1.
https://www.al.com/business/2018/11/redstone-arsenal-leader-sees-50000-working-onbase-
in-2025.html.
2.
https://www.usaspending.gov/#/state/01.
3. “the most frequently litigated issue in government contracting is probably the correct interpretation
of contract language.” Interpretation Disputes: Finding An Ambiguity, 4 Nash &
Cibinic Report ¶ 25 (April 1990).
4. See United States v. Greer, __ F. Supp. 3d ___, 2019 WL 282035 (2019), Jan. 22, 2019
(“[O]bligations to and rights of the united States under its contracts are governed exclusively
by federal law.” Boyle v. United Techs. Corp., 487 u.S. 500, 504, 108 S. Ct. 2510, 101 L.
Ed. 2d 442 (1988). “Courts must therefore apply the federal common law of contracts to
the interpretation of contracts with the federal government.” Red Lake Band of Chippewa
Indians v. U.S. DOI, 624 F. Supp. 2d 1, 12 (D.D.C. 2009).”).
5. Hegeman-Harris & Co. v. United States, 440 F.2d 1009, 1014 (1971). See also 11 Williston on
Contracts § 32:2 (4th ed.); Nicholson v. United States, 29 Fed. Cl. 180, 194 (1993); Tri-Star
Elecs. Int’l, Inc. v. Preci-Dip Durtal SA, 619 F.3d 1364, 1367 (Fed. Cir. 2010); and M.A.
Mortenson Co., ASBCA No. 53062, 01-2 BCA (CCH) ¶ 31573 (Aug. 17, 2001).
6. King v. Dep’t of the Navy, 130 F.3d 1031, 1033 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
7. Navcom Def. Elecs., Inc., ASBCA No. 50767, 01-2 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 31546 (July 25, 2001) (“Provisions
of a contract must be so construed as to effectuate its spirit and purpose.”).
8. Cooper Realty Co. v. United States, 36 Fed. Cl. 284, 289 (1996) (“When construing a contract,
the court seeks to ascertain the objective intent of the parties, thus “mental reservations
are legally irrelevant.”); Singer-Gen. Precision, Inc. v. United States, 427 F.2d 1187,
1193 (Ct. Cl. 1970) (“the unexpressed, subjective, unilateral intent of one party is insufficient
to bind the other.”).
9. 11 Williston on Contracts § 32:9 (4th ed.). .E.g., Sea-Land Serv. v. United States, 553 F.2d
651, 656 (1977).
10. K-Con, Inc. v. Sec’y of Army, 908 F.3d 719, 722 (Fed. Cir. 2018).
11. States Roofing Corp. v. Winter, 587 F.3d 1364, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2009).
12. K-Con, Inc., 908 F.3d at 722.
13. E.g. BPLW Architects & Engineers, Inc. v. United States, 106 Fed. Cl. 521 (2012).
14. Cmty. Heating & Plumbing Co. v. Kelso, 987 F.2d 1575, 1579 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
15. K-Con, Inc., 908 F.3d at 722.
16. Newsom v. United States, 676 F.2d 647, 650 (Ct. Cl. 1982).
17. Newsom, 676 F.2d at 649.
18. See Hol-Gar Mfg. Corp. v. United States, 351 F.2d 972, 979 (Ct. Cl. 1965). the whole instrument
rule is often discussed in relation to cardinal rule. M&G Polymers USA, L.L.C. v. Tackett,
135 S. Ct. 926, 937 (2015) (“under the ‘cardinal principle’ of contract interpretation, the intention
of the parties, to be gathered from the whole instrument, must prevail.”) (Ginsburg,
J., concurring); and AMP, Inc. v. United States, 389 F.2d 448, 454 (1968) (“But it is also a cardinal
rule that the parties’ intent must be gathered from the instrument as a whole.”).
19. Hol-Gar Mfg. Corp, 351 F.2d at 979. See also City of New York v. United States, 113 F. Supp.
645, 647 (Ct. Cl. 1953) (“to resolve this apparent ambiguity we look to the intention of the
parties which is to be gathered not from a reading of paragraph 5(a) alone, but from the
whole instrument in the light of the circumstances existing at the time of its negotiation.”).
20. Id. See also Appeal of M.A. Mortenson Co., VABCA No. 2435, 88-3 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 20895
(June 14, 1988).
