United States General Accounting Office

GAO Report to the Honorable

Rick Santorum, U.S. Senate

August 1998 CHEMICAL AND

BIOLOGICAL DEFENSE

DOD’s Evaluation of

Improved Garment

Materials

GAO/NSIAD-98-214

GAO United States

General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

National Security and

International Affairs Division

B-279587 

August 18, 1998

The Honorable Rick Santorum

United States Senate

Dear Senator Santorum:

As you requested, we examined the Department of Defense’s (DOD)

research and development programs for improved chemical defense

garment materials for U.S. armed forces to determine whether the

programs were conducted fairly. A company that participated in the

Marine Corps and Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology

(MCLIST and JSLIST) programs raised concerns about the evaluation,

claiming that it did not have an opportunity to submit an improved

material for evaluation and that requirements changed in the transition

from MCLIST to JSLIST. To assess the fairness of DOD’s evaluation process, we

determined whether, in the research and development context, DOD

(1) provided sufficient notice to industry of the government’s interest in

identifying improved chemical defense materials, (2) provided industry

sufficient opportunity to participate in the programs, and (3) changed

requirements in the transition of MCLIST to JSLIST. In addition, we are

reporting on DOD’s response to a recent congressional reporting

requirement concerning sources of supply for the military’s chemical

defense materials.

Background In the late 1980s, the Marine Corps began efforts to improve its chemical

and biological protective suits because the ones used by U.S. armed forces

at the time were bulky and heavy and could not be reused after laundering.

Starting in 1989, the Marine Corps’ exploratory development efforts and

subsequent MCLIST Advanced Technology Transition Demonstration

program identified, evaluated, and field tested a number of chemical

defense materials. During the same time period, the Army began an

exploratory development effort to evaluate materials that offered less

weight and bulk and enhanced protection, and the Air Force and the Navy

began pursuing improved materials for their chemical protective uniforms.

Separate from the MCLIST program, the Marine Corps fielded the Saratoga

chemical and biological protective overgarment in 1991. The Saratoga

garment, made from materials manufactured by Blucher, a German

company, had an inner liner made with activated carbon spheres rather

Page 1 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

than the carbon-impregnated foam used by the military services at the

time.

All of the military services eventually combined their chemical defense

material improvement efforts. Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and Navy

officials signed a memorandum of agreement, effective in November 1993,

that defined the new JSLIST program and set forth the services’ respective

responsibilities for the development, production, and deployment of the

next-generation chemical and biological protective suits. The Marine

Corps Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Office was designated as

the lead agency for the JSLIST program.

The MCLIST and Army programs, which ultimately became JSLIST, were

research and development activities. Research and development activities

are generally conducted in a more flexible environment than acquisition

programs and often involve informal communications with prospective

participants. DOD used market research to seek out existing foreign and

domestic technologies for testing. The minimum requirements that applied

to DOD’s efforts to identify improved chemical defense materials were

published in a series of annual Broad Agency Announcements. These

announcements described various areas of scientific or technical interest,

provided specific points of contact, and included a statement that

proposals would be evaluated based on merit and responsiveness to a

government requirement.

According to Marine Corps officials, the JSLIST program evaluated 57

material combinations (including liners, outershells, and combinations of

both). The program evaluation was conducted in two phases. At the

completion of phase I, 5 of the 57 material combinations were qualified to

enter phase II for developmental and operational testing. At the

completion of phase II in April 1997, only one of the five material

combinations tested was determined to be acceptable for use in protective

suits—Blucher’s Saratoga liner with a nylon and cotton outershell. (See

app. I for further information on the JSLIST test program phases.) DOD is

contracting for the suits through the National Industries for the Severely

Handicapped and a company under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act.

The contracts require that the suits be made from the Blucher material

combination. Appendix II contains additional information on the JSLIST

contracts.

The JSLIST acquisition strategy includes a pre-planned product

improvement program. DOD announced this new competition in the

Page 2 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

Commerce Business Daily in June 1997. DOD is seeking additional materials

to address JSLIST objectives that were not met in the initial evaluation, such

as a chemical protective garment that lasts for 60 days and improved

chemical protective gloves and socks. Production is scheduled to begin in

fiscal year 2000. Appendix III shows a timeline of key events in the MCLIST

and JSLIST programs.

