[Protests of Army, Navy, and Air Force Solicitations Issued as Small-Disadvantaged-Business Set-Asides]

Two firms protested one Air Force, two Navy, and three Army solicitations, contending that the services improperly issued the solicitations as small-disadvantaged-business set-asides, since the agencies had previously acquired the products or services under small business set-asides. GAO held that the defense regulation prohibiting the use of small-disadvantaged-business set-asides under these circumstances did not apply to the instant procurements, since the services issued them before the regulation went into effect. Accordingly, the protests were dismissed.