Army's $82B LOGCAP V contract moves along but other protest bumps may lie ahead

The Army may not be closer to proceeding on the much fought-over and potentially landscape setting $82 billion LOGCAP V logistics contract as the legal fight could be kicking off again.

First recall that in February, the Army told the Court of Federal Claims the plan was to proceed with the awards as they were originally made last year and that March 2 -- this coming Monday -- would be the start date. That came nearly two months after the Army told the court it would look at proposals for a second time in the wake of several protests.

Awards are broken out by region of responsibility with one company chosen for each. KBR, Vectrus, Fluor Corp., and a joint venture of PAE and Parsons Corp. were chosen out of six total bids. DynCorp International, KBR and Fluor are the incumbents on the current LOGCAP IV contract.

Here is where things stand now. DynCorp filed a sealed motion for a temporary restraining order with the court on Wednesday that could still halt the start of this fifth iteration of the Army’s Logistics Civil Augmentation Program contract.

Officials from DynCorp did not respond to a request for comment, but the motion indicates the company either disagrees with the Army’s evaluation or is seeking more information. What that means  regarding the Army's intention to start work on Monday is not clear. DynCorp began its protest at the Court of Federal Claims in August after the Government Accountability Office ruled against the company.

The Army had submitted supporting documents regarding its evaluation under seal and on Thursday filed notice that it completed the administrative record, according to court records. Either way, DynCorp’s own battle to get on or even have a third chance at this important contract does not look finished yet.

Other parts of the legal proceeding appear much more complete by comparison. In a series of Feb. 21 decisions, Federal Claims Court Judge Loren Smith ruled in favor of the Army over separate protests by Amentum (the former AECOM Management Services business), Fluor, and the PAE-Parsons venture.

Those protests were consolidated into one case given they covered similar grounds. All of the rulings are currently under seal. The three bidders had gone to GAO after the Army first made awards but those protests were dismissed once DynCorp went to court.

Like DynCorp, Amentum was not chosen for a position on the contract in its entirety. Fluor and the PAE-Parsons team protested over different pieces of the contract they believe should have been awarded to them.

Fluor won the seat for Africa Command but took issue with the Army’s awards of the Pacific and Central Command regions that went to Vectrus, plus the selection of KBR for European Command. The PAE-Parsons team was selected for Southern Command but challenged awards for the African and Pacific Commands.

In an advisory opinion released Tuesday, GAO said it would have objected to how the Army evaluated price reasonableness for the Eucom award but backed nearly every other aspect of the source selection. GAO was asked by the court to provide advisory opinions regarding the dismissed protests.

The next potential venue for Fluor could be the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, if the company decides to do so.

“While we are disappointed with the recent results, we respect the outcome. We are considering all of our legal options including possible appeal,” a Fluor spokesperson told WT in a statement. “We will continue to work cooperatively with the Army to achieve the best possible mission results and we remain committed to safely delivering high quality and effective services to our nation’s deployed war fighters in Afghanistan until our current contract expires.”

Fluor and DynCorp currently divide up services in Afghanistan under LOGCAP IV. KBR won that region in the recompete.

Officials for Amentum and PAE declined comment, while KBR and Parsons representatives did not respond to a request for comment. Vectrus is scheduled to hold its fourth quarter and year-end earnings call with investors Tuesday.