JOFOC - GSA AAS SOCOM EDAT 47QFCA24R0044 REDACTED _Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) 8(a) Pool 1 Contracts:

47QRAD20D8110, 47QRAD20D8116, 47QRAD20D8162, 47QRAD20D8142, and

47QRAD20D8184

IAW FAR 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency

1. BACKGROUND

The Office of Professional Services and Human Capital Categories (PSHC) manages the multiple award, multi-agency, complex professional services program known as the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) contract program, including all contract administration and program oversight. The OASIS 8(a) master contracts were competed as a 100% total small business set-asides in 2013 under competitive procedures, and the contracts’ ordering period expires on December 19, 2024. While the contracts have a set ordering and performance completion period, the contracts do not have a maximum ceiling value. 1

The purpose of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) is to encourage competition for Government contracts with policy goals of increasing the number of competitors, reducing costs, and increasing small business opportunity. The OASIS contract program has been highly successful in achieving these goals. The customer agency procurement is the subject of this justification and approval (J&A) achieved the competition the law seeks, but the ordering agency is taking longer to evaluate than anticipated. As such, the competitive process will extend beyond the OASIS 8(a) deadline for placement of orders.

Allowing for task order completion by utilizing a statutory exception to full and open competition, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) can:

● Ensure the Government carries out the statutory intent and policy objectives of CICA.

● Allow enough time for the competitive process to play out.

● Achieve better pricing because adequate competition has been received amongst several small businesses.

On the other hand, if GSA does not allow for task order completion, the ordering agency will be forced to:

● Award long sole source extensions, likely at higher prices.

● Waste the investments of small businesses who pursued this opportunity, making them less likely to compete in future Government contracts.

1 Two deviations were signed prior to the release of the OASIS solicitations. Both were class deviations signed 07/24/2013 by GSA’s Senior Procurement Executive (SPE), and allow the performance period to exceed five years, and to allow “no-maxium ceiling value” for the life of the contracts.

Docusign Envelope ID: Docusign Envelope ID: 4B265826-CD50-460F-8D86-DBD2E30D4FE6

CUI / SP-PROCURE

● Waste the investments the agency has made to procure this requirement.

This scenario leaves GSA with an unusual paradox. By invoking an exception to competition, the Government achieves competition; but, if GSA doesn't invoke the exception to competition, it ends up forcing the procuring agency into a sole source environment, the very thing CICA was striving to limit.

Given the goal of CICA, and the fact pattern explained herein, GSA has determined individual contract extensions to support the completion of the task order award is in the best interest of the Government. Competition is achieved, the agency’s mission can be met, and the time and money spent on task order acquisition planning, market research, coordination, approvals, solicitation development, evaluation and award, will not be lost.

The OASIS contract extensions contemplated herein will ensure the GSA’s Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) Office for Defense/Special Operations Command will have the time needed to complete their task order procurement of professional services to support the mission of the United States Special Operations Command (U.S. SOCOM) (the ordering activity).

The ordering activity provided written documentation to support their request to extend the ordering period for the OASIS 8(a) contracts listed in this justification. The documentation in this justification explains why the requested extension to the OASIS 8(a) contracts is critical to the U.S. SOCOM ’s mission . Failure to approve the extensions to the ordering periods for those OASIS 8(a) contractors who responded to the ordering activity’s task order request for proposal (TORFP), will result in significant negative mission impact and financial loss to the U.S.

SOCOM . In summary, this justification documents the severe injury sure to be suffered by the Government if the extensions are not approved, and the work on the task order procurement is abandoned.

To support this J&A document, the ordering activity provided documentation explaining why they are unable to award their task order(s) before the OASIS 8(a) ordering period end date, and this information was specifically relied on in preparing this justification. The action to extend individual OASIS master contracts does not allow contractors to accept any other OASIS 8(a) orders beyond December 19, 2024. Only the task order resulting from the TORFP identified in this document can be awarded. As documented herein, the TORFP was issued and competed among all (97) OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contractors, and proposals were received prior to the contracts’ original ordering period date of December 19, 2024. All contractors who responded to the TORFP are subject to the individual extensions documented herein.