Congress has raised concerns about the fact that the JSLIST material is

produced by a sole-source company. The National Defense Authorization

Act for Fiscal Year 1998 conference report noted that DOD should consider

taking actions necessary to qualify additional sources of supply for

chemical protective garment materials. Congress directed the Secretary of

Defense to address this issue in DOD’s next Nuclear, Biological, and

Chemical Defense Annual Report to Congress.

Results in Brief Because the MCLIST program and the Army’s exploratory development

efforts—which ultimately became the JSLIST program—were research and

development activities, they were not subject to the same procedural

requirements that apply to acquisition programs. In this research and

development context, DOD provided sufficient notice to industry of its

interest in improved chemical defense materials through market research,

direct industry contacts, ongoing exploratory development projects, and

Broad Agency Announcement notices published in the Commerce

Business Daily.

DOD provided industry an adequate opportunity to participate in the

research and development programs. On the basis of the notice DOD

provided to industry, a total of 57 material combinations, submitted by 13

companies (including the complainant company), were evaluated in JSLIST

after initial testing in MCLIST and the Army demonstration. However,

reliance on informal communications—common in a research and

development environment—resulted in companies receiving different

information about submission deadlines to the MCLIST and the Army

programs. Due in part to the lack of formal communications regarding

deadlines of material submissions, the complainant company did not get

an improved material into JSLIST for evaluation.

The complainant company, which already had one material in the MCLIST

demonstration, submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Marine Corps for

an improved chemical defense material after entry into MCLIST was closed.

The Marine Corps rejected the proposal in accordance with the

Page 3 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

Federal Acquisition Regulation, which governs unsolicited proposals,

because the material duplicated an existing Marine Corps effort. However,

the Marine Corps missed an opportunity to refer the company to the

Army’s demonstration program, which might ultimately have allowed the

improved material to enter the JSLIST program. We could not determine

whether the outcome of JSLIST would have differed if this material had

been assessed.

The basic requirements for a lightweight, launderable, chemical protective

garment did not change in the transition from MCLIST to JSLIST. However,

the individual military services added certain mission-specific

requirements under JSLIST.

DOD overlooked the congressional reporting requirement in the National

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 conference report. A May

1998 addendum to DOD’s February 1998 Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical

Defense Annual Report to Congress stated that the pre-planned product

improvement program might identify additional sources of supply to meet

those requirements that were not achieved in the JSLIST program.

DOD Provided

Adequate Notice to

Industry

Because the MCLIST and Army demonstrations were research and

development activities, they were not subject to the formal notification

requirements that apply to acquisitions. However, DOD provided adequate

notice of its interest in identifying improved chemical protective materials

through three different mechanisms. First, DOD conducted informal market

research efforts and contacted industry directly to identify materials to

include in the research and development programs. These efforts involved

foreign as well as domestic suppliers. Officials from the Army’s Natick

Research, Development, and Engineering Center, which managed MCLIST

for the Marine Corps, told us that they traveled worldwide to locate

promising technologies.

Second, ongoing exploratory development projects at Natick identified

technologies that were subsequently included in the demonstration

programs. Marine Corps officials told us that they directed certain new

and promising materials from these projects into the MCLIST demonstration

program.

Last, notice of three Broad Agency Announcements, published in the

Commerce Business Daily, alerted industry of the government’s interest in

Page 4 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

developing new technologies for chemical defense materials.1 The dates of

the announcements are shown in table 1. Although these announcements

did not specifically cite the MCLIST program or the Army’s exploratory

development effort, points of contact were named so that industry

representatives could obtain further information concerning DOD’s

research and development efforts.

Table 1: Broad Agency Announcement

Solicitation Numbers and Dates Solicitation number Opening date Closing date

DAAK60-90-T-0001 September 1989 September 30, 1990

DAAK60-91-T-0001 February 1, 1991 September 30, 1991

DAAK60-92-T-0001 October 1, 1991 September 30, 1992

DOD Provided

Adequate Opportunity

to Participate in the

Research and

Development Process

but Did Not Evaluate

a Company’s Material

Participation in the JSLIST program was limited only to those materials

submitted under the MCLIST or Army’s demonstrations; new companies or

materials were excluded from entering JSLIST. DOD tested 57 material

combinations, submitted by 13 companies, in the JSLIST program. However,

reliance on informal communications—common in a research and

development environment—resulted in some companies getting different

information about deadlines for material submissions.

