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Army awards $2.5B computer contract

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FORT GORDON NELSON HALL, Augusta, Georgia, June 10, 2014 – The U.S. Army’s ‘Cyber Center of Excellence’, Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, hosted a multi-service ‘NetWar’ to show, and build, cyber Warrior capabilities Tuesday, June 10. Twenty-eight Soldiers, Airmen, Navy and Marine Corps computer professionals comprised four teams representing the U.S. Army’s active, reserve and National Guard with one Joint-services team that included a U.S. Special Operations Command civilian. The scenarios tasked teams to reach three kinetic objectives given notional operation orders and varying levels of difficulty. Manipulating in miniaturized city structures the mimicry encouraged communication and knowledge sharing. “It reinforces the idea of a truly blended battlefield,” Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sam Blaney, an information and technology manager for the Georgia National Guard’s joint force headquarters in Marietta, Georgia. “It challenges us while testing our mettle to overcome in a crunch.” Team Bravo, the multi-state U.S. Army National Guard team, completed the first mission through innovation and teamwork. “They were the first to write their own script (computer specific algorithm code) and use SQLMAP (an open source database takeover tool) to clear their objective,” Tim Medin, SANS Institute CyberCity co-creator and exercise facilitator, said. (Georgia Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Tracy J. Smith)

The Army has awarded a $2.5 billion contract to nine companies for computer services.

The contract was awarded under the Army Desktop and Mobile Computing-3 program, according to the Department of Defense contract announcement.

The winning companies are: Blue Tech Inc., Iron Bow Technologies, Red River, Intelligent Decisions, NCS Technologies, Inc., Dell Federal Systems L.P., Strategic Communications, LLC, GovSmart, Inc. and Ideal System Solutions, Inc.

The contract is scheduled to be completed by February 2027. The contract was awarded by Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. 

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Michael Peck is a correspondent for Defense News and a columnist for the Center for European Policy Analysis. He holds an M.A. in political science from Rutgers University. Find him at theuncommondefense.com. His email is mikedefense1@gmail.com.