Defense Contracting: Enhanced Training Could Strengthen DOD’s Best Value Tradeoff Decisions

The Department of Defense (DOD) used best value processes for approximately 95 percent of its new, competitively awarded contracts for more than $25 million fiscal year 2009 to acquire products and services, and almost half of DOD's contracts were awarded using a tradeoff process. The GAO reviewed the use of this process and determined 1) how often and what types of contracts DOD used the best value tradeoff process; 2) why and how DOD used such an approach; and 3) challenges, if any DOD faces in using the best value tradeoff process.