The WIFCON Blog
The original WIFCON editorial blog.
The Fixed-Price Incentive Firm Target Contract: Not As Firm As the Name Suggests
The Fixed-Price Incentive Firm Target Contract: Not As Firm As the Name Suggests By Robert Antonio November 2003 At the end of 1976, I met the Director of the Procurement Control and Clearance Division of the Naval Material Command in Arlington, Virginia. The Director was a legen
Moderator · Dec 7, 2023
Lockheed Propulsion Company, Thiokol Corporation, B-173677, June 24, 1974 - Part 6: April 3, 1974
One of the things I first noticed when we drove from Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to our hotel was a sign post that looked like a corkscrew with a road sign on top. Someone told me: "A tornado did that." How could wind do that? I was about to find out. It was April 3, 1974
Moderator · Sep 16, 2023
Lockheed Propulsion Company, Thiokol Corporation, B-173677, June 24, 1974 - Part 5: Apples and Oranges and O-Rings
What did I do in Huntsville, Wifcon? For the 3 months in 1974 that I was there, I worked, drove around the Huntsville area in my 1971 240Z and began collecting and reading books. I'm looking at one of the those books now. It's still in my library: Will Rogers, The Man and His Tim
Moderator · Aug 26, 2023
Lockheed Propulsion Company, Thiokol Corporation, B-173677, June 24, 1974 - Part 4: Truth or Consequences
Quote And they must be realistic in making contracts, in estimating costs, and the difficulty of the projects. Only realistic flight schedules should be proposed, schedules that have a reasonable chance of being met. If in this way the government would not support them, then so b
Moderator · Aug 20, 2023
Lockheed Propulsion Company, Thiokol Corporation, B-173677, June 24, 1974 - Part 3: Selling the Program
On September 12, 1962, President Kennedy told us Quote We choose to go to the Moon... we choose to go to the Moon . . . we choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize
Moderator · Jul 9, 2023
Lockheed Propulsion Company, Thiokol Corporation, B-173677, June 24, 1974 - Part 2: I Arrive in Huntsville
My road to Huntsville was simple enough, drive through Tennessee, pass into Alabama, and find the Tourway Inn on Memorial Parkway. Those were the exact directions given to me. "Find the Tourway on Memorial Parkway." I had a paper fold-up map to find Memorial Parkway. So it was dr
Moderator · Jul 6, 2023
Lockheed Propulsion Company, Thiokol Corporation, B-173677, June 24, 1974 - Part 1: You're Going to Huntsville
It was Friday, February 1, 1974, when out of the blue, my supervisor asked me: Do you have anything against going to Huntsville, Alabama for a week? The person that asked that question was the one that I needed to file my paperwork for promotion. I immediately said no and asked w
Moderator · Apr 7, 2023
When The Last Dinosaur Turns Out the Lights!
In the middle of July 2023, Wifcon.com will begin its 25th year online, if I'm still alive and functioning. I'm Bob Antonio, I'm Wifcon.com, I'm 73 years old now, and I started Wifcon.com in 1998, before many of you were born. I'm well but I am mortal. Over the years, I've met a
Moderator · Feb 4, 2023
Wifcon.com: My Legacy; My Albatross
Quote When I get older, losing my hair Many years from now . . . . When I'm Sixty-Four John Lennon, Paul McCartney Shortly after we celebrate our country's independence on July 4, 2013, Wifcon.com will end its 15th year on the internet. With much help from the Wifcon.com communit
robert_antonio · Nov 27, 2022
Faster Than A Speeding Bullet, Three Times Higher Than The Tallest Mountain
Quote The blast of flame that sent the black, insect-shaped projectile hurtling across the tarmac made me duck instinctively. It was as if the Devil himself were blasting his way straight from Hell. Richard Helms, Director of Central Intelligence, 1966 - 1973 Many years ago, as a
Moderator · Feb 21, 2021
We Did It, Let's Quit!
