By Ann Roosevelt
Before a backdrop of the Army’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), supporters Monday gathered to call on the Army to reconsider its award to Oshkosh [OSK] in the FMTV competitive rebuy contract over incumbent BAE Systems, which makes the vehicles nearby, task force members said.
Lawmakers, business leaders, BAE employees and concerned citizens gathered outside of Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston, concerned about the contract loss at the Sealy, Texas, plant that will cost more than 3,000 jobs in Texas and hit the regional economy by nearly $2 billion, according to the Greater Houston Partnership, which helped put on the event.
In late summer, the Army awarded Oshkosh the FMTV competitive rebuy contract over 17-year incumbent BAE, and a proposal from Navistar International (Defense Daily, Aug. 28). The losing bidders filed protests with the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Before 17 of the 40,000-to 60,000-pound heavily armored Army FMTVs used by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said: “This stadium behind me, which is home to the Houston Astros Major League Baseball team, cost $250 million to build. Now imagine losing more than seven of these modern stadiums a year because somebody at the Pentagon didn’t do their job right.”
McCaul, whose district covers Austin County just outside of Houston where the trucks are built by BAE, applauded GAO for choosing to investigate the awarding of the contract to Oshkosh.
In October, McCaul visited the BAE plant in Sealy, and told employees he was taking the fight “all the way” (Defense Daily, Oct. 6).
The Texas congressional delegation also has been involved, challenging the award in a letter to the Defense Department.
Oshkosh, while awaiting the GAO ‘s protest decision, has been moving forward in preparing for the contract. The company and the City of Oshkosh are working on plans for expanding manufacturing capability (Defense Daily, Nov. 20). Additionally, the Wisconsin congressional delegation has provided its support for the contract award in writing to the Defense Department (Defense Daily, Oct. 16).
Lance LaCour, co-chairman of the Sealy FMTV Task Force and CEO of Katy Area Economic Development Council, said: “The Sealy FMTV Task Force is calling on the Army and Department of Defense to critically analyze the award to Oshkosh and either rebid this contract or award the re-buy to BAE Systems. We feel Oshkosh underbid the contract to ‘buy’ the business and cannot deliver on what they have promised. In addition, several mistakes were made by the Army when evaluating costs submitted by Oshkosh and the risks in their proposal.”
The event was organized by the Sealy FMTV Task Force with assistance from the Greater Houston Partnership.
Jeff Moseley, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, said: “We will not stand idly by while losing $1.8 billion a year and what amounts to 3,400 direct and 6,700 indirect jobs in the region over a flawed decision,” said “We intend for our collective voices to be heard.”
“BAE has successfully built this vehicle for the Army while meeting stringent war-time requirements, yet the contract was awarded to a vendor with no experience manufacturing FMTVs,” said Kim Meloneck, executive director of the Sealy Economic Development Corporation and Co-Chair of the Task Force–a coalition of industry experts, public officials and economic developers.
The task force, formed in the wake of the reversal of BAE’s long-term relationship of manufacturing the FMTVs, also is questioning the timing of the contract award.
The GAO will make its decision on the protest into the potential $3 billion contract award no later than Dec. 14.