Five Alaska Native Corporations and one tribally owned business are among the Top 100 federal contractors compiled by Washington Technology magazine.

The Alaska firms are Arctic Slope Regional Corp., ranked 57th; Nana Regional Corp., 59th; Chenega Corp., 65th; Alutiiq, 67th; and Eyak Technology, 75th. The tribally owned company is Chickasaw Nation Industries, ranked 98th.

Alaska Native firms and tribally owned businesses are eligible for sole-source 8(a) contracts in unlimited amounts and are permitted to own an unlimited number of 8(a) subsidiaries. Responding to accusations that some of the firms have served as pass-throughs for major corporations, several members of Congress are sponsoring legislation that would strip them of their special preferences.

The Defense Department has begun an IT employee exchange program with businesses and nonprofits. Congress authorized the pilot program to enable to department to share knowledge, skills and experience with the private sector.

Each DOD component operates its own exchange program. The details last from three months to one year.

The Justice Department is reportedly investigating possible contracting fraud at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The Army’s inspector general and others have found widespread mishandling of remains at the iconic cemetery, with people buried in the wrong graves and urns containing cremated remains left scattered along a creek bed.

The Washington Post reports a federal grand jury has been hearing evidence about failed contracts to digitize the cemetery’s burial records. Army officials estimated the contractors burned through $8 million without delivering a workable product.

The Army IG found that cemetery officials had “no acquisition strategy, no integrated IT system and a series of IT regulatory violations.”

Federal prosecutors asked a court to order a Mississippi business owner to forfeit $475,000 after he pleaded guilty to using illegal-immigrant workers on federal contracts.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Jackson, MS, said Randy Weitzel of Gulfport, MS, and two others hired and housed illegal immigrants who worked at Keesler Air Force Base and the federal courthouse in Gulfport. Weitzel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government.

The three defendants are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 1.

At least seven people have been convicted of falsifying security clearance investigations in the past three years, according to the Washington Times.

The newspaper said the investigators, who worked under contract for the Office of Personnel Management, falsely claimed to have done background interviews or record checks on people applying for clearances. As a result of the cases, the investigations of at least 170 people had to be redone.

OPM has greatly expanded its contractor workforce as demand for clearance skyrocketed after 9/11.

The Navy has awarded 333 new contracts on its Seaport-E contract. The task order contract now has 2,212 firms competing for task orders.

The Navy plans to spend up to $5.3 billion a year through the vehicle.