[Protests of Army Contract Award for Base Operations and Support]
Highlights
Four firms protested an Army contract award for base operations and support services, contending that the Army: (1) did not disclose its staffing requirements so that bidders could compete equally; (2) unreasonably selected the awardee; (3) unilaterally applied the government's staffing estimates to evaluate proposals; and (4) did not conduct adequate discussions. GAO held that the: (1) Army was not required to specify its staffing requirements, and put bidders on notice that staffing was a critical evaluation criterion; (2) wide variances in the bidders' proposed staffing levels reflected their different technical approaches, rather than a solicitation defect; (3) Army reasonably determined that the awardee's proposal offered the best value; (4) Army reasonably compared the protesters' staffing proposals to its own staffing requirements estimate and adjusted the proposal scoring to reflect its concerns about technical risk; and (5) Army reasonably advised the bidders of their proposal deficiencies, including staffing, and afforded them an opportunity to correct those deficiencies. Accordingly, the protests were denied.