DISA Obscures Contract Award to SAIC

The Defense Information Systems Agency awarded SAIC a $7.5 million, 12-month sole source contract to continue to support the Joint Global Command and Control System (GCCS-J), according to what seems to me a deliberately obscure FedBizOpps notice posted Wednesday.

The description of the award did not even mention GCCS-J, instead it referred only to a sole source "Deployment & Sustainment" contract, which did not identify the awardee.

Clicking on the Justification and Analysis link reveals that the award is for continuing work on GCSS-J and that only SAIC -- the current contractor -- has the "specialized expertise" to do the work under a task order that expires Jan 15.

That link did not provide the dollar value of the contract, which DISA spokeswoman Laura Williams provided after a query from Nextgov.

DISA said it needs SAIC to continue to provide support for GCCS-J whiles it develops a next generation system, a process delayed while the program office awaits "overarching guidance," whatever that means. Williams did provide a plain English translation: "This extension is a bridge to give us adequate time to prepare and execute a full and open competition."

Methinks that DISA went through this exercise in obfuscation because any award to SAIC has become radioactive since 4.9 million TRICARE records were stolen from an employee's car last September.