Three win JITC contract for engineering, support

The Defense Information Systems Agency last week tapped three vendors to provide an array of engineering and support services for the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) at Fort Huachuca Ariz.

Competing over the five-year life of the $420 million task-order contract will be BDM Engineering Services Co. Albuquerque N.M. Validity Corp. Encinitas Calif. and Interop Joint Venture a partnership of Comarco Inc. and Mantech in Fairfax Va. The first year's work is valued at a maximum of $80 million.

Under the contract awarded by the Army Training and Doctrine Command's contracting office at Fort Huachuca the vendors will provide a wide range of services including scientific engineering logistics administration acquisition and housekeeping services.

DISA officials said these tasks include all support aspects of command control communications computers and intelligence testing the design development testing engineering and acquisition of selected items of equipment and instrumentation and the operation and maintenance of JITC facilities at Fort Huachuca Arlington Va. and Cheltenham Md.

`Absolutely Key Win'Ralph Yates director of contracts for Validity estimated a total of 425 personnel from the three companies would work on the JITC contract. An industry source familiar with the contract called it "an absolutely key win because the JITC is involved with everything DISA and the Pentagon [are] doing in the information technology area."

JITC works on projects and programs ranging from computer-aided logistics to setting standards for imagery taken by spy satellites to systems used in the Defense Information Systems Network.

Losing bidders included Logicon Corp. and Computer Sciences Corp. Neither returned calls asking for comment.

Logicon along with BDM was the incumbent on a previous support contract for JITC which will terminate in early 1997.