This action will authorize the extension of individual contracts for those OASIS 8(a) master contract holders who responded to the TORFP 2 , and remain under consideration for award of the task order.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

On an individual basis, this justification supports the extension of certain OASIS 8(a) master IDIQ contracts (listed below). The contracting activity for the extensions of the OASIS 8(a) master contracts is the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) PSHC, while GSA’s AAS Office

2 The subject task order was competed under the master Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 of contracts.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

for Defense/SOCOM is the ordering activity for the subject task order on behalf of the U.S.

SOCOM. Please note the master contracts do not have a dollar value ceiling maximum, and the total guaranteed minimum is $2500.00 per contract.

The following are the OASIS 8(a) contract holders that responded to the fair opportunity TORFP, which was solicited to 97 OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contractors. The TORFP, 47QFCA24R0044, was issued by GSA’s AAS Office for Defense/SOCOM, and it closed August 15, 2024. The following are the only contractors who responded to the TORFP, and therefore they are the only contractors whose master contracts are impacted by the individual extensions supported by this justification and approval:

Contract Number Contractor Name UEI Code

These contractors submitted proposals in response to TORFP 47QFCA24R0044 in support of GSA’s AAS, Acquisition Office for Defense/SOCOM requirement for Enterprise Developments, Application, Training (EDAT) Services in support of U.S. SOCOM located in North Carolina (NC), Florida (FL), and multiple locations in the Continental United States (CONUS) and Outside CONUS (OCONUS) . Strategic partners and potential customers for this contract are listed below:

U.S. SOCOM U.S. Special Operations Command USASOC U.S. Army Special Operations Command AFSOC Air Force Special Operations Command NSW Naval Special Warfare Command MARSOC Marine Forces Special Operations Command SOCNORTH Special Operations Command North SOCCENT Special Operations Command Central SOCAF Special Operations Command Africa SOCPAC Special Operations Command Pacific SOCKOR Special Operations Command Korea SOCEUR Special Operations Command Europe SOCSOUTH Special Operations Command South

This document serves as a justification for other than full and open competition in accordance with FAR 6.302-2, “ Unusual and Compelling Urgency ”; justified and approved in accordance with FAR 6.303 and 6.304.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

3. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

The action being approved will extend the ordering period of the OASIS 8(a) contracts listed in paragraph 2 by 30 days from their current OASIS 8(a) ordering period, which expires on December 19, 2024, to a new ordering period end date of January 18, 2025. This extension will allow for TORFP evaluations to conclude and placement of the task order identified in this justification to be finalized. An additional 180-day ordering period “contingency option” will be included in the extension to accommodate protest resolution should a protest be filed against the task order. If a protest is filed and the outcome requires the issuance of a new solicitation (not an amended TORFP), the Ordering Contracting Officer will not be able to utilize OASIS SB to recompete the requirement. The 180-day contingency option period may be exercised, if needed, only to allow ample time for the protest and any corrective action to be resolved.

The date for completing performance of any resultant task order is December 19, 2029, which comports with the master contracts’ terms and conditions and authorized period of performance.

Prior to the award of the OASIS contracts, the GSA Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) approved a deviation to FAR 16.505 authorizing no maximum ceiling value for the contract and, therefore, there is adequate ceiling value to support any resultant task order award.

Furthermore, an unlimited number of task orders may be placed during the term of the master contracts.

GSA AAS’s Office for Defense/SOCOM, issued a TORFP for EDAT Services in support of U.S.

SOCOM located in North Carolina (NC), Florida (FL), and multiple CONUS and OCONUS locations on August 15, 2024, with a closing date of September 16, 2024. The ordering activity anticipates making the award by December 10, 2024. Over the last several months, the ordering activity has taken preventative measures to mitigate schedule risks to the maximum extent practicable; however, they are requesting an extension to the ordering period of the contracts to facilitate complete evaluation, award, and resolution of protests, if applicable. While they initially anticipated a timely award within the current OASIS 8(a) ordering period (10 Dec 2024), unanticipated circumstances and complexities during the evaluation process caused GSA AAS to not meet their anticipated award date within the ordering period. The Ordering Contracting Officer wants to ensure thorough and accurate evaluation for this requirement and must account for the complexity and technical nature of the review process. It is important to note any potential protest would likely be filed after the new order is placed against the OASIS contract.

