Intercepts

DREN, Chapter 11

The latest chapter in the saga of the Defense Department's contract for a high-speed network for researchers takes us to bankruptcy court.

Previously, WorldCom Inc., which was awarded the $450 million Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN) contract, announced that it had accounting problems — leading the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to examine DOD's options.

But last week, WorldCom added a new chapter to the DREN tale — Chapter 11, that is — when it filed for bankruptcy protection. It would seem that DISA could now feel free to pull WorldCom's DREN win. That, at least, has been the trend. Global Crossing Ltd., which had won the DREN contract last year before DOD withdrew that award because of protests, was about to be tapped again for the contract. But when Global Crossing officials notified DOD that the company was about to file for bankruptcy protection, the award was delayed. DISA then removed Global Crossing from the competition.

But in the latest twist, WorldCom's filing means that DOD cannot immediately terminate the DREN contract.

"The DREN contract is considered an asset under federal bankruptcy laws," said DISA spokeswoman Betsy Flood. Therefore, any legal action, such as terminating the contract, would have to go through the bankruptcy court because of rules that prevent "adverse contractual actions" without court approval.

This is merely the latest in the roller-coaster history of this contract and comes just weeks after two of the losing vendors — Sprint and Global Crossing — filed new protests with the General Accounting Office objecting to the WorldCom award. Those protests are pending.

Uniform Pagers, Phones

It's now commonplace to see people of all ages, from students to executives, with multiple wireless phones, pagers and other electronic devices clipped to their belts or ringing from their purses. But the new Army uniform regulation, which goes into effect Aug. 1, could be bad news for soldiers who have become slaves to their personal digital assistants.

Under the new regulation, only one electronic device — either a wireless phone or pager, but not both — will be authorized for wear on the uniform when soldiers are performing official duties. The device must be black and may not exceed 4inches by 2 inches by 1 inch.

Wireless phones and pagers that do not comply with the criteria may not be worn on the uniform and must be carried in the hand, bag or other carrying container, according to the new policy.

Wireless phones and pagers once were used mostly by medical personnel, but now soldiers are doing more than one job and need to be mobile to do them, Lt. Col. Margaret Flott, chief of the Individual Readiness Policy Division for Army G-1, told the Army News Service.

Stupid Army Tricks

Rarely do the subjects of these pages garner mention on late night talk shows. That changed after an audit of Army credit card purchases found all kinds of interesting items — from mortgage payments to Elvis Presley photographs.

CBS late night host David Letterman July 18 seized on Army personnel who used their government-issued credit cards to get cash, which they then used at strip clubs. (The Government Accounting Office noted, however, that some establishments masked those purchases as "food" or "restaurant." Auditors said that this was part of an effort to bypass the blocking of such purchases.)

Letterman quipped that former President Clinton, when he heard about the Army's purchases, was disappointed he hadn't come up with the idea while he was in office. Bah-dah-dum!

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