Agency gives no-bid pact to ex-official

The Defense Logistics Agency has extended without competitive bidding a $4 billion food-supply contract to a company whose top officials include a retired lieutenant general who commanded the agency just over two years ago.

In an announcement, the DLA said it had granted a two-year contract extension to Supreme Foodservice to supply food to U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. It said the extension was "required in order to maintain continuous prime vendor coverage and uninterrupted supply of vitally needed subsistence items."

In March, the agency announced plans to rebid the Afghan food contract for up to five years but never put out a bid proposal. In announcing the extension, the agency redacted an explanation for the delay, although the uncertainty about troop levels may have been a factor.

The DLA said in a statement that a new proposal "is still in development" and that the agency had "determined that the follow on procurement may take two years to be awarded."

Supreme Foodservice is part of Supreme Group, a global logistics services company that was founded in 1957 by a former U.S. soldier and that is now headquartered in Amsterdam. It has held the Afghan food contract since 2005.

In 2007, Army Lt. Gen. Robert Dail, the DLA's director at the time, gave the agency's New Contractor of the Year award to Supreme Foodservice, saying that in Afghanistan, the company "has used a combination of ground, helicopter and air transportation to more than 65 military sites to ensure mission success."

Dail retired from the Army in November 2008. Four months later, he was hired as president of Supreme Group's new entity, Supreme Group USA, located in Reston, Va.