A16_JOFOC_Redacted_140D0424P0055_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

AUTHORITY: Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.501(a), 41 United States Code (U.S.C.) 1901

Solicitation: 140D0424Q0141

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a "Sole Source Justification."

This document is a sole source justification for the Department of the Interior, Interior Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate, Division 5, Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Force Education and Training (DASD).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This non-severable service requirement is on behalf of the DoD, Secretary of Defense Executive Fellows (SDEF) program for a Customized Orientation and Training Seminar. This follow-on contract will be sole-sourced to the incumbent, the Center for Strategic Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). Each year, senior officers from each military branch are selected to spend a year in corporate America at leading-edge businesses to observe, participate in, and learn corporate best practices in such areas as, business processes and organizations, utilization of information technology, long-range planning, innovation, and change management that could be implemented to transform DoD. SDEF participants form a cadre of future, more senior, service leaders sensitized to the organizational and operational opportunities made possible by the revolutionary changes in information and other technologies.

Each incoming group of new Fellows requires a pre-assignment orientation and training seminar to educate them on current long-range strategic issues, political-military issues, DoD practices, defense budget issues, emerging technologies, and other issues that could lead to significant new defense capabilities in the next decade.

The Contractor shall prepare and facilitate an annual Customized Orientation and Training Seminar for each year's class of SDEF participants that shall be conducted during the first three weeks of July, annually for three years, including a Base Year and two Option Years.

3. A description of supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value).

The Contractor shall accomplish the following tasks:

1) Basic Services: The Contractor shall provide services for senior military officer education and post-training support.

2) Performance Requirements: The following specifies the Performance Objectives and Performance Elements for the contract.

SOL 140D0424Q0141

3) Seminar Training: The contractor shall design and conduct a structured seminar, subject to COR approval, which includes but is not limited to the following:

a) Briefing(s) on military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and other geographic locations.

b) Briefings(s) on Islamic religious history and radical Islam.

c) Briefings(s) on United States defense industrial base.

d) Briefings(s) on United States defense policy and national security strategy.

e) Briefings(s) on United States alliances and allies.

f) Briefings(s) on United States political-military issues relative to China and Russia.

g) Briefings(s) on terrorist threats and weapons of mass destruction.

h) Briefings(s) that analyze the DoD budget.

i) Briefings(s) on defense acquisition and acquisition reform.

j) Briefings(s) on critical infrastructure protection.

k) Briefings(s) on climate and energy security.

l) Briefings(s) cyber security.

m) Briefings(s) on leading-edge technical innovations applicable to defense, such as robotics and nanotechnology.

n) Briefings(s) on world demographics, workforce, and their future security implications.

o) Briefings(s) by defense reporters from the national press or other media.

p) Two or more meetings with senior leadership of both House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

q) An exercise at the senior DoD strategic decision-making level which explores tradeoffs between force structure options and constrained budgetary resources for defense planning.

r) Education on professional interpersonal conduct and dress at the senior leader level in the commercial business world across the full spectrum of business areas and geographic locations.

4) Staff Ride Training: Contractor shall prepare and conduct a one-day guided "Staff Ride" leadership training exercise at the Antietam National Battlefield similar to those conducted by the military 'Services' Senior War Colleges, to include all transportation and meals. The Staff Ride will focus on historical specifics of the battle and the realities of warfare and command.

5) After Action Report: The Contractor shall provide a report following course completion. This report shall summarize feedback, positive and negative lessons learned for the coordination and execution of the training evolution. This report is due within 30 days of course completion.

6) Post-Classroom Support: The educational effectiveness of the program must not be limited to the classroom days that the participants share with the instructors. Instructors must be available to the Executive Fellows throughout the entire period of performance should they have questions or require additional information and materials.

The total estimated value, including all option years, is $

The estimated period of performance is one 12-month base year and two 12-month option years.

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting sole source acquisition.

This is an acquisition conducted under the authority of the Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. The statutory authority permitting sole source acquisition is 41 U.S.C 1901 as implemented by FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii).

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

The current contract with the CSBA (140D0419F0216) from June 2, 2019, through February 29, 2024, was issued by the DOI AQD as a competitive award via CSBA's General Services Administration (GSA) contract 47QRAA19D000W.

