ARMY AL&T
not momentarily or spontaneously. When procurement plan- ning is not conducted in advance or timely, such planning may be unreasonable.
Example 2. Te Army had been reporting safety messages regard- ing the vehicle control unit, a protective control box in the Army’s Humvee, since 1999. Te control unit had caused the vehicle’s starter to crank on its own, causing the batteries to drain of their power, short out and catch fire, and potentially destroy the vehicle. Because replacements for the vehicle control units were needed immediately, and anticipating that the issuance of the safety message would create a significant demand for a replace- ment electrical starter system, the Army executed a justification to limit full and open competition based on unusual and compel- ling urgency and awarded a sole-source contract to a single firm to obtain replacement vehicle control units.
In April 2001, an Army deputy for system acquisitions decided that all vehicle control units, of any version, would be replaced as soon as the stock was available, and a second sole-source contract was awarded to procure the needed units. Te sole-source justifi- cation supporting this second sole-source contract was approved on the basis of unusual and compelling urgency.
A protest challenging both sole-source contract awards was submitted to the GAO. Te GAO found that the Army didn’t know the minimum quantity necessary to satisfy its immediate urgent requirement because it did not know how many control units were still in the field and would have to be replaced. Despite this lack of knowledge, the Army made no effort to determine how many control units were in place and there was no expla- nation why the Army couldn’t determine the number of units to be replaced.
Government personnel turnover and inexperience essentially recognize the lack of planning and merely provide an excuse based on the limitations of the agency’s personnel.
Sustaining the protest, the GAO found that the Army failed to conduct reasonable procurement planning. Knowing of safety concerns with a vehicle control system that would have to be replaced, the Army took nearly two years to draft performance specifications.
Key point. Contracting officials must act affirmatively to obtain and safeguard competition; they cannot take a passive approach and remain in a noncompetitive position where they could reason- ably take steps to enhance competition. (B-288107 Signals and Systems Inc.)
In each of the prior examples, the government’s actions to issue sole-source contracts resulted from a failure to conduct advance procurement planning.
RULE NO. 2 Urgency caused by personnel turnover and an inexperienced staff is not adequate rationale to support unusual and compelling urgency.
Example. Significant decreases in personnel resulted in the Defense Mapping Agency awarding a contract for grounds maintenance services for sites in Virginia and Maryland by
WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME?
Limiting full and open competition by awarding a sole-source contract must not be based on a lack of advance procurement planning. Acquisition planning should begin as soon as the agency need is identified, preferably well in advance of the fiscal year in which contract award or order placement is necessary. (Photo by Getty Images)
https://asc.ar my.mil
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