First protest filed against the Army’s troubled MAPS contract

The first in what could be many bid protests involving the Army’s MAPS contract has been filed at the Government Accountability Office.

The 10-year, $50 billion Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services vehicle has drawn industry complaints about a lack of transparency and how the Army will evaluate past performance for small business partners.

Industry has also complained how slowly the Army has responded to thousands of questions potential bidders have had about the solicitation.

MetroStar Systems filed its pre-award protest on Thursday at the Government Accountability Office, which is due to make its decision by Aug. 3. Attempts to reach MetroStar officials for comment were not successful.

The Army has been trying to address industry concerns and said it expected answer all submitted questions by April 24.

But when the Army posted a batch of answers that day, it said remaining questions would be answered by the end of this week.

The Army has pushed back the due date for proposals from May 1 to May 8. But as one industry source said, “This is still a hot mess.”

MetroStar’s protest alone will not force the Army to delay the due date.

However, the Army could decide to delay proposals as part of a corrective action it takes in response to protest. If it chooses to do that.