The SDEF is a long-standing (now in its 30th year), one-of-a-kind education program with demanding requirements. The training provided under this contract is also required for these officers to receive the required Senior Service School Education Credit without actually attending a Service's Senior War College. Senior Service School credit is a Service requirement for advancement in rank.

The goals and audience for this training are very niche. Specifically, future, more senior service leaders sensitized to the organizational and operational opportunities made possible the revolutionary changes in information and other technologies. The uniqueness of this requirement has resulted in a meager, if any, pool of other contractors that have the necessary characteristics to perform this requirement successfully.

The incumbent has unique qualifications regarding this requirement. The Performance Work Statement (PWS) states the Contractor must have experience in training senior-level military professionals. They must have at least 15 years of experience with ongoing initiatives and projects within the DoD, defense strategic studies and analyses, and access to subject matter experts in Government, business, industry, academia, the press/media, and Congress. They will also need to facilitate meetings with House and Senate Committee Chairmen.

This project has a high level of visibility within the DoD and senior military leadership. The project requires the proven ability to obtain world-class expert speakers on national strategy/security issues. Throughout the last several years, CSBA has cultivated relationships with high-level individuals with these unique characteristics. Additionally, CSBA's pool of employees include individuals who have taught at the U.S. Naval War College, served in senior positions at the Departments of State and Defense as well as the White House, was a chair at the Naval War College, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, served as special assistant to the Secretary of Defense, was a special assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations, and more.

As the requirements have not changed from the previous contract and the incumbent has been successfully performing this work for the last five years, the Government proposes to issue this contract as a sole-source to the current contract, which was competitively solicited but only CSBA submitted a technically acceptable proposal.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

Market research was conducted by the Program Officer and the Contracting Officer. This company was the only company identified via market research and it is not expected that any other vendors will have the experience, personnel, or contacts necessary to be able to do the work.Per FAR 5.203(a)(2), a combined synopsis/solicitation will be publicly available concurrent to directly sending to the proposed sole source vendor (see FAR 12.603).

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer (CO) determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on comparing the proposed pricing to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE) which was developed by the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) utilizing historical labor rates from the previous contract. The estimator's previous estimates have been within of the contract amount.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted by the COR and CO. It was determined that the services required are not available through mandatory use vehicles nor from mandatory sources such as AbilityOne, or Federal Prison Industries.

A review of General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) category 611430 – Professional and Management Development Training showed there are 1,091 contractors in that category. However, because of the uniqueness of this training, no other contractors with specific backgrounds, contacts, and knowledge have been identified. Only one vendor, CSBA, was found to meet all the requirements. CSBA's GSA contract has expired and it is not anticipated to be renewed prior to the current need.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as:

This requirement is highly visible and specialized for the DoD. The Contractor must have the skills and background necessary to complete this requirement. Since the incumbent has been successfully performing for over five years and the FAR provides the ability to continue utilizing the incumbent, it would not be in the government to issue this solicitation competitively.

As the Contractor shall prepare and facilitate an annual Customized Orientation and Training Seminar for each year's class of SDEF participants that shall be conducted during the first three weeks of July.

Because of the high visibility, failure to award a contract to a vendor who can meet all requirements and perform successfully will negatively impact the customer, SDEF, and AQD.

The class of officers making up the Fellows are from each Service, so not having a class would impact the availability of our nation's future more senior service leaders within DoD and the Federal Government.

Market research performed for the previous contract and this proposed contract has not shown that any other vendors have the background, experience, and knowledge for this very niche requirement. As a follow-on to an existing contract that will expire on February 29, 2024, there is an administrative and financial impact of competing this requirement rather than making it a sole source to the incumbent. Market research has established that another vendor is highly unlikely to be capable. As such, competing would result in unnecessary time and expense.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

No sources have expressed interest.

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

It is unknown at this time whether another contract will be required at the end of this contract's ultimate period of performance. However, throughout the life of the contract, the Program Office, as well as the CO, will make every effort to identify other sources for this service. If additional services are needed, the agency will research the industry to remove or overcome barriers to competition.

12. Contracting Officer certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer's knowledge and belief.

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date

Contracting Officer

13. Requirements personnel certification.

I certify that the technical data, which forms a basis for this justification, is complete and accurate and meets the Government's minimum needs.

Program Office/COR

14. Reviews and Approvals

Concur

Date

Branch Chief

Date

Approve

Date

Division Chief