Crowley Government Services, Inc. (N0002426R2421)

B-424373 Jun 30, 2026 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Crowley Government Services, Inc. (Crowley), of Jacksonville, Florida, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. N0002426R2421, issued by the Department of the Navy for a vehicle construction manager (VCM) to procure up to eight ships for the Navy's medium landing ship (LSM) program. Crowley contends that the solicitation imposes unreasonable levels of risk, is inconsistent with customary commercial practice, and fails to provide offerors with sufficient time to respond. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been approved for public release without redactions. Decision Matter of: Crowley Government Services, Inc. File: B-424373 Date: June 30, 2026 James Y. Boland, Esq., Lindsay M. Reed, Esq., and Allison M. Siegel, Esq., Venable LLP, for the protester. Alex L. Sheppard Esq., and Patrick Sheehan, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Raymond Richards, Esq., and John Sorrenti, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest challenging the terms of the solicitation as creating unreasonable risk is denied where the record demonstrates that the solicitation does not impose unreasonable risk on offerors, contains risk‑mitigating terms, and ultimately provides offerors with sufficient information to compete intelligently and equally. 2. Protest that the terms of the solicitation are inconsistent with customary commercial practice is denied where the record contains a valid waiver issued by the agency. 3. Protest challenging the amount of time afforded to offerors to respond to the solicitation is denied where the record demonstrates that the agency provided offerors with sufficient time to prepare and submit proposals. DECISION Crowley Government Services, Inc. (Crowley), of Jacksonville, Florida, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. N0002426R2421, issued by the Department of the Navy for a vehicle construction manager (VCM) to procure up to eight ships for the Navy's medium landing ship (LSM) program. Crowley contends that the solicitation imposes unreasonable levels of risk, is inconsistent with customary commercial practice, and fails to provide offerors with sufficient time to respond. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The instant protest involves the Navy's requirement for LSM vessels. Given the complexity of the relevant background information and the structure of the challenged solicitation, we first provide a brief discussion of the relevant background and the solicitation prior to discussing the protest. The LSM Program The LSM program, formerly known as the light amphibious warship program, was established in 2020 to provide distributed shore‑to‑shore maneuver, mobility, and sustainment of Marine forces operating in littoral environments. Combined Contracting Officer's Statement and Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 3.[1] The Navy originally intended to fulfill its LSM requirement with purpose‑built vessels, designed and developed for the Navy. Id. Two solicitations were contemplated to fulfil this requirement. The first solicitation would be for a lead shipyard to produce the first ship of the class, a technical data package (TDP), data rights, provisioned items, options for support services, options for post‑delivery support, options for lifecycle engineering and special studies, and options for up to five additional ships. Id. The second solicitation would be for a second shipyard to then design and construct one additional ship using the TDP developed by the lead yard, data rights, a TDP, options for special studies, and options for up to six additional ships. Id. at 3‑4. The Navy issued the lead shipyard solicitation in early 2024 and received three proposals in response, all of which exceeded the Navy's expected budget. Id. At the same time, proposed bills for the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) included language to prohibit the award of any ships for the LSM program prior to the certification of certain design information.[2] Id. at 4. These bills also provided for bifurcating the contemplated work into two separate and distinct procurements, one for design and one for construction. Id. In light of the budgetary issues and proposed legislation, the Navy canceled the lead yard solicitation and reconsidered its approach. Id. The fiscal year 2025 NDAA was passed in December of 2024. Service Member Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, Pub. L. No. 118‑159, 138 Stat. 1773 (2024).