Outside of the research and development programs, a company submitted

an unsolicited proposal to the Marine Corps for an improved chemical

defense material. The Marine Corps’ subsequent rejection of the proposal

was consistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation. However, the

Marine Corps could have referred the company to the Army’s exploratory

development program so that the material could have been considered for

inclusion in JSLIST.

Industry Learned of

Opportunities Through

Informal Communication

With DOD

Industry learned of the opportunity to participate in the MCLIST and Army

research and development programs through informal discussions with

DOD officials or by calling the points of contact listed in the Broad Agency

Announcements. Participation in these programs resulted in 57 material

combinations, submitted by 13 companies, being tested in JSLIST. However,

because the MCLIST and Army programs operated separately, each had

different timeframes and cutoff dates for submitting materials. For

1

Broad Agency Announcements may be used by agencies to fulfill their requirements for scientific

study and experimentation directed toward advancing the state of the art or increasing knowledge or

understanding rather than focusing on a specific system or hardware solution. These announcements

are to be used only when meaningful proposals with varying technical and scientific approaches can

reasonably be expected.

Page 5 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

example, materials for the MCLIST program had to be submitted to Natick in

time to make garments before field testing, which took place from April to

June 1992. According to Marine Corps officials, industry was required to

submit garments by September 30, 1992, for participation in the Army’s

demonstration, which was held in March 1993. If industry was submitting

materials rather than fully constructed garments, the deadline was

June 1992. The Army’s program was industry’s final opportunity to have

materials entered in JSLIST.

MCLIST participants were advised informally of the final date to submit

materials to the Marine Corps program, but not all companies learned of

the opportunity to submit materials to the Army program. For example,

officials from the complainant company said that they were not told of the

Army program’s deadline for submission of materials until September 30,

1992, the last day submissions were allowed. Therefore, the company did

not submit an improved material to Natick that could have been included

in the Army’s demonstration and JSLIST program. Officials from this

company did not call the points of contact listed in the Broad Agency

Announcement. Rather, they contacted a Natick official who had been

involved with MCLIST but was not directly involved with JSLIST.

In contrast, a company that fared poorly in MCLIST was advised by a Natick

official who was also not named in the Broad Agency Announcements of

its opportunity to submit an improved material for evaluation in the

upcoming Army program. Because contacts between DOD officials and

industry were informal and largely undocumented, we could not

determine whether all companies that contacted the Natick officials

named in the Broad Agency Announcements were told of the opportunity

to participate in the Army’s demonstration program.

According to Marine Corps officials, the closing date of each Broad

Agency Announcement represented the cutoff dates for material

submissions to the demonstration programs. For example, the officials

said that the closing date of the final announcement—September 30,

1992—was the deadline for entering materials in the Army’s demonstration

program. However, Natick officials told us that the Broad Agency

Announcements were not connected to cutoff dates for material

submissions to the demonstration programs. For example, the officials

noted that the cutoff date for the MCLIST demonstration was simply tied to

their need to receive materials and make garments in time for field testing.

Page 6 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

The three Broad Agency Announcements did not cite particular

programs—such as MCLIST or JSLIST—or cutoff dates for material

submissions and thus were not explicitly tied to the deadline for material

submissions. Nothing in the third announcement sets it apart from the two

previous announcements to indicate that September 30, 1992, was

industry’s last opportunity to submit a material to JSLIST via the Army’s

demonstration program. Furthermore, a fiscal year 1993 Broad Agency

Announcement, issued a year after entry to JSLIST was closed, is nearly

identical to the three previous announcements.

Marine Corps Rejected

Unsolicited Proposal

In June 1992, 3 months before the closing date of the fiscal year 1992

Broad Agency Announcement, the complainant company submitted an

unsolicited proposal to the Marine Corps for an improved chemical

defense material. The company had developed this improved material after

its initial submission to the MCLIST program. The proposal—submitted

outside of the Advanced Technology Transition Demonstration

process—was for a competitive alternative to the Saratoga suits that the

Marine Corps had begun to field in 1991. The company offered to absorb a

substantial share of the testing costs if its product did not meet the Marine

Corps’ requirements.