The risk of protest is heightened due to the substantial dollar value and high visibility of the requirement. 3

The events that led to the unusual and compellingly urgent need to extend the OASIS contracts listed in this J&A, are those unforeseen events unfolded during the acquisition which adversely impacted the team’s ability to execute in accordance with their original milestone plan. The schedule was disrupted by Acts of God, to include Hurricane Helene, which struck during the critical technical evaluation and oral presentation phase while scheduled in Tampa. The Integrated Product Team (IPT) and Technical Evaluation Board (TEB) members ended the technical sessions September 24, to allow members to travel home prior to Helene landfall on September 26. Due to this disruption with members being sent home and having to travel back to Tampa, evaluations were postponed for a week. A second storm, Hurricane Milton also contributed to the burden of the already stressed schedule. Hurricane Milton was anticipated to make landfall October 9th or 10th.The IPT was able to conclude technical evaluations on

3 An order of this magnitude (est. $450 million) presents a significant opportunity for the competing OASIS 8(a) contractors, increasing the likelihood award protests.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

. Several IPT members had trouble arranging travel out of Tampa.

Some key members of the IPT were required to travel by car due to flight cancelations.

These impacts from Hurricane Milton caused the IPT members to not be available for further follow-on discussion, to finalize the documentation (i.e., the technical consensus document) or to give any attention to this requirement for four weeks following the completion of the onsite technical reviews ( ). Given the complexity of this requirement, a thorough and detailed approach to the review and documentation process is essential, particularly for the technical evaluation report and award decision documents. These reviews require significant attention to detail and require several iterations to ensure precision and completeness, which supports the need for an extension. This methodical approach will help ensure a well-supported and defensible award outcome. The total delay caused by the key personnel who were evaluating and leading this procurement (the Contracting Officer) being impacted by the two hurricanes was approximately five weeks.

4. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE

AGENCY’S NEEDS

GSA AAS Office for Defense/SOCOM requires the procurement of an Enterprise Development, Application, and Training (EDAT) Task Order (TO) on behalf of U.S. SOCOM to provide program management and services related to emerging technology solutions to include enterprise architecture and data science, application development and management support, training, and enterprise ecosystem support. The responsibilities and tasks associated with each requirement play a pivotal role to the U.S. SOCOM organization and ultimately the unique Special Operations Forces (SOF) (i.e., Joint, Global, Multi Domain, and Partnered) end-users. Based on the evolving political, operational, and fiscal environments, certain deliverables and/or services may be requested from the contractor as a situation develops. Some analyses may be requested on a “short notice” timeframe to enable operational or planning time constrained decisions. “Short notice” and “on demand” timeframes will have situationally dependent definitions and can range from days to weeks. The contractor shall provide all support to rapidly develop and deploy innovative solutions on a resilient global network and connect highly mobile and capable SOF professionals to the information they need before they need it.

U.S. SOCOM develops and employs the world's finest SOF to conduct global special operations and activities. U.S. SOCOM works as part of the Joint Force, in concert with the Government interagency, allies, and partners to provide persistent, networked, and distributed operations and activities against state and non-state actors all to protect and advance U.S. policies and objectives. U.S. SOCOM has evolved enormously since its inception. SOF are now proactively engaged across multiple Geographic Combatant Commands (GCCs), providing key integrating, and enabling capabilities to support their campaigns and operations. SOF operate and fight globally, as integrated joint, combined, and interagency forces. Currently, there are approximately 56,000 active duty, 7,400 reserve/guard, and 6,600 civilian personnel across the SOF Enterprise. U.S. SOCOM sustains a deployed or forward stationed force across 80 plus countries every day and conducts the entire range of SOF missions in both combat and non-combat situations with a wide variety of Joint, Interagency, International, and Multinational partners. The Enterprise Development, Application, and Training (EDAT) Task Order (TO) will provide contractor professional services to drive accelerated and innovative solutions for U.S.

SOCOM, its Component Commands, Theater Special Operations Commands (TSOCs), and its deployed forces.

