An Analysis of the Acquisition Process for Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) Contracts and Its Potential Impact on Contractor Performance

This is a AIR FORCE INST OF TECH WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A134193. The abstract provided by the Pentagon follows: The Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) contract's main purpose is to expedite contract award of civil engineer requirements through the issuance of individual delivery orders. The contract contains a collection of detailed task specifications that include most types of real property maintenance, repair, arid construction work. The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition's Operational Contracting Division (SAF/AQCO) identified a number of failed SABER contracts. The problem statement designed for this research effort was: There are a large number of SABER contractors that are failing during the performance period on their SABER contracts. SAF/AQCO is trying to identify whether any Government actions or procedures are negatively impacting the contractor's ability to perform satisfactorily on the SABER contract. This research effort focused on five areas within the SABER process that is controlled by the Government. A qualitative approach using case study analysis was used. Seven SABER contracts were selected as case studies. The research did not identify any Air Force-wide procedures in the five areas that negatively impacted the contractor's ability to perform satisfactorily on the contract. The research identified two areas of potential follow-on research.