Manhole Labeling -- English Required

The contracting folks at the Air Force Global Strike Command have a requirement to label all 341 manholes at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, home of the B2 bomber. The planned procurement raises more questions than it answers.

Whiteman, about 60 miles east of Kansas City, has been around since 1942, when it originally opened up as the Sedalia Glider Base. I imagine a few manholes have been dug there over the past 69 years, so why the need for a contractor to start labeling them now?

But what's truly bizarre about this procurement is a mandate that the employees of the contractor that wins the manhole labeling job "will be able to understand, read, write, and speak English."

I spend a lot of time reading contract notices on FedBizOpps and have never encountered such a requirement. Is Knob Noster, Missouri (home of Whiteman), and the surrounding area filled with a population that only speaks French or German?

Finally -- and I'm not making this up -- the procurement exempts the deaf from the requirement to speak English.