Detention centre group Serco to run army bases

The Daily Telegraph Australia  May 27, 2011

THE federal government is believed to have signed a contract to outsource the management of defence base operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan to the foreign company running Australia’s immigration detention centres.

Sources claim there was concern within the Australian Defence Force about a private foreign company taking over behind-the-wire operations to support troops in Afghanistan. The ADF said it would announce the successful contractor shortly but would not confirm if that company was Serco.

Serco, which is run by David Campbell, would neither confirm nor deny it had been given the contract.

It is believed the multi-million-dollar contract will be to manage all base operations including catering, cleaning, asset hire and mess facilities at the Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

Foreign private contractors would also replace uniformed personnel in the provision of maintenance, accommodation and mess services for the first time in Kandahar and Tarin Kowt in Afghanistan.

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IG finds Army mismanaged contingency operations support contract

Logistics Civil Augementation Program Support Contract Needs to Comply with Aquisition Rules

by Robert Brodsky at Goverment Exec

Army procurement officials failed to properly manage a key support contract for contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, awarding millions of dollars of work without competition and disclosing bidders’ proprietary information without their knowledge or consent, according to a watchdog’s new report.

The report by the Defense Department inspector general found scores of internal control weaknesses associated with the Army Sustainment Command’s management of a support contract for the massive Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, which provides a host of services and in-theatre assistance to soldiers. Three firms — DynCorp International, Fluor Corp. and KBR — compete for task orders on the LOGCAP IV contract.

Serco Inc. of Vienna, Va., in February 2007 won a $117 million support contract to help the Army plan and estimate costs of task orders on the LOGCAP IV contract. But, according to auditors, Army officials allowed the scope of Serco’s contract to expand to non-LOGCAP requirements without taking the proper steps to ensure competition and prevent conflicts of interest.

Please read the entire article by Robert Brodsky here