Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
12/4/2015
The Los Alamos National Laboratory and its newly selected protective force contractor, the Centerra Group, have completed a full transfer of security responsibilities from departing contractor SOC. The final change took place Tuesday despite a pending protest by SOC that disputed the award, a factor that went unmentioned in announcements this week by the lab and the incoming contractor.
The lab’s internal email to its workforce was headlined, “New Protective Force Contract Starts Today,” but the body of the message made no reference to the ongoing appeal. Centerra’s announcement of its contract for up to five years with LANL originated from the company’s headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. It was headlined “Centerra Group, LLC awarded protective force contract at Los Alamos National Laboratory.” The award was actually made on Sept. 11, and the decision was subsequently appealed by SOC, although this information was not included in either of the announcements.
The dollar amount of the new contract was not specified. It calls for managing and operating a protective force of at least 200 uniformed officers within an existing collective bargaining agreement.
A lab spokesperson on Thursday acknowledged that the situation was not yet decided, and therefore still unresolved: “The SOC protest is still pending.”
Also on Thursday, Jack Killeen, general manager of SOC, confirmed his understanding that no determination had yet been made, although Centerra is now fully installed as manager of the protective force guards and the security functions of the laboratory. “They are running the show as of Dec. 1,” he said.
Concerning the decision about SOC’s protest, he added, “The last information I had from the laboratory was that the target date was Dec. 14.” Killeen said he no information on the actual deliberations, because the provisions of the appeals process prohibit the lawyers from communicating with him or his counterparts as they compare the competing submissions against the statement of work and request for proposals.
Killeen said it was difficult to imagine what would happen if the decision were reversed or the competition repeated at this point following such a strenuous transition period. “They worked their tail off for 60 days,” he said, “totally validating all procedures, hiring people, negotiating salaries – all the things you have to do starting up.”
He said he was discouraged when the decision was made to proceed with the transition before the appeal was settled, because it seemed irreversible. “I have no idea how to rebuild Humpty-Dumpty.”
SOC was the primary security contractor at Los Alamos for the last five years, and for more than a decade before that as Protection Technology Los Alamos. The Centerra Group was formed in 2014 when Alvarez & Marsal Capital Partners acquired a company made up of a merger between global security giants Wackenhut and G4S. Among its many security clients, Centerra has DOE contracts at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Savannah River Site, and the Nevada National Security Site.
