5333.292 Appeals to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA)
(a) AFLOA/JAQ represents the Air Force in appeals to the ASBCA.
(b) If the contractor files an appeal with the ASBCA, the contracting officer shall forward to AFLOA/JAQ and the cognizant legal office a copy of any notice of appeal to the ASBCA, along with the envelope in which the notice was received. If the contractor files an appeal with the contracting officer instead of the ASBCA, the contracting officer shall immediately notify AFLOA/JAQ of the date the appeal was received and forward to AFLOA/JAQ and the cognizant legal office a copy of the appeal and a copy of the envelope in which the appeal was received. The contracting officer shall forward the original appeal and envelope to the ASBCA.
(c) The contracting officer shall prepare a "Rule 4 file" for any appeal to the ASBCA in accordance with Rule 4 of the ASBCA rules (see DFARS Appendix A, Part 2
(d) While an appeal is pending, the contracting officer along with the program manager/user/functional Commander and SJA will support the assigned trial attorney as required including; identifying and locating government witnesses, gathering contractual documents and other physical evidence for conferences and hearings necessary to defend or otherwise dispose of an appeal.
(e) The contracting officer shall obtain approval from the AFLOA/JAQ trial attorney assigned to the appeal prior to releasing the Rule 4 file. After such approval, the contracting officer shall simultaneously mail copies of the Rule 4 file to the ASBCA (Recorder), the contractor, and AFLOA/JAQ. The contracting officer shall not provide contractors, or their representatives, access to any Government files or documents, other than the Rule 4 file, without approval from AFLOA/JAQ.