Top DOD official encourages use of veterans GWAC
A top Defense Department official has issued a memo to the military branches and other DOD officials encouraging them to use the Veterans Technology Services contract, which contract advocates say will be a major factor of the contract's success.
The military, ironically, has not been good about using small firms owned by service disabled veterans, said John Moliere, president of Standard Communications Inc. The April 12 memo from Kenneth Krieg, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, may change that, Moliere said.
"Now that the DOD has been authorized to go forward and use it, it's very substantial," he said. "This is the kind of thing that could indeed make the VETS GWAC the contract of the year. It's very significant."
In the memo, Krieg reminds the organizations that Congress has established a goal that 3 percent of federal prime contracts should go to service-disabled, veteran-owned businesses. The GWAC makes it easier for agency officials to identify qualified businesses.
"While we have made progress toward meeting the goal, we have a long way to go," he wrote. "We must pursue this goal with vigor."
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Michael Hardy is the news editor of Federal Computer Week. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelHardyFCW.