Four firms win work for military in Iraq

by Ted McKenna, PR Week USA 03-Oct-08, 11:49

WASHINGTON: Four firms were awarded a contract to provide communications services to the US military forces in Iraq: Lincoln Group, Leonie Industries, SOS International, and L-3 Communications' MPRI. PRWeek previously reported on the July RFP, which was expected to be worth a minimum amount of $250,000 and a maximum amount of $300 million for a one-year account with two, one-year options to renew.

The contract calls for a wide range of communications services, including media relations and training; research; production and dissemination of government information to the Iraqi public, including media campaigns promoting its objectives; and monitoring of Arabic and Western media.

The Joint Contracting Command-Iraq, the group that issued the award, did not provide a breakdown of what work each of the winners will be doing or how much each will receive. An Army public affairs officer based at the Pentagon referred questions to the Iraq office, which was not able to provide additional information by press time.

Lincoln Group and MPRI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Leonie confirmed the win but said the company could not elaborate on the work it will do for “security” reasons. SOS International in a press release said its work on the contract will include the use of “local Iraqi media production companies.”