Military Minefields: “Coping with Contracts”

Military Minefields: “Coping with Contracts” 2012 NICAR National Conference St. Louis, Missouri, Feb. 24, 2012 Michael Fabey, naval editor Aviation Week Intelligence Network mike_fabey@aviationweek.com ; fabeyships@aol.com 202-383-2397 (Washington office) 202-997-0262 (cell) www.aviationweek.com; www.frankfordelstop.com

From the Shadows, The Ultimate Insider's View of Five Presidents and How they Won the Cold War • Asking questions; quarreling with conclusions; sending the researchers back for more data, more evidence; seeking out new and different sources of information probing and listening o obscure and not-so-obscure outside experts; quizzing anyone who seemed to have a good idea; reaching out to businessmen with international experience. ...looking for new information and insights, being willing to question... own assumptions ...and always challenging conventional wisdom...information and analysis that informed or provoked action ... not ... assessments that simply were 'interesting' or educational

DOD DAILY BROADCASTS • Every day, on www.fedbizzops.com the military and other government agencies broadcast such feelers as broad agency announcements (BAAs), requests for information (RFIs) and requests for proposals (RFPs).

You never know where:

For example: • Another place to find what the government plans to acquire, especially from a technology standpoint, is to try the U.S. Patent Office site: http://www1.uspto.gov/index.html

Contracts portal: • U.S. Department of DefenseOffice of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)Contracts On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131Public contact:http://www.dod.mil/faq/comment.htmlor +1 (703) 428-0711Contracts valued at $5 million or more are announced each business day at 5 p.m. Contract announcements issued within the past 30 days are listed below. Older contract announcements are available from the contract archive page. Contract announcements are also available by e-mail subscription. Go to DoD News for more information and for links to other news items.

Contract basics • Thales-Raytheon Systems, Fullerton, Calif., is being awarded a $22,272,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide the Battle Control System-Fixed Spiral 1 System. This will provide North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Pacific Command commanders with an interoperable, open-architecture air defense command and control platform in support of NORAD's homeland defense mission. Total funds have been obligated. This work will be completed by January 2005. Solicitation began in January 2003, and negotiations were completed in April 2003. The Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (F19628-03-C-0046)

The real deal: • 45 Contract “modifications” • $60 million • “Modifications” started right after contract was awarded

That’s classified!

The real cost

Ground operations costs taking toll on other DOD accounts, analysis shows Funding ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is starting to take its toll on other Pentagon weapons expenses - particularly for aircraft accounts - according to an analysis of recent Defense Department contracts by Aerospace Daily. The Pentagon has concentrated its funding more recently on equipment and operations that support combat troops - such as logistics, trucks and telecommunications, the analysis shows. A year ago, the Defense Department spent more money on aircraft and related expenses. But a common theme for 2005 and up to August, 2006, is the need for logistics and related costs, according to the analysis of about 1.5 million contracts and related modifications identified as DOD work. Aerospace Daily gleaned the Pentagon purchasing records…

Warbucks

The $69 billion contractor – not -- about $69 billion of those $70 billion went to a small Pittsburgh-based company called Earth Savers Inc., the records showed. And the total all really centered on one contract worth about 99 percent of the total, the records showed. Turns out the records were wrong. Apparently … someone at DOD inadvertently moved a decimal point over a few places, making a contract with tens of billions instead of single-digit millions.

The Navy said it had only cost about $19 million to set up the Wallops testing facility… An AWIN analysis and analysts suggested the price tag was more than $1 billion to prep the site and operate it. The Navy has since corrected its cost estimate to include radars and other site preparation work, totaling about $171.1 million. By AWIN’s analysis, the contracts cited by the Navy that encompass the work – as well as other Zumwalt-related jobs – total about $4.5 billion, dating back to 2002.

Parting thoughts • Even a rock will crumble – if you sack it night and day … • Good reporting aids public understanding. • Babe Ruth struck out nearly twice as many times as he knocked one out of the park.

The higher vantage point … …

Military Minefields: “Coping with Contracts”