21. C. Sanchez & Son, Inc. v. United States, 6 F.3d 1539, 1543 (Fed. Cir. 1993) (“A contract is read in
accordance with its express terms and the plain meaning thereof.”); Blackstone Consulting
Inc. v. United States, 65 Fed. Cl. 463, 469 (2005) (“[t]he court must endeavor to effectuate
the parties’ intention using the plain language of the agreement itself.”) aff’d, 170 F. App’x
128 (Fed. Cir. 2006); Hills Materials Co. v. Rice, 982 F.2d 514, 516 (Fed. Cir. 1992) (“Wherever
possible, words of a contract should be given their ordinary and common meaning.”).
22. Coast Fed. Bank, FSB v. United States, 323 F.3d 1035, 1038 (Fed. Cir. 2003).
23. MPE Bus. Forms, Inc., GPOBCA No. 10-95 (Aug. 16, 1996); Sixth & E Assocs., L.L.C., 09-2 B.C.A.
(CCH) ¶ 34179 (June 22, 2009); Houck Ltd., 09-1 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 34134 (May 5, 2009).
24. MPE Bus. Forms, Inc., GPOBCA No. 10-95 (Aug. 16, 1996) (“In this case, however, the Appellant’s
‘trade usage’ argument must fail because the contract itself defines the critical term.”).
25. 213 Military Law Review (Fall 2012) at 197.
26. Id. at 198.
27. Upton v. Tribilcock, 91 u.S. 45 (1875); Nichols v. United States, 29 Fed. Cl. 180 (1993).
28. Alaska Am. Lumber Co. v. United States, 25 Cl. Ct. 518, 529 (1992).
29. Dale Ingram, Inc. v. United States, 475 F.2d 1177, 1184 (Ct. Cl. 1973); Sauer Mech., Inc., NASA
BCA No. 884-9, 86-2 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 18884 (Mar. 6, 1986); Z.A.N. Co., ASBCA No. 25488, 86-1
B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 18612 (Nov. 29, 1985) Turnkey Enters., Inc. v. United States, No. 304-76, 1979
WL 16470, at *6 (Ct. Cl. Jan. 31, 1979), aff’d, 597 F.2d 750 (Ct. Cl. 1979); P & K Contracting,
Inc. v. United States, 108 Fed. Cl. 380, 396 (2012), aff’d, 534 F. App’x 1000 (Fed. Cir. 2013).
30. ALKAI Consultants, LLC, 09-1 BCA ¶ 24058, ASBCA No. 55581.
31. Omni Corp. v. United States, 41 Fed. Cl. 585, 591 (1998); Macke Co. v. United States, 467 F.2d
1323, 1325 (1972).
32. Boye v. United States, No. 07-195 C, 2008 WL 11408605, at *1 (Fed. Cl. Nov. 18, 2008);
Floyd v. Ring Const. Corp., 165 F.2d 125, 129 (8th Cir. 1948) (“[W]here ambiguity exists in a
contract the construction the parties in their dealings and by their conduct have placed
upon the terms will furnish the court with persuasive evidence of their meaning.”); Edward
R. Marden Corp. v. United States, 803 F.2d 701, 705 (Fed. Cir. 1986) (“It is the general
law of contracts that in construing ambiguous and indefinite contracts, the courts will
look to the construction the parties have given to the instrument by their conduct before
a controversy arises.”).
33. Fincke v. United States, 675 F.2d 289, 295 (1982) (“their actions and conduct before the inception
of a controversy is of much greater weight than what they said or did after a dispute
arose.”); Liles Constr. Co. v. United States, 455 F.2d 527, 538–39 (1972) (“It is only
actions and interpretations before the controversy arises, conduct during performance,
that are highly relevant in determining what the parties intended.”); and Dynamics Corp.
of Am. v. United States, 389 F.2d 424, 430 (1968).
34. Perry & Wallis, Inc. v. United States, 427 F.2d 722, 725 (1970); Blue Cross & Blue Shield
United of WI & Subsidiaries v. United States, 71 Fed. Cl. 641, 649 (2006); HPI/GSA 3C, LLC v.
Perry, 364 F.3d 1327 (Fed. Cir. 2004); Appeal of PCA Health Plans of Texas, Inc., ASBCA No.
48711, 98-2 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 29900 (June 24, 1998).
35. Perry & Wallis, Inc. v. United States, 427 F.2d 722, 725 (Ct. Cl. 1970).
36. Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of WI & Subsidiaries v. United States, 71 Fed. Cl. 641, 646
(2006) (“this rule may apply equally to the government; i.e., that the meaning BCW assigns
to paragraph (3)(e) could prevail if, at the time the agreement was made, the government
knew or should have known how BCW understood the provision and did nothing further.”).