In April 1993, more than 6 months after the deadline for submissions to the

Army’s demonstration program, the Marine Corps rejected the unsolicited

proposal, stating that it was duplicative in nature to an existing Marine

Corps effort. The rejection letter noted that the Marine Corps had already

initiated a research and development effort based on the carbon sphere

technology identified in the proposal.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation provided that an unsolicited proposal

be rejected when it resembled an ongoing acquisition or did not

demonstrate an innovative and unique concept. The Marine Corps’ actions

in rejecting the proposal were therefore consistent with the Federal

Acquisition Regulation. However, we believe the Marine Corps missed an

opportunity to refer the firm to the Army’s demonstration program, which

ultimately became part of JSLIST, before it was too late for entry. Because a

joint program was already planned at that time, the Marine Corps could

have informed the company that the Broad Agency Announcement was

still open, thus allowing the firm’s potential entry into the Army’s

demonstration program. We could not determine whether the outcome of

the JSLIST program would have differed if the firm’s material had been

assessed.

Page 7 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

Basic Requirements

Did Not Significantly

Change

The complainant company asserted that the transition to JSLIST had caused

a significant change in requirements. The company was primarily

concerned that the requirement for a single-use garment in MCLIST had

changed to one that was launderable in JSLIST. Officials from the company

stated that the changed requirements placed it at a disadvantage relative to

the competition because it was not allowed to submit a different material

under JSLIST. However, the basic requirements for a lightweight,

launderable, chemical protective overgarment did not change during the

transition.

The requirements for MCLIST and JSLIST were based on assessments of the

services’ missions and the threat. DOD’s basic requirement for both

programs was to develop a lightweight, launderable, durable material that

protected against chemical agent penetration and reduced heat stress.

These fundamental requirements were reflected in the three Broad Agency

Announcements issued from fiscal years 1990 to 1992. The latter two

announcements added a requirement for protection from toxic aerosols.

MCLIST and JSLIST both sought improved materials that could be laundered

multiple times and reused, unlike the single-use garment that the Army, Air

Force, and Navy were using at the time, which could not be laundered.

Although the fundamental requirements did not change, each service

added various service-unique requirements to the JSLIST program. For

example, the Army required, in addition to the standard 30-day garment, a

single-use, 7-day garment that would weigh less than the 30-day garment

and provide the same level of chemical protection. In addition, the Air

Force required chemical protection for liquid dispersed by air burst

munitions or spray tanks. Although materials were tested that would

accommodate these variations, the basic requirements for the

overgarment did not change.2

Ongoing Program May

Identify Additional

Sources of Supply

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 conference

report urged DOD to consider taking actions necessary to qualify additional

sources of supply for its chemical protective garment materials. The

conferees directed the Secretary of the Army, as executive agent for the

chemical-biological defense program, to report to the congressional

defense committees on any plans to qualify such sources. The conferees

also directed the Secretary of Defense to address the issue as a special

area of interest in DOD’s next annual report to Congress on the Nuclear,

2

The Army requirement was dropped during the JSLIST evaluation because testing revealed that the

requirement could not be met.

Page 8 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

Biological, and Chemical Defense program. However, the subsequent

annual report to Congress, issued in February 1998, did not address the

issue of qualifying additional sources of supply. A DOD official told us that

the reporting requirement had been overlooked.

In May 1998, DOD issued an addendum to its February 1998 report to

address the congressional reporting requirement. The addendum cited

DOD’s ongoing pre-planned product improvement program as a potential

mechanism for identifying additional sources of supply for the

requirements that were not achieved in the JSLIST program. The report

emphasizes, however, that DOD’s primary goal remains to provide the U.S.

armed forces with the best chemical protective ensemble available.

Conclusions Because the MCLIST program and the Army’s exploratory development

efforts—which ultimately became the JSLIST program—were research and

development activities, they were not subject to the same procedural

requirements that apply to acquisition programs. In this context, we

believe that the MCLIST and JSLIST programs were conducted fairly. DOD

provided industry adequate notice of the government’s interest in

improved chemical defense garment materials and sufficient opportunity

to participate in the programs. The basic requirement for a lightweight,

less bulky overgarment that could be reused after laundering did not

change in the transition from MCLIST to JSLIST, although each service added

certain unique requirements. Although the informal nature of

communications that characterizes the research and development

environment may have contributed to a missed opportunity for DOD to

evaluate the complainant’s improved chemical defense garment material,

the Marine Corps’ rejection of the unsolicited proposal was consistent

with the Federal Acquisition Regulation governing such proposals.

