The 220 Days DISA Said It Didn't Have

Responses closed at four o'clock this afternoon on a notice DISA had no intention of ever posting.

The notice is a sources sought for migrating all eleven combatant commands onto DoDNet: approximately 231,000 users across roughly 200 sites, NIPRNet and SIPRNet both. It went up July 27 under solicitation number 6XX2026, with responses due today and no set-aside.

The driver is a Department of War CIO memo dated 22 May 2026 that gives DISA the job and a deadline of the end of FY28.

Six weeks ago this was going to be a task order.

DISA's plan in June was to hand the work to Leidos under Defense Enclave Services, the $11.5 billion vehicle Leidos won in 2022 to consolidate the Fourth Estate. The justification argued DES was the only viable path, because the 2028 deadline left no room to compete the requirement and transition it to somebody new.

GDIT protested the justification itself on July 10, docket B-424640.1, the solicitation field reading JA26-059. Among the grounds: DISA waived the market research requirement without conducting any, never ran a new pricing determination, and marked the section on barriers to future competition "not applicable."

GAO never reached the merits. DISA took corrective action, agreeing to do market research, revisit its acquisition approach, and write a new acquisition plan.

The protest was dismissed July 24, three days before the sources sought posted.