Try Decide Buy (TDB)

Pacific Air Forces awarded a multiple-award IDIQ for aircrew personal protective equipment and survival gear, with ordering authority ending August 8, 2029. The vehicle was established August 12, 2019, with a $950 million shared ceiling and carries a total small business set-aside at the vehicle level, though actual task-order performance shows a mixed set-aside distribution.

Ordering momentum has slowed materially since vehicle inception. Of 27 task orders awarded, 15 were placed in the first year (August 2019–August 2020); the subsequent four years (2021–2024) averaged 2.75 orders per year, with the most recent order in March 2024. All $14.7 million in combined potential value across the portfolio has been obligated.

Awarded task orders center on female body armor, ejection seat survival kits, personnel recovery equipment, and apparel. One delivery order to Tactical & Survival Specialties, LLC for female body armor (FA860619D0039-FA860619F0052, awarded September 26, 2019) accounts for $12.6 million of the $14.7 million total—86% of the vehicle's combined potential value. The remaining 26 orders cluster in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars; the next-largest awarded orders include a Vigilox systems order of $544.5 thousand and a general-purpose order of $318.5 thousand.

Tactical & Survival Specialties, LLC dominates the vehicle by dollar value, with two orders worth $12.6 million combined. Atlantic Diving Supply, Inc., Life Support International Inc., and Rrds Inc. hold the next-largest order counts (6, 4, and 4 orders respectively) but in substantially smaller dollar values ($410 thousand, $426 thousand, and $281 thousand combined potential value). A wider field of smaller vendors holds the remaining orders.

Customer concentration is high: Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Aeronautical Systems Center placed 21 orders representing $13.8 million of the total $14.7 million portfolio. The set-aside mix across task orders breaks 56% unrestricted, 41% full small business, and 4% partial small business, despite the vehicle's total small business designation at award.

In order to meet the challenge of rapidly fielding the latest commercial items and acquiring equipment at competitive rates, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Agile Combat Support Directorate, Human Systems Program Office (AFLCMC/WNU) awarded a multiple award TDB IDIQ contract in order to streamline the acquisition timeline, and reallocate available funds with cost saving rates. The following is a list of representative items that may be acquired under this contract: Uniforms, Cold Weather Clothing Systems, Visual Augmentation Equipment, Personal Protective Equipment, Helmets, Body Armor, Tactical Carriers, Individual Equipment, Lighting, Survival Equipment, Air Crew Support Equipment, Communication Equipment, Tactical Equipment, Load Bearing Equipment, Lethality Support Items, Boots, Gloves, Eye Protection, Egress Equipment, Aerial Insertion Equipment, Search & Rescue Equipment, Personnel Recovery Equipment, Medical Equipment, Bladder Relief Equipment, Power Management, Hydration, Electronics Test Equipment, Ancillary Services and Testing as applicable.