Agency Comments DOD reviewed a draft of this report and fully concurred with the

information as presented.

Scope and

Methodology

To determine whether DOD provided sufficient notice to industry of its

interest in new chemical defense materials and industry had sufficient

opportunity to participate in the MCLIST demonstration, the Army’s

exploratory development effort, and the JSLIST program, we obtained and

analyzed Broad Agency Announcements and information about DOD’s

formal and informal communications with industry regarding the

Page 9 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

programs. We gathered and analyzed information pertaining to the intent,

timeframes, and participants in the MCLIST and Army’s demonstration

programs, which afforded industry entry to JSLIST. We discussed these

programs with officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense,

Director of Defense Procurement; the Marine Corps Systems Command;

the Army’s Natick Research, Development, and Engineering Center; and

selected contractor locations. We also reviewed the unsolicited proposal a

company sent to the Marine Corps in June 1992 and the Marine Corps’

response to the company. We determined whether the Marine Corps’

rejection of the proposal was done in accordance with the Federal

Acquisition Regulation.

To determine whether basic requirements that materially affected the

competition changed in the transition from MCLIST to JSLIST, we obtained

and analyzed requirements documents, such as the Marine Corps’ 1986

Required Operational Capability statement and the 1995 Joint Operational

Requirements Document for JSLIST, as well as test plans for JSLIST. We

discussed MCLIST and JSLIST requirements with officials from the Marine

Corps Systems Command and industry officials. We also analyzed the

requirements as stated in the Broad Agency Announcements.

To report on DOD’s response to the congressional reporting requirement in

the Fiscal Year 1998 National Defense Authorization Act conference

report, we interviewed officials at the Office of the Assistant to the

Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense

Programs and the Marine Corps Systems Command. We also reviewed

DOD’s February 1998 Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Annual

Report to Congress and the May 1998 addendum to that report.

We did not attempt to assess the accuracy of the JSLIST test results or

determine whether the outcome of the JSLIST program would have differed

if additional chemical defense materials had been evaluated.

We conducted our review from February to June 1998 in accordance with

generally accepted government auditing standards.

We are sending copies of this report to appropriate congressional

committees, the Secretary of Defense, and the Commandant of the Marine

Corps. We will also provide copies to other interested parties on request.

Page 10 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
B-279587 

Please contact me at (202) 512-4841 if you or your staff have any questions

concerning this report. Major contributors to this report are listed in

appendix IV.

Sincerely yours,

Katherine V. Schinasi

Associate Director

Defense Acquisitions Issues

Page 11 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
Contents

Letter 1

Appendix I 

JSLIST Test Phases

14

Appendix II 

Contractual

Mechanism for JSLIST

Chemical Defense

Garments

16

Appendix III 

Timeline of Events

17

Appendix IV 

Major Contributors to

This Report

18

Table Table 1: Broad Agency Announcement Solicitation Numbers and

Dates

5

Abbreviations

DOD Department of Defense

MCLIST Marine Corps Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology

JSLIST Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology

Page 12 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
Page 13 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
Appendix I 

JSLIST Test Phases

Because the Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST)

program was a joint effort, standardized test methods and procedures had

to be developed that would be acceptable to all the services and recognize

service-unique requirements. Testing occurred during two phases. Phase I

began in October 1993; phase II began in August 1995 and resulted in the

selection of the only material combination that was determined to be

acceptable for use in the Department of Defense’s chemical defense

garments.

Phase I During phase I, 600 suits made from 57 candidate material combinations

(outershells, liners, or both) were tested. Phase I testing involved chemical

agent penetration, aerosol penetration, heat stress, laundry tests, wear

tests, suit design evaluation, physical properties and flame resistance tests,

and user size and fit tests. Wear tests were conducted over 14 days at

Camp Pendleton, California, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Suit

design evaluations took place at Camp Pendleton, California; Camp

Lejeune, North Carolina; Brooks Air Force Base, Texas; U.S. Army Natick

Research, Development, and Engineering Center, Massachusetts; Fort

Rucker, Alabama; Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia; and Fort Bragg, North

Carolina. To pass the tests, candidate materials had to equal or exceed the

performance of the Battledress Overgarment, which was the suit used by

the Army at that time, or the Saratoga, which was replacing the Battledress

Overgarment in the Marine Corps. Those materials that did not pass

chemical agent penetration and laundry tests were disqualified. Test

garments and individual swatch samples were coded to ensure unbiased

testing.

