Army Issues $1.24B WEXMAC Task Order to Acquisition Logistics for Fort Bliss Soft-Sided Detention Facility

Opening Paragraph

On July 18, 2025, the U.S. Army’s Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC), Fort Sam Houston, Texas, issued a $1.238 billion task order to Acquisition Logistics LLC under the Navy’s Worldwide Expeditionary Multiple Award Contract (WEXMAC), designating the task order RTOP-2372 (“Montana Temporary Staging”) and the delivery order W9124J-25-F-A075 under parent IDIQ N0002325D0004. The task order directed Acquisition Logistics — a Henrico County, Virginia company with no detention experience and a lifetime federal contracting history of approximately $48 million — to construct and operate a 5,000-bed soft-sided immigration detention facility at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, which would open August 17, 2025 as Camp East Montana.

What Happened / Key Facts

The Army issued a solicitation June 9, 2025, restricted to small disadvantaged businesses (veteran and Hispanic-owned). Thirteen companies bid; Acquisition Logistics, owned by retired Navy Commander Kenneth Wagner, was selected. The Pentagon refused to release the contract or explain the selection criteria over the other twelve bidders.

Key procurement facts:

• Initial obligation: $231,878,229 (first 1,000 beds)
• Total task order value: $1,238,567,966
• IDIQ ceiling under the task order: $2.7 billion
• Ordering period: July 19, 2025 – September 30, 2027
• Contract type: Firm-fixed-price delivery order under WEXMAC

The WEXMAC mechanism: The Army used NAVSUP’s WEXMAC vehicle under its multi-agency use provision. The N0002325 contract prefix is Navy (NAVSUP Mechanicsburg); the Army’s MICC Fort Sam Houston issued the delivery order against Acquisition Logistics’ pre-qualified WEXMAC seat. This is the same IDIQ vehicle — now amended as WEXMAC 2.1/TITUS — that underlies the 11 warehouse detention sites. Fort Bliss is the only confirmed military-base soft-sided facility issued as a WEXMAC task order.

Protest (updated 2026-10-20): Gemini Tech Services (Willow Park, TX) protested the award at GAO (B-423775.1, filed July 28, 2025), raising its objections to the awardee there. Its Court of Federal Claims suit (No. 25-1337C) challenged only the Army’s override of the automatic stay. The court denied a preliminary injunction and dismissed the complaint in an opinion issued under seal on September 8, 2025 and published September 18; it found the Army had “violated the statute” by proceeding before its written override but held the override determination rational (opinion, govinfo). Gemini withdrew the GAO protest on September 9, 2025. No forum ruled on the merits of the award.

The task order was administratively transferred from DOD to DHS/ICE in November 2025 (FPDS: CONT_AWD_70CDCR26FR0000001_7012_N0002325D0004_9700).

Why This Event Matters

This task order is the founding procurement event for the largest immigration detention facility in U.S. history. It establishes that Fort Bliss is procured through WEXMAC — the same vehicle as the warehouse sites — not a separate Army IDIQ. This collapses the “parallel track” framing: there is one IDIQ vehicle (WEXMAC) with two facility types (warehouses and the one tent camp).

The Army’s use of WEXMAC cross-agency authority also demonstrates the vehicle’s design for exactly this kind of rapid, multi-service deployment. The 135+ pre-qualified WEXMAC vendors — including GEO Group, CoreCivic, Parsons, KBR, Amentum — could receive similar task orders for additional soft-sided military-base facilities without new solicitation. The vehicle enables the “1,000 sites” scenario; the task orders were not issued.

Broader Context

The WEXMAC vehicle was originally designed for expeditionary military logistics abroad. The July 2025 TITUS amendment repurposed it for domestic immigration enforcement. The Fort Bliss task order was the first use of WEXMAC for a soft-sided detention facility at a military base. The subsequent collapse of Acquisition Logistics — three detainee deaths, 60+ federal violations, homicide ruling, contractor replacement — did not produce further soft-sided military-base task orders. The administration instead moved to warehouse conversions under separate WEXMAC task orders.

Research Gaps

• Gemini Tech Services protest outcome: CoFC denied PI and dismissed (stay-override challenge only); GAO protest withdrawn 2025-09-09
• Whether any other military-base soft-sided facilities were issued WEXMAC task orders under different awardee seats
• Complete roster of all WEXMAC 2.1/2.2 TITUS awardees (partial lists only publicly available)
• Whether DOD authorization process for cross-agency WEXMAC use included any oversight review

Related Entries

• camp-east-montana-fort-bliss — the facility built under this task order
• epic-inv1-wexmac-titus-detention — parent investigation
• army-idiq-soft-sided-detention-task-order-roster — detailed research note on procurement structure and task-order roster
• wexmac-titus-comprehensive-seller-census — existing WEXMAC warehouse research
• acquisition-logistics-llc
• wagner-kenneth — Acquisition Logistics CEO