Protest spotlight

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

Agency: Navy

Awardee: Engineering Support Personnel

Protester: CORTEK

What GAO found: CORTEK protested the Navy's award of a contract to Engineering Support Personnel for instructor services at the Air Logistics Training Center, arguing the agency "misevaluated proposals, treated offerors disparately, failed to engage in meaningful discussions, and made an unreasonable source selection decision," according to the GAO report.

CORTEK's proposal was priced at $11.7 million, while Engineering Support Personnel's came in at $9.9 million. According to the GAO report, the Navy concluded ESP's proposal "represented the best value to the government based on its lower proposed price, notwithstanding the technical superiority of the CORTEK proposal."

GAO sustained part of the protest, backing CORTEK's argument that the Navy unreasonably gave the ESP proposal an acceptable rating under the management factor.

"CORTEK asserts that [ESP's] approach is not acceptable under the terms of the RFP because the aircraft maintenance instructors are required to have a minimum of 8 years of experience performing maintenance on C-130 or C-9B aircraft, as appropriate," the report states. "CORTEK specifically points out that ESP’s maintenance instructors are described in the ESP proposal as having only 3 years of aircraft maintenance experience."

GAO also agreed with CORTEK's contention that it was "directly prejudiced by the agency’s acceptance of the ESP proposal."

GAO recommended the Navy reevaluate proposals and make a new decision. Additionally, it suggested the Navy reimburse CORTEK the cost of the protest.

The decision: http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/674424.pdf