Beginning on a day that comes once in four years: the only 29 February start among 208 records

1The start date was not chosen

The previous article showed the fiscal year reaching into the name of a contract. Start dates carry no such regularity. This one begins on 29 February 2024, a day that comes round once in four years.

The leap day means nothing in itself. Here the absence of meaning is the information. Thirty-four contracts share an ending on 30 September, while start dates scatter across the year, which shows that the institution presses on one side of the period only.

2Beginnings and endings are settled differently

A contract begins on the day it is signed, and signature follows negotiation, so the date can land anywhere on the calendar. The end date, by contrast, is a design choice about how many fiscal years the work will cross.

3The description opens with other countries

Six words, "CANADA AND GERMANY LOT 13 P-8A AIRCRAFT," and two foreign countries stand at the front of a United States contract. The P-8A appears in several records here, an aircraft procured lot by lot over many years; long-lead material for the same type is covered in a separate record. The outlay field is empty, so no payment against the roughly $5.77 billion obligated appears in the data.

The next article looks at a development contract due to close in 24 days.