The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has delivered a decisive blow to Amentum Parsons Logistics Services LLC, refusing to reopen the door on its protest over a $306.8 million Army contract award. The ruling, issued Sept. 18 and released Thursday, shuts down the Virginia-based joint venture’s bid to overturn the dismissal of its case, stating that its arguments came too late.

The company, which includes an incumbent contractor overseeing Army prepositioned stock support sites across Europe, had tried to challenge the award to Texas-based KBR Services LLC. But GAO found that Amentum Parsons failed to counter KBR’s contention that it wasn’t even an “interested party” in the protest — a fatal oversight.

The Protest That Went Nowhere

APLS originally protested the Army’s evaluation of technical, past performance, and pricing factors, as well as the service branch’s best-value trade-off analysis. While it claimed status as an interested party under the LOGCAP V program, KBR fired back, asserting that APLS should have been disqualified outright for not complying with the solicitation’s small business participation requirement.

GAO agreed. In its October decision, it concluded APLS would not have been eligible for award even if its protest had succeeded. “Although part of APLS’s proposal represented it would comply,” GAO wrote, “its technical/management and cost/price proposals did not include the required information to support those representations.”

A Plea for Reconsideration

Unmoved by that dismissal, APLS sought reconsideration, arguing that GAO committed a “clear error” and that nothing in KBR’s or the Army’s filings required it to prove eligibility under the small business rules. The company further asserted GAO never instructed it to rebut KBR’s claim directly.

But GAO was unsympathetic. Its decision noted that protest regulations allowed APLS to seek permission to respond at any time — yet the company didn’t. “Where APLS’s status as an interested party was questioned, it was incumbent upon APLS to address the argument,” the office wrote. “The protester has the burden to establish it is an interested party.”

The Larger Battlefield

The Army’s contract, structured under the fifth round of LOGCAP, issued four task orders covering four regional commands. While APLS actually won three task orders, GAO upheld three separate protests against them, underscoring the volatility of competition in one of the Pentagon’s most consequential logistics programs.

Representatives for APLS, KBR, and the Army remained silent Friday when pressed for comment.

GAO attorneys Edward Goldstein and Kenneth E. Patton helped draft the ruling.
APLS is represented by Kevin P. Connelly, Kelly E. Buroker, Jeffrey M. Lowry, and Michael P. Ols of Vedder Price PC.
The Army is represented by Wade L. Brown, while KBR relies on Seth H. Locke of WilmerHale.