Accounts Receivable - Net (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 02, 2011 Y level D entity M step contract W	Oct. 03, 2010
Accounts Receivable - Net
Billed	$ 364,779,000	$ 314,905,000
Unbilled	309,091,000	271,643,000
Contract retentions	15,553,000	13,020,000
Total accounts receivable - gross	689,423,000	599,568,000
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(32,244,000)	(32,926,000)
Total accounts receivable - net	657,179,000	566,642,000
Current billings in excess of costs on uncompleted contracts	84,754,000	79,401,000
Non-current billings in excess of costs on uncompleted contracts	5,832,000	5,820,000
Total billings in excess of costs on uncompleted contracts	90,586,000	85,221,000
Period for billing and collecting unbilled receivables (in months)	12
Period for earning majority of billings in excess of costs (in months)	12
Unbilled accounts receivable related to claims and requests for equitable adjustment on contracts	16,000,000
Billed accounts receivable related to U.S. federal government contracts	88,500,000	86,300,000
U.S. federal government unbilled receivables, net of progress payments	$ 102,700,000	$ 102,000,000
Threshold percentage for disclosure of accounts receivable from a single client	10.00%	10.00%