EDAT is considered a follow-on for U.S. SOCOM. The current incumbent contract is an IDIQ with a ceiling limit of $25M. The previously awarded 8(a) sole source award contract currently in place, is only a small portion of the greater EDAT requirement. The intent of this acquisition is to

CUI / SP-PROCURE

provide U.S. SOCOM with access to a “new technology pipeline” to infuse technology and innovative approaches to operating and maintaining the Special Operations Forces Information Environment (SIE). Separating new technology efforts from operations and maintenance focuses Enterprise Operations and Maintenance (EOM) on creating the best network service possible with fewer distractions and provides a dedicated focus for EDAT efforts. EDAT will have personnel focused on technology pipeline development. Application development (AppDev) requirements were initially identified by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), a U.S. SOCOM component.

The customer agency’s task order is estimated to be approximately $450M.

5. IDENTIFICATION OF THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL

AND OPEN COMPETITION

This exception to full and open competition is issued using the authority of 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2) as implemented by FAR 6.302-2, “Unusual and Compelling Urgency”

6. DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF

AUTHORITY CITED

6.a. Market research efforts signified OASIS 8(a) was the best method for satisfying this requirement.

GSA AAS’ Office for Defense/ SOCOM conducted market research activities from February 2024 through July 2024 to determine whether 8(a) contractors have the capabilities to successfully perform the EDAT requirements. This EDAT procurement is an 8(a) set-aside;

therefore, market research was limited to those vehicles and contractors which would allow them to keep this acquisition in the 8(a) program. The ordering activity researched the current 8(a) certified business marketplace to ensure a sufficient and competitive procurement by reviewing prospective sources of mandated Government acquisition vehicles, as the initial awarded contract was awarded under the 8(a) program. The ordering activity also conducted market research to establish the best acquisition approach for the complex scope, which includes providing critical professional services for a potential global effort and providing essential support for diverse task areas, within multiple DoD organizational boundaries.

The scope of the task areas (Program Management, Application Development, Emerging Technology Solutions, Enterprise Architecture, and Data Science Development (Non-Enduring), Application Development, Emerging Technology Solutions, Enterprise Architecture, and Data Science Maintenance (Enduring), and Training Support (Non-Enduring/Enduring) are not easily found under one acquisition vehicle. The ordering activity reviewed the technical scope of GSA’s OASIS contract and found it contained the required program management and provided flexible and innovative solutions for complex professional services under its Pool 1, which would allow for a competitive 8(a) acquisition. Under an OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 TO, the Government may also acquire ancillary tools and other direct costs are incidental to the enterprise services provided in a timely manner for the EDAT requirement. The OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contract provides a total integrated solution for delivering complex enterprise services of the nature required for the instant procurement.

6.b. Five contractors submitted proposals for this highly specialized and complex services requirement.

Five contractors, listed in paragraph 2, submitted TORFP proposals and remain the only contractors eligible for task order award. Considering the complex and technical nature of the

CUI / SP-PROCURE

requirement, the extension of the master contract ordering period is necessary to provide sufficient time for thorough and accurate evaluations should the ordering agency not meet their December 10, 2024 target date for award and for the protest resolution process (if needed).

6.c. Impact of not extending and forcing user agencies to recompete the services.

Requiring cancellation and resolicitation of this procurement would result in substantial waste of Government resources as well as contractor bid and proposal investments. Resolicitation is not in the best interest of the Government or the OASIS 8(a) contractors participating in this TORFP.

This action is justified because the agency spent ten (10) months conducting extensive market research and acquisition planning to solicit their requirements under OASIS 8(a). This requirement transitioned from the legacy GSA Region 4 to GSA AAS Defense SOCOM Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) in late January 2024. Upon transfer, the newly formed Integrated Project Team (IPT) immediately began market research and worked closely with clients to draft comprehensive requirement documents. Under FEDSIM’s guidance, the IPT followed a structured timeline that included the acquisition planning, pre-solicitation, and pre-award phases, each of which required meticulous review by the Contract Review Board, composed of the Acquisition Division Director, Legal Counsel, and the Sector Director. These reviews ensured compliance with acquisition policies, enabling the solicitation to be released on schedule on August 15, 2024. The absolute need date is to have the task order awarded as soon as possible, and not later than December 2024.

