Leidos was awarded a $456.3 million ($456,277,600) GSA contract for Military OneSource — the DoD's centralized employee-assistance program for active-duty members and families — on April 17, 2026. GSA terminated incumbent Cognosante's ~$576.2M predecessor "for cause." Cognosante had been acquired by Accenture's U.S. federal subsidiary in May 2024 — so this is also a loss for Accenture's federal practice. Coverage from Leidos, Washington Technology, and The Defense Post.
What Military OneSource does
The program serves about 4.7 million active-duty service members and their families worldwide with 24/7 access to information, referrals, and non-medical counseling — phone, email, secure messaging, AI-enabled chatbots, and in-person sessions on request.
Scope of work
- Program management
- Call-center operations and support
- IT operations and platform management
- Counseling and coaching services
- Strategic outreach
- Confidential counseling, parent/caregiver resources, tax services, spouse-employment support, relocation/deployment tools
Why the termination matters
"For cause" termination of a $400M+ services prime is rare, and signals GSA found significant performance failures. Cognosante had only held the contract since 2024 — and had been acquired by Accenture in May of that year, presumably part of Accenture's bet on federal services scale. Losing Military OneSource less than two years in is a real setback for Accenture Federal.
What to do
- Counseling-platform and contact-center subs: Leidos teaming starts now
- If you hold any other Accenture/Cognosante prime: check for performance review pressure
- Watch for protest filings — a $400M displacement on services often draws GAO challenges
