Dumb Error in Gov't Procurement

The headline from The Washington Post is "Oops:  Air Force sends tanker bid details to rivals".  This is a big deal mistake.  The two competitors are Boeing and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), parent of Airbus, Boeings only real rival at this time.

This means that if the current attempt to award a contract is thrown out and the Air Force air refueling tanker contract is recompeted (one more time) that the competitors will be looking inside each other's books. Worse, it means that inside knowledge of the other company will spill over into competition for commercial airline orders.

Here is the most damaging thing of all:

The Air Force is reviewing how the disclosures occurred and was "taking steps that it doesn't happen again," said [Air Force spokesman Lt Col Les] Kodlick.

The reason it is damaging is that defense procurement has become bogged down in an ever growing bureaucracy that is strangling not only the process, but also initiative.  Another layer of review will be added, but since we are dealing with humans, that added layer will mean that the person lower down will relax his or her vigilance just a little bit more.  This will just create more opportunities for errors.

We have moved from free and open competition to a system that can't get out of its own way.  On balance, I was smart to get out of the contracting dodge and go back to the war Southeast Asia in 1972.

Regards  —  Cliff

PS:  And, a hat tip to my buddy Neal for bringing this to my attention this morning.