Protest spotlight

By Marjorie Censer / February 14, 2018 at 3:56 PM

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

Agency: Army

Awardee: CACI Technologies

Protester: BAE Systems

What GAO found: BAE Systems protested the Army's award to CACI of a task order for intelligence support services for Afghanistan, taking issue with the way the service evaluated personnel.

Specifically, GAO notes in its report, BAE challenged “the agency’s evaluation of the awardee’s proposal, asserting that the agency could not have known whether the personnel proposed by CACI meet the minimum experience requirements.

"Therefore, BAE asserts, the agency's evaluation of the awardee's proposal as outstanding under the technical factor was unreasonable," the document continues.

GAO agreed with BAE, noting the Army "had no way to assess whether the proposed employees met the minimum requirements, because the agency had no knowledge of whether the awardee was relying on experience in an 'equivalent' [military occupational specialty], and, if so, whether the agency viewed that experience as equivalent to the solicitation requirements."

GAO, sustaining the protest, recommended the Army conduct discussions, reevaluate the proposals and conduct a new best-value tradeoff analysis. Additionally, it called for BAE to be reimbursed the costs of pursuing the protest.

Read the decision here.

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