European edition, Tuesday, July 10, 2007
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — The Air Force has awarded a joint contract to a pair of U.S.-based companies for management of various services at bases in Morón and Zaragoza, Spain.
Agility Defense & Government Services, based in Arlington, Va., announced its joint venture with Dallas-based First Support Services Inc. in a news release.
Col. Paul Horst, chief of U.S. Air Forces in Europe contracting, said the agreement is like other base operations and support contracts. The Air Force has similar contracts at bases in Turkey.
The two companies have formed Spain Agility First Support, or Spain AFS, to handle such things as communications, postal services, occupational health and ambulance services, and civil engineering.
The contract, which has a potential value of about $50 million, includes food services, lodging, fitness center equipment maintenance and swimming pool services. The Air Force usually awards such contracts for a five-year period but has gone to a shorter two-year time frame as part of a new approach to base maintenance contracts, Horst told Stripes.
Morón Air Base has about 100 airmen and is an airlift hub in southern Spain, near Seville. Zaragoza is an emergency landing site for the space shuttle during launches. The Air Force periodically does training at the Zaragoza base.
Air Force bases in Spain have had base maintenance contracts with private companies for years.
“This award demonstrates our wide range of operational capabilities and overseas experience and strength,” said retired Maj. Gen. Dan Mongeon, president of Agility Defense & Government Services in the U.S., in the release.
