[Protest of Terms of Army RFP for Operation of GOCO Facilities]

A firm protested the terms in an Army solicitation which allowed bidders to propose the use of either government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) facilities or contractor-owned, contractor-operated facilities. The protester contended that GOCO contractors would receive preferential treatment because the Army proposed to evaluate the cost of GOCO operators on their out-of-pocket cost proposals. GAO has held that: (1) federal regulations mandate the use of government arsenals and government-owned facilities for the production of all of its needs where economical; (2) the competitive advantage enjoyed by GOCO firms is explicitly sanctioned by law; and (3) the federal regulation upon which the protester relied did not apply in this case. Accordingly, the protest was denied.