PACAF set to award PC deal

The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) will soon award a PC replacement contract across the command that will include a total rollout of about 35,000 machines during one year beginning in March.

Col. Ronnie Hawkins, director of communications and information at PACAF headquarters, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, said a contractor would be selected at the end of this month for a three-phase rollout, each of which will include 10,000 to 13,000 computers.

The phases will be carried out in March 2003, September 2003 and March 2004, Hawkins said during a Nov. 13 speech at Air Force Information Technology Day, which was sponsored by the Northern Virginia chapter of AFCEA International Inc.

PACAF bought a large number of PCs in the past two years and was working from the concept that refreshment would be needed every three to five years, which is why the new computers will be rolled out in phases, Hawkins told Federal Computer Week.

High-end PCs for various functions also will be purchased at the command level because PACAF commanders decided they needed to be "dictatorial" to keep the organization's computers modern and cost-effective, Hawkins said.