Big Ass Fan no joke for the Air Force

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Nick Wakeman By Nick Wakeman,
Editor-in-Chief, Washington Technology

By Nick Wakeman

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A solicitation to maintain Big Ass Fans at Andrews Air Force Base caught our eye, but keeping hangars well-ventilated takes a Big Ass Fan.

Contract names often can reflect the quirks and personalities of the acquisition folks developing the procurement.

You know there are Star Wars fans when you see contracts named JEDI or R2-3G, the old Rapid Response 3rd Generation. There had to be a fast food fan in the room when the General Services Administration briefly called the next iteration of its OASIS small business contract by the name of BIC MAC.

But I had to chuckle when I saw the solicitation for the Big Ass Fan Maintenance contract on GovTribe..

I personally do not have a Big Ass Fan, but I have friends with Big Ass Fans. They love their Big Ass Fans and yes, my goal is to see how many times I can write Big Ass Fan in this post.

But the Big Ass Fan solicitation is no joke. Apparently, there are a lot of Big Ass Fans in four hangars at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

The contract calls for three years of maintenance on 24 Big Ass Fans. The maintenance is critical.

“Crews shall be unable to perform aircraft maintenance duties to keep 89th Airlift Wing aircraft fully functional as the hangar frequently sees high temperatures and must have good ventilation to mitigate hazardous fumes,” the performance work statement says.

The 89th Airlift Wing is the organization that maintains Air Force One and other aircraft used by the president, vice president, cabinet members, combatant commanders and other senior military and elected leaders.

Those platforms have to be ready at a moment’s notice. The crews can’t do it without their Big Ass Fans.

Maintaining a Big Ass Fan requires cleaning airfoils and checking the breather cap when applicable. There also are Big Ass Fan mounting brackets to check. And you have to keep the Big Ass Fans plumb and level.

While not listed in the performance work statement, you'll also need some ladders. The Big Ass Fans are 45 to 55 feet off the ground.

The competition for the Big Ass Fan Maintenance contract is set aside for 8(a) firms capable of maintaining Big Ass Fans. Responses are due Aug. 2.

If you are keeping track, my Big Ass Fan count stands at 16.

NEXT STORY: DIA working to release HR system revamp contracts

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