NSA Picks Information Technology Contractor

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Washington Post
August 1, 2001
Pg. E1

By Vernon Loeb and Greg Schneider, Washington Post Staff Writers

The National Security Agency yesterday awarded a 10-year contract
worth more than $2 billion to Computer Sciences Corp. and more than a
dozen partners in what NSA officials called the largest effort by a
U.S. intelligence agency to entrust its information technology systems
to a private contractor.

With the Bush administration engaged in a comprehensive review of the
nation's intelligence capabilities, the award represents a clear
acknowledgment by NSA officials that the agency has fallen behind the
technological curve and now needs the private sector to modernize its
Cold War infrastructure.

The contract, dubbed Project Groundbreaker, also represents a major
departure for the NSA, which has long prided itself on developing much
of its own computer and signals intelligence technology.

"Technology is moving much faster today than it ever has and it's very
hard to keep up with it. One of the things that makes sense is to
bring commercial experience and commercial best practices into the
government," said Thomas C. Robinson, president of Computer Sciences'
defense group.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the NSA's director, said the
contract "allows us to refocus assets on the agency's core mission of
providing foreign signals intelligence and protecting U.S. national
security-related information systems."

One intelligence community official called the contract "unprecedented
in terms of the scale of the effort, taking advantage of the private
sector's ability to make technical inroads and modernize rapidly. It
could very well be replicated by other intelligence agencies, if the
effort is successful."

While many of the requirements included in the contract involve
non-classified computing and telecommunications services, Computer
Sciences and its partners also will be responsible for designing and
maintaining classified systems used for the management of electronic
signals and digital data intercepted around the globe.

California-based CSC formed a partnership on the contract with
Logicon, a Herndon-based unit of Northrop Grumman Corp. The joint
venture is known as the Eagle Alliance, and will be led by Robinson.

The team was selected over groups led by AT&T Corp. and OAO Technology
Solutions Inc.

Agency officials said the contract, which will become "fully
operational" by Nov. 1, includes financial incentives to support the
hiring of 750 NSA employees by the contractors at "comparable or
better pay, benefits and opportunities."

Computer Sciences officials said the company's experience in moving
federal employees to the private sector through outsourcing was a key
factor in winning the contract. The company delivered a feasibility
study leading up to Project Groundbreaker in which it absorbed about
75 NSA civil servants.

It also undertook a similar outsourcing program for the Army in the
past few years, a $680 million job called the Wholesale Logistics
Modernization Program. Under that program, about 200 Army employees
became CSC employees, the company said.

"We're seeing more interest in the government going to industry to try
to bring in best practices to improve their situation, to help them
modernize. They don't have enough money to recapitalize and
modernize," Robinson said.

NSA employees who do not accept private-sector positions under the
contract might be eligible for transfers within the agency, according
to one NSA official. While there is no immediate prospect for layoffs,
the official did not rule them out for employees who decline to go to
work for the contractors.

CSC's other partners include General Dynamics Corp., Keane Federal
Systems Inc., Omen Inc., ACS Defense Inc., BTG Inc., CACI
International Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., TRW Inc., Windemere, Fiber
Plus, Verizon and Superior Communications.



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