The Insider

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

Agency: Army Contracting Command

Awardee: KF&S Corp.

Protester: C&S Corp.

What GAO found: C&S Corp. protested the award of a contract for security guard services to KF&S, arguing that the company's proposal should have been found unacceptable for failing to meet the corporate experience requirements. Additionally, C&S argues that KF&S used forged labor union documents, the GAO report says.

"C&S also challenges the veracity of statements made by the [contracting officer's representative] in response to the protest, which refute the protester’s allegations," the report says. "We view the protester’s argument in this regard as, in essence, alleging that the agency was motivated by bias or bad faith."

The GAO denied the protest, finding "that C&S has failed to produce credible evidence of bias or bad faith on the part of any agency officials."

The decision: http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/673315.pdf

Today's recap includes news on the president's veto of the FY-16 defense policy bill and more.

The president yesterday did what he said he would do:

Obama vetoes defense bill as budget impasse grinds on

President Obama vetoed the defense authorization bill Thursday in the latest episode of the ongoing battle over the federal budget.

Don't expect the Army to start a new combat vehicle program anytime soon:

Key official sees new Army ground combat vehicle out of reach

The three-star general overseeing the Army's modernization programs reiterated on Thursday the service's stance that commencing a new ground combat vehicle acquisition is not in the cards financially, while acknowledging that budgetary pressures aren't expected to let up anytime soon.

An RFP for the Navy's Ohio-class submarine replacement program is due out soon:

Navy Making Plans To Release SSBN(X) RFP That Will Result In $6B Contract

The Navy is making plans to release a request for proposals that will result in a $6 billion contract award for the Navy's top acquisition priority: the Ohio-class replacement program, according to a service official.

A continuing resolution won't help the Navy's heavyweight torpedo restart program:

Navy's heavyweight torpedo restart 'next to impossible' to execute under CR

The Navy's heavyweight torpedo restart program is "next to impossible" for the service to execute under a continuing resolution, according to an official.

The head of U.S. Strategic Command wants nuclear modernization:

STRATCOM chief cagey on FY-17 nuclear modernization discussions

Adm. Cecil Haney, head of U.S. Strategic Command, is adamant that the nation needs to invest in nuclear modernization, but offered little insight into ongoing Defense Department efforts to address the massive bill headed for the Pentagon's strained budget.

Raytheon issued its quarterly earnings statement yesterday:

Raytheon reports improved sales, decreased profit

Raytheon said Thursday that sales in its most recent quarter grew nearly 6 percent to hit $5.8 billion.

Harris Corp. is firming up its relationship with one particular small business:

As contractors look to small businesses, Harris embraces GovTact

As contractors zero in on partnering with small businesses, Harris is solidifying its relationship with small business Government Tactical Solutions, providing the company office space as part of a new mentor-protégé relationship.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter is scheduled to brief the Pentagon press corps today at 1:45 p.m., according to a Defense Department announcement.

Carter's briefing comes one day after Army Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler became the first U.S. servicemember to die in Iraq since 2011 after taking part in a mission that rescued 70 hostages from a prison controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Wheeler is also the first U.S. servicemember to be killed in action while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

The incident has spurred questions in that the Pentagon has avoided stating that Wheeler died in a "combat" mission. Rather, DOD is hewing closely to the message that the operation to free the hostages was part of the military's stated "advise and assist" mission in Iraq.

"I would not suggest you should look at this as some change in tactics on our part," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said yesterday. "This was a unique circumstance in which very close partners of the United States made a specific request for our assistance."

The Pentagon's top acquisition executive has backed the Navy's plan to install a new tactical afloat network on the majority of its warships.

On Oct. 13, Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall approved a Full Deployment Decision for the Navy's Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services (CANES), according to an Oct. 22 Navy statement. With Kendall's decision, the service can install CANES on its "full inventory objective of ships, submarines and shore sites," the statement says. The approval also transfers oversight of the program from Kendall's office to the Navy.

CANES has been installed on 25 ships so far, according to the Navy, with 153 vessels left before the installations are complete in 2024.

Between August 2014 and January 2015, the Navy awarded seven companies contracts to compete for CANES production units, Inside the Navy has previously reported:  BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services, General Dynamics C4 Systems, Global Technical Systems, Northrop Grumman, Serco Inc., CGI Federal and DRS Laurel Technologies. The estimated cumulative value of all seven contracts is $2.5 billion. 

The service has been installing CANES on its aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and amphibious ships, among other platforms. But because CANES uses the Windows XP operating system, the Navy is revisiting whether to install the tactical network on its newer ships, like the Littoral Combat Ship and the Joint High Speed Vessel, ITN reported earlier this year. The Navy is aggressively moving away from Windows XP to the newer Windows 7.0.

Bell Helicopter said today it has named Lisa Atherton executive vice president of military business, succeeding Mitch Snyder, who has been named Bell Helicopter's chief executive.

Atherton joined the company in 2012 and has served as V-22 program manager and vice president of global military business development. Before that, she was vice president of area attack at Textron Defense Systems and spent eight years at Air Combat Command's requirements directorate.

President Obama is scheduled to veto the defense authorization bill today, according to his daily schedule released by the White House.

The veto is planned for 3:45 p.m., the schedule states.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has planned a press briefing for 1:30 p.m.

Former Defense Secretary Bob Gates took Congress to task today for its continued legislative paralysis over the future of the federal budget.

"As the saying used to go, 'It's a hell of a way to run a railroad,'" he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

At present, Congress is operating under a continuing resolution set to expire Dec. 11, at which point the absence of a deal that would lift the 2011 Budget Control Act caps for defense and other areas of government could result in a government shutdown, or an extended CR that locks the Defense Department into BCA-level spending.

"Given the harm of all this politically driven madness inflicts on the U.S. military, the rhetoric coming from members of Congress about looking out for our men and women in uniform rings very hollow to me," Gates said. "All the smart defense reforms you can come up with will be of little use if the military is unable to plan, set priorities and manage its resources in sensible and strategic way."

Gates noted that he submitted five separate budgets to Congress in his time as defense secretary and that not one of them resulted in an appropriation for the beginning of the fiscal year.

"Hardly anybody in this city ever gets fired because they didn't do their job well enough," he said, noting that scandals and gaffes had resulted in far more Washington resignations than had poor performance.

Gates' criticism comes as Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked over a fiscal year 2016 appropriations plan. The GOP has proposed spending bills that circumvent the BCA caps for defense, but honor them for all other areas of government. Democrats have vowed to block a bill that does not equally lift the caps, but anti-spending advocates in the House GOP's Freedom Caucus have pledged to oppose any bill that would do so.

Gates said the current state of congressional gridlock was embarrassing the United States in the eyes of the world.

"Our system of government -- as designed by the founders who wrote and negotiated the provisions of the Constitution -- is dependent on compromise to function," Gates said. "To do so is not selling out -- it's called 'governing.'"