Protest Spotlight

(This regular feature highlights protests decided by the Government Accountability Office.)

Agency: Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division

Awardee: Ausley Associates

Protester: CenterScope Technologies

What GAO found: CenterScope Technologies protested the award of a task order to Ausley Associates for program management support services for the agency's F/A-18 and E/A-18 program office, contending the agency "unreasonably" evaluated Ausley's technical proposal and costs.

CenterScope had proposed a price of $23.1 million, but the agency evaluated its price as $29.3 million, significantly higher than Ausley's evaluated price of $23.3 million. CenterScope claimed Ausley's plan "was based on hiring 100 percent of the incumbent personnel performing the contract; yet, the cost volume of [Ausley's] proposal failed to include any labor rates associated with hiring incumbent employees."

GAO denied the protest.

The decision: http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/671918.pdf