The synopsis for this solicitation entitled, “Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment, uniforms and field jackets for the Afghanistan National Security Forces to include the Afghanistan National Army and Afghanistan National Police” is almost shorter than the title, “Contractor shall provide Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment (OCIE) uniforms and field jackets for the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) to include the Afghanistan National Army (ANA) and Afghanistan National Police (ANP).”
Initially released over the holidays and updated today, the “Mother of All Afghan Camo Solicitation” as we are calling it, originated with US Forces in Afghanistan and has a pretty short response time. Offerors must reply by Jan 20, 2012 at 7:00 am Eastern. But with a contract ceiling of $150 Million, the juice definitely looks to be worth the squeeze if you have the contacts in country to make this happen.
Now, here’s the kicker, assembly of the uniforms and equipment must be accomplished in Afghanistan but materials can be imported…from any country. However, due to proprietary restrictions there is a directed source (ADS) for 3 of the 6 camouflage patterns required to complete the contract such as the GHOSTEX Kilo-1 seen above. It is important to note that ALL 6 patterns are Afghan patterns and already in use by their forces so they aren’t looking for new camo.