ASBCA 61216

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS Appeal of-- ) ) Command Languages, Inc. d/b/a CLI Solutions ) ASBCA No. 61216 ) Under Contract No. W56HZV-15-C-0200 ) APPEARANCES FOR THE APPELLANT: Eric WhytselL Esq. Rodney W. Stieger, Esq. Stinson LLP Denver, CO Scott R. Williamson, Esq. Williamson Law Group LLC Frederick, MD APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Scott N. Flesch, Esq. Army Chief Trial Attorney MAJ Ronald M. Herrmann, JA Trial Attorney OPINION BY ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE KINNER Appellant, Command Languages, Inc. d/b/a CLI Solutions (CLI) challenges the denial of its claim by the Army Contracting Command (ACC) regarding its creation of technical manuals (TMs) and programs of instruction (PO Is) for training the Afghanistan National Army (ANA) to maintain an armored vehicle provided under prior contracts. CLI claims ACC required it to include descriptions of lower level maintenance tasks that were beyond the scope of its contract to create higher level manuals. A hearing of this appeal was conducted August 13-14, 2018. Only entitlement is before the Board. FINDINGS OF FACT As a result of a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, Afghan forces have been supplied an enhanced version of the Army's M-117 Armored Security Vehicle (ASV) (tr. 1/206, 2/52-55). This enhanced armored vehicle, called the Mobile Strike Force Vehicle (MSFV), is manufactured by Textron (id.). As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Textron also provided maintenance manuals (tr. 1/135, 2/53, 2/94). The OEM manuals covered two basic levels of maintenance (tr. 2/94). The Army classifies equipment maintenance by four levels, 10, 20, 30, and 40 (tr. 1/31-32). Level 10 maintenance is performed by the equipment operator (tr. 2/62). Level 20 maintenance is performed by the organizational unit which operates the equipment (id.). Level 30 maintenance includes tasks that are more than a unit can perform, including some refurbishing (id.). Maintenance tasks at the 40 level are tasks performed at a national depot level, such as refurbishment, overhauls, etc. (tr. 2/62-63). When the Army considered obtaining new maintenance manuals for the MSFV, the OEM 10 and 20 level manuals were already in use in Afghanistan (tr. 1/68, 1/180, 2/17, 2/93, 2/112-15). The OEM manuals had been translated by computer programs into Dari and Pashtu (tr. 2/55). Computer translations are not as accurate as manual translation services (tr. 1/25). Nonetheless, using the computer translated MSFV manuals and programs of instruction, Afghan soldiers had already received a 20 week training program that taught the MSFV 10 and 20 level manuals tasks (tr. 2/63, 2/113). The Army did not have 30 and 40 level manuals to support more advanced training (tr. 2/63). Having received critical evaluations of the computer translation of the OEM manuals, the ACC Allied Tactical Vehicle program office (ATV) was determined to ensure that MSFV manuals for higher level maintenance tasks would be made easily understandable by Afghan personnel (R4, tab 10 at 133; tr. 2/95-97). The OEM manuals were written at a 7th- I 0th grade reading level, which is typical of technical manuals (tr. 1/69, 1/85-87, 1/122-23, 1/137, 2/93, 2/97). Therefore, the program office sought to procure more accurately translated 30 and 40 level manuals, but at a 3rd grade reading level (tr. 2/148). The program office was familiar with a previous contract for simplified contract manuals and used that contract as a sample for what was sought in the contract for 30 and 40 level MSFV manuals (tr. 2/58, 2/139). Over time, as the requirements office developed the statement of work, it became "relatively clear" what they were looking for in a new contract (tr. 2/147-48). The maintenance tasks for the new manuals were not drawn from the Textron manuals (tr. 2/ 11-13). Instead, Christopher Simons, ATV contracting officer representative (COTR), created a new maintenance allocation chart task list, which was derived from 30 and 40 level manuals for the ASV, and some tasks from the existing MSFV manuals (id.).