An Examination of the Past Performance Procedures Used in Air Force Materiel Command Source Selections

The Air Force Materiel Command's mission is to acquire and maintain Air Force weapon systems. The primary contracting method of acquiring weapon systems uses source selections. A source selection is a means of evaluating proposals in terms of credibility, performance, and cost. Among the different criteria used in this selection, recent emphasis has been placed on the use of past performance. Formal guidelines for collecting and storing past performance information have already been established for acquisitions over $5 million. However, recent policy has directed the use of past performance for all acquisitions over $100,000. Presently, the $100,000 to $5 million range leaves contracting officers and buyers great flexibility and little guidance in utilizing past performance for their source selections. The purpose of this exploratory study is to demonstrate how these professionals are responding to the past performance emphasis within this acquisition range. Methods of collecting, storing, and protecting past performance information were obtained as well as the kinds of information. How they determine the information's relevancy was also outlined. In addition, this research effort probed lessons learned by these acquisition professionals.

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