Pemco Aeroplex, Inc., B-280397, September 25, 1998

B-280397 Sep 25, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Is sustained where the Air Force is unable to show that combining these requirements is reasonably required to satisfy the agency's needs. McClellan AFB is scheduled to close in 2001. Pemco asserts that it is a potential offeror for the KC-135 workload. The workloads at the closing depots will be performed. The Authorization Act provides that a procurement which combines multiple depot-level maintenance and repair workloads is permissible only if: (1) the Secretary of Defense determines in writing that the individual workloads cannot "as logically and economically" be performed without combination. (3) no solicitation is issued for 60 days following submission of the report. 10 U.S.C.A. That combining the workloads will provide for a steady overall workload. View Decision Matter of: Pemco Aeroplex, Inc. File: B-280397 Date: September 25, 1998 * Redacted Decision DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Pemco Aeroplex, Inc. protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. F04606-98-R-0007, issued by the Department of the Air Force for a public/private competition for a significant portion of the depot workload currently performed by the Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McClellan Air Force Base (AFB), California. McClellan AFB is scheduled to close in 2001, and the Air Force has consolidated the depot's workload requirements in the following five areas into a single solicitation: (1) programmed depot maintenance for the KC-135 aircraft, (2) inspections and painting of the A-10 aircraft, and overhaul and repair requirements for (3) hydraulic components, (4) electrical accessories, and (5) flight instruments/electronics. Pemco asserts that it is a potential offeror for the KC-135 workload, and protests that the solicitation unduly restricts competition by combining these requirements into one procurement. We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND In July 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission recommended that McClellan AFB be closed by July 2001, and that the workload performed by the Sacramento depot be transferred elsewhere within the Department of Defense, or to the private sector. /1/ Since that decision, there has been a continuing debate over the process for deciding where, and by whom, the workloads at the closing depots will be performed. Prior Review by Congress and the General Accounting Office The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998, Pub. L. 105-85, 111 Stat. 1629, 1696 (1997), established certain requirements applicable to the transition of the workloads currently being performed at Sacramento. 10 U.S.C.A. Sec. 2469a (West Supp. 1998). Among other things, the Authorization Act provides that a procurement which combines multiple depot-level maintenance and repair workloads is permissible only if: (1) the Secretary of Defense determines in writing that the individual workloads cannot "as logically and economically" be performed without combination; (2) the Secretary submits a report to Congress setting forth the determination along with the reasons for the determination; and (3) no solicitation is issued for 60 days following submission of the report. 10 U.S.C.A. Sec. 2469a(e)(1). On December 19, 1997, the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology executed the required determination regarding combination of the Sacramento workloads, reporting that determination along with the supporting reasons to Congress. Among other things, the Undersecretary's report stated that the consolidated workloads utilize certain common facilities, equipment and personnel skills; that combining the workloads will provide for a steady overall workload, compared to the highly variable workload associated with some portions of the effort; that significant cost savings will be derived; and that a single coordinated transition will mitigate readiness risks associated with transitioning to multiple contractors. The Authorization Act also required that the Comptroller General review and report on various aspects of the Department of Defense's (DOD) transition activities for the Sacramento and San Antonio depots. Since the DOD determination, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has issued three reports concerning transition of the Sacramento workloads which, among other things, criticize the adequacy of the information that DOD provided in support of the determination to combine workloads. In the first report, issued in January 1998, /2/ GAO stated, among other things: It may be that the individual workloads at the closing San Antonio, Texas, and Sacramento, California, Air Force maintenance depots cannot as logically and economically be performed without combination. . . .