Loophole let Army hire retired generals

[unhappycamper]

Loophole let Army hire retired generals
By Ken Dilanian, Tom Vanden Brook and Ray Locker - USA Today
Posted : Tuesday Dec 8, 2009 12:03:12 EST

WASHINGTON — The Army used a loophole in federal ethics law to award lucrative contracts to two recently retired generals, departing from its standard practice for hiring senior advisers, according to public records and interviews.

During the past two years, the Army wanted to bring back two former generals, John Vines and Dan McNeill, to advise commanders as part of its “senior mentor” program. But the service’s program is run by a defense contractor, Northrop Grumman, and federal ethics law prohibits newly retired senior employees from representing a company before their former agency for one year.

That “cooling off” period is designed to prohibit “acts by former government employees which may reasonably give the appearance of making unfair use of prior government employment,” according to ethics regulations.

The Army found a way around the rule. Instead of hiring them as defense company subcontractors, as it does for roughly two dozen other Army mentors, the service contracted directly with McNeill and Vines. McNeill received his contract after the Army wrote specific bid solicitations that applied to him and perhaps a few other retired generals. Vines received contracts without competition, records show.

All told, the Army paid McNeill $281,625 from December 2008 through August 2009, federal records show. McNeill told USA Today he also consults for defense firms but declined to name them. He isn’t required to tell the Army about them, either.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/gns_army_loophole_retired_generals_120809/

[noamnety]

1. One of two problems

1) How do you get a consulting contract for $280K for a half year without having a clearance?

or

2) How do you get a clearance without divulging who all you are working for?

[Sherman A1]

2. Good questions

indeed

[MercutioATC]

3. Ahhh...the "tailored bid"...working for the government, I know it well.

Imagine that you have a completely unqualified but well-connected employee who you'd like to hire into an administrative position...but, alas, this is a federal job so it's subject to the bidding process. What do you do?

Easy. You take the person's bio and write a bid tailored specifically for them! That way it's not favoritism (or nepotism), you're just hiring the best qualified candidate!

Standard practice.