The ordering activity received proposals in response to their EDAT RFTOP from the five (5) OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contractors listed in paragraph 2 long before (i.e., the due date for proposals was September 16, 2024, which was three months and three days) the OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contract ordering expiration date. It is the professional observation of the PSHC contracting personnel responsible for considering the information provided by the requiring CO, and preparing and approving this J&A, that based on the fact pattern outlined in the ordering agency’s milestone plan, there is a demonstrated need to extend these specific OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contracts, which is not due to a lack of planning, but as explained herein, is due to circumstances beyond their control. By allowing the contract ordering periods to remain active while the ordering activity works through the protest process (if applicable) will ensure they do not lose their ten (10) months of work and the customer’s mission will not be adversely impacted.

To require the agency to halt this procurement and re-solicit would not only result in a substantial waste of resources for the Government and the industry partners who submitted proposals, but ultimately mission failure for U.S. SOCOM. Re-solicitation under a different contract vehicle at this time, after GSA AAS has spent 10 months expending resources to work with the customer agency to conduct market research, develop the requirement, issue the TORFP, receive proposals and evaluate the proposals, is unacceptable and harmful to the Government. All contractors in OASIS 8(a) contract fair opportunity Pool 1 were given the opportunity to compete for RFTOP 47QFCA24R0044 and submit a proposal, but only those named herein did submit their proposal in response to the solicitation and are therefore the only interested parties and responsible sources who are eligible for award.

The absence of an extension allowing for an OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 award would not simply delay the acquisition process; it would fundamentally impair the U.S. SOCOM’s operational readiness and innovation. The delay will result in critical gaps in defense capabilities at a time when adaptability is paramount. This impact directly undermines national security objectives, jeopardizing U.S. SOCOM’s strategic edge and the Warfighter’s effectiveness in complex, CUI / SP-PROCURE dynamic threat environments. The urgency and strategic value of this award cannot be overstated—it is essential to maintaining operational superiority and ensuring Warfighters are equipped with the technological advancements required to succeed on today’s battlefield. This requirement involves direct support to the Department of Defense (DoD) mission and our Nation’s national security.

Based on the Acquisition Plan provided by the GSA Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) Contracting Officer (CO), there isn’t a fully functional, current incumbent contract, but the incumbent contract that represents only a small portion of the work, expires July 15, 2025. The historical contract (valued at $25M) was previously-awarded as an 8(a) sole source award contract is described herein. The order is the subject of this J&A, and is considered a new effort, because the scope has been expanded and has a broader technical focus. The intent of this acquisition is to provide U.S. SOCOM with access to a “new technology pipeline” to infuse technology and innovative approaches to operating and maintaining the Special Operations Forces Information Environment (SIE). Separating new technology efforts from operations and maintenance focuses Enterprise Operations and Maintenance (EOM) on creating the best network service possible with fewer distractions and provides a dedicated focus for EDAT efforts. EDAT will have personnel focused on technology pipeline development. Application development (AppDev) requirements were initially identified by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), a U.S. SOCOM component. The focus of the U.S. SOCOM Chief Information Office (CIO)/J6 is for the SOF Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Combat Systems, and Intelligence (C5I) organizations, working as one team, to rapidly develop and deploy innovative solutions on a resilient global network and connect highly mobile and capable SOF professionals to the information they need before they need it. At the heart of this team are the active-duty military, Government personnel, and contracted civilians who comprise the leadership, engineering, design, programming, operations, and sustainment of the SIE. U.S. SOCOM relies on this team 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year (24x7x365) to plan, install, operate, and maintain a near always up SIE. This requirement has a Top Secret requirement with a Secure Compartmentalized Information (TS/SCI), which will require an extended transition/task order stand up time.

Failure for the OASIS 8(a) extension to be awarded and the subsequent task order to be awarded, would result in significant and far-reaching consequences beyond mere acquisition duplication and inefficiency. Without the new task order in place, the organization will experience the inability to field agile, mission-ready tools which will disrupt the Warfighter's access to advanced capabilities and support — a necessity as U.S. DoD priorities evolve in response to rapidly advancing near-peer adversaries. The absence of an OASIS extension to the ordering period, and an award of the subsequent task order award for the requirements described herein, would not simply delay the acquisition process by a year or more; it would fundamentally impair operational readiness and innovation, leaving critical gaps in defense capabilities at a time when adaptability is paramount. This impact directly undermines national security objectives, jeopardizing our strategic edge and the Warfighter’s effectiveness in complex, dynamic threat environments. The urgency and strategic value of this award cannot be overstated—it is essential to maintaining operational superiority and ensuring Warfighters are equipped with the technological advancements required to succeed on today’s battlefield. If the procurement is abandoned, this would also jeopardize the SOF Enterprise’s ability to maintain and securely manage the network and resources critical to supporting its mission, including providing training and advancing technology. This award is vital for the Warfighter and defending our Nation, as it involves replacing legacy systems, enhancing reliability, reducing sustainment costs, and improving operator safety—key factors in ensuring mission success. Without this award, U.S.

