Acknowledgments

First, I would like to thank Raymond M. Saunders for his in-depth review and input into this book. Ray has repeatedly taken the time to provide me with wise counsel on complex legal issues over the years. He has always picked up the phone to assist me with time-pressured contracting problems, and I have learned a lot from listening to him disentangle many complex and convoluted contracting problems. His review of this book was incredibly valuable and improved the final product. The Army is well served by having Ray as its Chief Trial Attorney at the U.S. Army Legal Service Agency’s Contract and Fiscal Law Division.

Next, I would like to thank Robert Antonio, the owner and creator of an outstanding government contract website, www.wifcon.com. The protest content set out on Mr. Antonio’s website was very helpful in writing this book. Mr. Antonio has done an outstanding job of organizing the various protest cases by issue, by forum, and by FAR section. WIFCON stands for “Where in Federal Contracting.” This website began in 1998 and has become increasingly popular with all types of acquisition professionals, in both the government and the private sector. The website seeks to serve the federal acquisition community by providing quick access to acquisition information such as contracting laws and pending legislation, current and proposed regulations, guidance, decisions from the courts and boards of contract appeals, bid protest decisions, contracting newsletters, and selected analysis of federal acquisition issues.

Another outstanding feature of this website is a popular discussion forum in which wifcon members can write in with questions or comments focused on various federal contracting issues. This feature enables acquisition professionals to get the unvarnished views of other acquisition professionals who may have dealt with a similar issue. I cannot thank Mr. Antonio enough for making wifcon available to the contracting community. It is an incredibly useful contribution to the field, and it helps many acquisition professionals (including myself) on a daily basis.

I would also like to thank LTC Patrick Staresina, the Chief of Operational Contracting for the National Guard Bureau. Over the years, Pat has helped me understand acquisition from a contracting officer’s point of view, which I have found extremely valuable. I’ve learned a lot working with him and the entire NGB-AQ and NGB-PARC teams. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge my colleagues in the Office of the Chief Counsel for the National Guard Bureau (NGB-JA). I could not ask to work with more talented attorneys/support staff or finer people.

Finally, I would like to thank my editor, Myra Strauss, from Management Concepts. Myra’s patience with me on this book made writing a joy as opposed to a task. I truly appreciated Myra’s support and assistance during this (longer than expected) writing process. Thank you, Myra.