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Local jobs in jeopardy after Air Force plans to halt multimillion project

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer Updated 10:12 AM Wednesday, September 14, 2011

 DAYTON — The Air Force plans to halt a multimillion-dollar computer modernization project being handled by contractor Computer Sciences Corp. because of poor performance by the company, potentially putting an undetermined number of information technology jobs at risk in the Dayton area, U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, said on Tuesday night. 

The troubled, multi-year Expeditionary Combat Support System program has undergone a series of restructurings designed to put it back on schedule, but Computer Sciences has continued to have problems and has fallen six months behind the Air Force-mandated performance schedule, Col. Tracey Watkins, an Air Force liaison officer to Congress, informed Austria in an email Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Air Force will issue an order to stop the project before it enters the next phase, Watkins’ email said. “It’s unfortunate that we’ve been put in a position that an alternative course of action must be taken,” Watkins wrote. “However, as good stewards of tax dollars, we must put a hold on nonproductive work until the challenges can be overcome.” 

It is possible that CSC may reduce its staff while the Air Force assesses how to get the project back on track, Watkins wrote.  Austria said he is concerned about how the program delay could affect local businesses and jobs, and awaits more information from the Air Force on Wednesday. 

The program, being led from CSC’s office in Beavercreek, supports about 500 jobs in the Dayton area and approximately 800 to 1,100 nationwide, officials have said. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on the program, which the Air Force regards as a critical effort to modernize computer systems it uses across its system for logistics, acquisition, personnel and suppliers management.

 A telephone message seeking comment was left Tuesday night at the office of Chris Grandis, a public relations spokesman at CSC’s headquarters in Falls Church, Va.

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