Phase I culminated in a decision by the Marine Corps Systems Command

to proceed to the engineering and manufacturing development phase, or

phase II. Of the 57 material candidates, 5 were selected for phase II testing.

Phase II During phase II, more than 3,000 suits (330 suits per candidate material

plus the Battledress Overgarment and Saratoga control garments) were

tested at 10 worldwide field locations using mission-oriented scenarios

and individual user tasks. The purpose of these tests was to collect

operational and technical data to assess the performance of each material

configuration during mission-oriented activities and provide worn suits for

follow-on laboratory tests. The coding procedure used in phase I was also

used in phase II to continue unbiased testing. Arctic, tropic, and desert

environmental conditions were represented during the tests. The wear

Page 14 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
Appendix I 

JSLIST Test Phases

periods were 7, 15, 30, and 45 days, and suits were laundered up to 6 times.

Laboratory tests included chemical agent, flame resistance, aerosol

penetration, and heat stress. As with phase I, the Army’s Battledress

Overgarment and the Marine Corps’ Saratoga garment were the

established baselines. Only one material combination was found to meet

all program requirements—the nylon/cotton outershell over the Blucher

Saratoga liner.

Page 15 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
Appendix II 

Contractual Mechanism for JSLIST

Chemical Defense Garments

Because Blucher’s Saratoga liner with a nylon/cotton outer shell was the

only material combination to pass the JSLIST phase II tests, the JSLIST

production material is sole source. The Department of Defense is

contracting for the JSLIST suits through the National Industries for the

Severely Handicapped and another contractor under section 8(a) of the

Small Business Act. Tex-Shield, Inc., Blucher’s American distributor, is a

directed sole source for the material from which the suits are to be

fabricated. The contracts are not awarded competitively.

Suit fabrication services are on the procurement list developed under the

provisions of the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act. Under the act, once a

commodity or service has been added to the list by the Committee for

Purchase from the Blind and Other Severely Handicapped, contracting

agencies are required to procure the commodity or service directly from

the workshops for blind or other severely handicapped individuals

affiliated with the National Industries for the Severely Handicapped. For

the JSLIST suits, the Marine Corps offered the requirement to the National

Industries for the Severely Handicapped, which accepted as much of the

work as it could, and the Marine Corps contracted for the balance of work

with another contractor under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act.

Neither contracting through the National Industries for the Severely

Handicapped nor the contract with the section 8(a) contractor required

publication of a notice in the Commerce Business Daily or the use of

competitive procedures.

Page 16 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
Appendix III 

Timeline of Events

August 1989

September 1989 to

September 1990

1991

February to 

September 1991

October 1991 to

September 1992

April to

May 1992

June 1992

June to

July 1992

September 1992

March 1993

April 1993

October 1993

November 1993

August 1995

April 1997

May 1997

June 1997

MCLIST program began.

First Broad Agency Announcement was released in

Commerce Business Daily.

A company submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Marine Corps.

Army wear test was conducted at Camp Pendleton.

Marine Corps fielded Saratoga suits.

Second Broad Agency Announcement was released in

Commerce Business Daily.

Third Broad Agency Announcement was released in

Commerce Business Daily.

First MCLIST wear test was conducted at Camp Lejeune

(hot/humid climate testing).

Second MCLIST wear test was conducted at Camp Pendleton 

(hot/dry climate testing).

Deadline for submissions to Army demonstration program. According

to Marine Corps, no additional materials were accepted after this time.

Marine Corps rejected the unsolicited proposal.

JSLIST phase I testing began with 57 material combinations.

JSLIST memorandum of agreement became effective.

JSLIST phase II testing began.

Phase II testing was completed, and Saratoga material was selected.

JSLIST contracts were awarded.

Preplanned Product Improvement Program was announced in 

Commerce Business Daily.

Page 17 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
Appendix IV 

Major Contributors to This Report

National Security and

International Affairs

Division, Washington,

D.C.

Clifton E. Spruill

Michele Mackin

Stacy Edwards

Office of the General

Counsel

John A. Carter

William T. Woods

(707320) Page 18 GAO/NSIAD-98-214 Chemical and Biological Defense
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