The Army buys lots of things for the troops, but this is one we haven’t seen before. Behavioral artwork?
What’s especially surprising is that Thursday’s announcement was simply a declaration that the contracting office at Fort Gordon, Ga., intends to award a contract for an unspecified amount to “Perspective, LLC” of Holladay, Utah. There is, the notice says, “only one responsible Source.” A quick web search shows Perspectives, plural, to be a photo studio of some kind. Strangely, it doesn’t seem to have a website, or at least one Battleland can find.
Adds the announcement:
If no affirmative written responses are received by 0800 a.m. on 14 May 2012, an award will be made without further notice. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the government not to compete this proposed requirement is solely within the discretion of the government.
We called the contracting officer, but she hasn’t called back. Battleland would like to know what “behavioral artwork” is, how much it is going to cost, and why it warrants a sole-source contract. We’ll share what we learn.
Update: We’ve learned this this “behavioral artwork” consists of “calming” and “soothing” photographs slated to end up hanging on the walls of the traumatic brain injury unit at Fort Gordon’s military hospital. But an Army contracting official won’t divulge how much it’s going to cost, and why it had to be awarded sole-source — although she does concede they questioned the need for the sole-source award.