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Shares of DynCorp International (DCP: 16.05, +2.14, +15.4%) rocketed up 15% Monday after the government contractor wrested a lucrative translation and interpreting contract away from competitor L-3 Communications (LLL: 79.00, -4.72, -5.6%). The stock gained as much as 21% earlier in the session. The Falls Church, Va., company announced Monday that Global Linguistic Solutions, a joint venture formed by DynCorp International and privately held McNeil Technologies, won a $4.6 billion, five-year contract from the Department of Defense to provide language services to the U.S. Army and other U.S. government agencies fighting in Iraq. The contract calls for 6,000 local Arabic...

A local consortium of DynCorp International and McNeil Technologies was awarded a five-year Army contract worth up to $4.6 billion yesterday to provide linguists to the U.S. military in Iraq. The joint venture, known as Iraq Global Linguist Solution, unseated the incumbent, New York-based L-3 Communications, for the work. "We are very happy, of course, but we are also genuinely honored to be chosen to perform this service for our troops," DynCorp spokesman Greg Lagana said. The group will begin work in March, and the contract could last through 2011, according to a statement from Army Intelligence and Security Command....