Last week, I posted an article on the Wifcon Forum in which Dr. Mark J. Lewis, the Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Modernization provided some thoughts about defense projects. The article was entitled Risk Aversion Impedes Hypersonics Development. Within the arti
Moderator · Jul 6, 2020
Yes Virginia, You Are Honored with a Plaque
Each year about this time, I read an editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church that was published in The Sun on September 21, 1897. The editorial is in response to a letter written by eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon. Now, this entry is not about the contents of the editorial but I
Moderator · Dec 19, 2019
The Guy Lacks Initiative
I've been reading some discussions from the Contracting Workforce Forum. As some of you know, I abhor the use of management phrases like "cool kids organizations." What the hell is a "cool kids organization?" Is it an excuse for something? I spent my working career listenting to
Moderator · May 10, 2019
Congress Passes Too Much Acquisition Legislation
In 1972, the Commission on Government Procurement wrote that Congress should limit its acquisition legislation to fundamental acquisition matters and let the Executive Branch implement Congress's policies through specific acquisition regulation. If Congress had listened, it would
Moderator · Jan 3, 2018
A Contracting Officer In The Midst Of A Maelstrom
In early 1977, Gordon Wade Rule (Rule) sat in a chair in a corner of a conference room at the Naval Material Command reading a document that I had prepared about his negotiations on the CGN-41, a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser. Days earlier, I was among a group that was b
Moderator · Dec 29, 2016
A Visit From the FAR Council -- 2016 Update
At the end of calendar year 2014, I analyzed the number of Federal Acquisition Circulars (FACs) issued by the FAR Council, by month, from 2014 through 2000. I had mentally noticed that the Council had a penchant for issuing FACs in December so I wanted to see if the actual number
Moderator · Dec 22, 2016
GAO's Most Prevalent Reasons for Sustaining Protests--2016 Update
The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 requires the Government Accountability Office (GA0) to report to the U. S. Congress annually when government agencies fail to fully implement its bid protest recommendations. GAO has posted these reports on its website since fiscal year
Moderator · Dec 18, 2016
Could Lucy Ellen Find Happiness at DPSC?
On June 20, 2015, Vern Edwards introduced us to F & F Laboratories, Inc., ASBCA 33007, 89-1 BCA ¶ 21207 (Sept. 14, 1988). In early 1986, the Defense Personnel Support Center (DPSC) awarded a contract to F & F Laboratories, Inc. (F & F) for "starch jelly bars" as part of the milit
Moderator · Jun 27, 2015
DIVAD Versus 60 Minutes
Yesterday, Don Mansfield posted an article entitled Lying to Ourselves: Dishonesty in the Army Profession. After reading the digest of the article and bristling at some of the jargon used, I can report on what was written in simple language. It is: under some circumstances Army o
Moderator · Mar 8, 2015
The Contract for "Pook Turtles"
No, they are not candy; no they are not turtles. However, they did have an iron shell. Pook Turtles were designed by Samuel M. Pook and were the "City Class" of armored gunboats that sailed the Mississippi and its tributaries beginning in early 1862. They were called Pook Turtles
Moderator · Nov 21, 2014
Why GAGAS Should Make You Gag
For those of you who are not familiar with the auditing world, GAGAS is the acronym for Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards and it is written and maintained by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Compliance with GAGAS is mandatory for an auditor during the co
Moderator · Oct 11, 2014
The Government's Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
The long-standing principle that the federal government had the same implied duty of good faith and fair dealing as any commercial buyer was put in jeopardy by a 2010 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Precision Pine & Timber, Inc. v. U.S., 596 F.3d 81
Ralph Nash · Mar 1, 2014
Offer and Acceptance, Contracting Authority, Etc.
In Thomas F. Neenan, as Trustee of the Thomas F. Neenan, Sr., Revocable Trust, v. U. S., No. 11-733C, August 22, 2013, you are taken through some of the basics of federal contracting. How many basic points can you identify in this 10-page opinion? I've listed those that I identif
Moderator · Aug 26, 2013
A Little "Christian Doctrine" For You
It's not a religious thing; it's a contracting thing — G. L. Christian style. We've all heard of the "Christian Doctrine." Here is how one judge of the Court of Federal Claims applied it to Bay County, Florida v. U. S., No. 11-157C, August 14, 2013 — released today. You can read
Moderator · Aug 15, 2013
Part 2: Too Many Contracting Committees; Too Many Contracting Laws
In my last post on the Wifcon Blog, I proposed a House and Senate Committee on Contracting and Assistance. Why, you might ask? Remember the Clinger-Cohen Act? It was part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996, P. L 104-106. What about the SBIR/STTR Reauth
Moderator · Aug 10, 2013