Decision by GAO
could mean isle job loss

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

The General Accounting Office has sided with a mainland private contractor which could mean the loss of jobs for 200 civilians workers at Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter and the Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area.

Initially, the Army awarded the $59 million service contract to BAE Systems of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

But the 200 affected civilian maintenance, supply and transportation workers protested, saying the Army's in-house bid was $1.3 million less than BAE's proposal. In January, the Army reversed its decision and BAE filed a protest with the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress.

The GAO this month said the Army failed to clearly state its actual requirements and once the requirements are revised, the Army should complete a new evaluation and cost comparison using revised offers from BAE and the in-house organization.

The Army said it was evaluating how best to implement the GAO recommendations. "This is a complex and complicated process," said Bill Robinson, director of logistics.

Initially, 278 civilian workers would have been affected. However, since October, about 78 workers retired or found other jobs, the Army said.

Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said the U.S. Army Pacific's administrative appeals board found that "errors in cost calculations had artificially inflated the estimated costs of retaining the current civil service work force and that the cost of keeping the work in-house was about $1.3 million less than BAE's bid."

Army civilian workers had asked Abercrombie for help, pointing out that the sealed in-house proposal had been changed after it was submitted Aug. 8.