37. Id.
38. Miller Elevator Co. v. United States, 30 Fed. Cl. 662, 688 (1994) (citing restatement (Second)
of Contracts § 223 (1981)) at 157-58 (1981).
39. IAP World Servs., Inc., 12-2 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 35119 (Aug. 13, 2012); and Cape Romain Contractors,
Inc., ASBCA No. 50557, 00-1 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 30697 (Dec. 15, 1999) citing Doyle
Shirt Mfg. Corp. v. United States, 462 F.2d 1150, 1153 (Ct. Cl. 1972). See also Appeal of Tech.
Sys., Inc., ASBCA No. 59577, 17-1 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 36631 (Jan. 12, 2017) (auditor’s failure to
challenge a cost in one audit did not constitute a course of conduct precluding the government
from disallowing the costs in subsequent audits.).
40. Custom Printing Co., GPOBCA No. 28-94 (Mar. 12, 1997).
41. Romala Corp. v. United States, 20 Cl. Ct. 435, 446 (1990), aff’d, 927 F.2d 1219 (Fed. Cir. 1991).
42. Custom Printing Co., GPOBCA No. 28-94 (Mar. 12, 1997).
43. Metric Constructors, Inc. v. NASA, 169 F.3d 747, 752 (Fed. Cir. 1999).
44. Id.
45. Id.
46. Id.
47. Id.
48. Western States Const. Co. v. United States, 26 Cl. Ct. 818, 823 (1992) (citing 17A Am Jur. 2d
Effect of usage, custom, or course of dealing § 364 (1991)).
49. Id.
50. Metric Constructors, Inc., 169 F.3d at 752.
51. Id.
52. Id.
53. Hills Materials Co. v. Rice, 982 F.2d 514, 517 (Fed. Cir. 1992) citing Hol–Gar Mfg., 351 F.2d at 980.
54. restatement (Second) of Contracts § 203, comment e. (1981).
55. Abraham v. Rockwell Int’l Corp., 326 F.3d 1242, 1254 (Fed. Cir. 2003) quoting Farnsworth
on Contracts § 7.11 (2d ed. 2000).
56. restatement (Second) of Contracts § 203, comment e. (1981).
57. Goldwasser v. United States, 325 F.2d 722 (Ct. Cl. 1963).
58. 11 Williston on Contracts § 32:6 (4th ed.). See also Shell Oil Co. v. United States, 751 F.3d
1282, 1305 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (reyna, J., dissenting).
59. 11 Williston on Contracts § 32:10 (4th ed.); Bighorn Lumber Co. v. United States, 49 Fed. Cl.
768, 771 (2001).
60. ITT Defense Communications Div., ASBCA No. 44791, 98-1 BCA ¶ 29,590 citing 3 Corbin on
Contracts § 552 (1960); See also, Smelser v. United States, 53 Fed. Cl. 530 (2002) and Beard
v. United States, 125 Fed. Cl. 148 (2016).
61. Appeal of Sommers Bldg. Co., Inc., ASBCA No. 32232, 86-3 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 19223 (July 28,
1986). See also Hensel Phelps Const. Co. v. United States, 886 F.2d 1296, 1298 (Fed. Cir.
1989); Franchi Const. Co. v. United States, 609 F.2d 984, 990 (Ct. Cl. 1979).
62. Apollo Sheet Metal, Inc. v. United States, 44 Fed. Cl. 210, 214 (1999); and Appeal of John C.
Grimberg Co., Inc., PSBCA No. 1085, 83-2 B.C.A. (CCH) ¶ 16836 (June 21, 1983).
63. Sperry Corp. v. United States, 845 F.2d 965 (Fed. Cir. 1988).
64. W. Bay Builders, Inc. v. United States, 85 Fed. Cl. 1, 29 (2008).
65. Hol-Gar Mfg. Corp. v. United States, 351 F.2d 972, 976 (Ct. Cl. 1965). See also Marathon Oil
Co. v. Kleppe, 556 F.2d 982, 985 (10th Cir. 1977) (internal quotations omitted).
66. Gardiner, Kamya & Assocs., P.C. v. Jackson, 467 F.3d 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2006); Dick
Pacific/GHEMM, JV ex rel. W.A. Bottling Co. v. United States, 87 Fed. Cl. 113, 126 (2009).
67. Honeywell Inc. v. United States, 661 F.2d 182, 186 (Ct. Cl. 1981).