Corps of Engineers in Galveston, TX issued the contract (W912HY-06-C-0003).