SOCOM’s clients would lose the opportunity to fully leverage the capabilities of the new EDAT task order. This would severely hinder the deployment of adaptive applications, which are

CUI / SP-PROCURE

essential to supporting Warfighter operations, ultimately compromising the ability to deliver agile, mission-ready tools. These tools are critical as the Department of Defense (DoD) evolves its priorities to address the rapidly advancing threats posed by near-peer adversaries, including the potential for severe injury to the Nation.

Presently, there is not sufficient lead time to re-procure the services under the standard “open market” competitive acquisition processes. Additionally, in order to fully support the highly complex and technical services required by this follow-on procurement, and the need for the awardee to interface with the existing U.S. SOCOM EDAT infrastructure, any procurement resulting from an extension not being granted would need to be awarded on a sole source basis. This lack of contract competition is not in the best interest of the Government, and will lead to higher pricing and the need to justify an exception to CICA.

Finally, if the program were to have to stop the acquisition at this state (literally weeks from award), it would have the following negative impacts:

● Revising the acquisition strategy to fully recompete or for a sole source, noncompetitive acquisition approach, the requirement could take up to approximately 6 to 12 months or more, which will involve:

○ an estimated $13.5M in work hours lost 4

○ developing a new funding package for inclusion in the next budget iteration will result in longer lead times to seek new budget approvals, and funds will be lost/expired due to non-execution, which is highly unacceptable as programs are to execute funds given to them timely for the authorized requirement

○ revising the market research conducted in support of the requirements as described herein, and developing a new acquisition strategy approach;

○ obtaining senior official approval of the new acquisition strategy;

○ developing/revising the solicitation for direct award, or open market solicitation, will take one to four months (if competed, this will include solicitation publication time);

○ evaluation, final award preparation and approvals will take 3 to 8 months, depending on the number of offers received (if competitively solicited).

The above timeline demonstrates how unacceptable it would be to abandon the current path forward. What is in the very best interest of the Government in the interest of time, money and ensuring the Warfighter is supported as required by U.S. SOCOM’s mission fulfillment is to extend the OASIS contracts so the ordering period will remain open and the task order award can be completed.

7. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE OFFERS ARE SOLICITED FROM AS

MANY SOURCES AS PRACTICABLE INCLUDING WHETHER A NOTICE WAS OR WILL BE

PUBLICIZED AS REQUIRED BY SUBPART 5.2 AND, IF NOT, WHICH EXCEPTION UNDER

5.202 APPLIES.

The individual OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contracts were competed in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2 and resulted in 97 multiple award IDIQ contracts. This justification does not circumvent

4 Based on GSA’s Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) office, which is an office that charges a fee for conducting acquisition services on behalf of other Government agencies, estimates it costs 3% of the total value of a task orders value to execute the full lifecycle of an order. In this case, the formula would be 3% x 450M (TO estimated value)/5 year total lifecycle = over $13.5M. Using this calculation, at this time the agency has spent over $13.5M to bring the procurement to the current stage in the life cycle.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

competition. There have been two levels of competition: the first, competition when the original OASIS 8(a) contracts were solicited and awarded; and the second, based on market research by the GSA AAS’ Office for Defense/SOCOM CO 5 , when the TORFP was issued to all 97 OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contractors on August 15, 2024. These two levels of competition ensured adequate plus fair opportunity competition.

All 97 OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contract holders received RFTOP 47QFCA24R0044 and were given a fair opportunity to compete in accordance with FAR 16.505. The five (5) listed in paragraph 2 are the only contractors who submitted proposals in response to this TORFP.

8. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THE ANTICIPATED COST TO THE

GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE

There is no additional direct cost to the Government associated with the 30-day master contract extension, or the contingency option for the affected OASIS contracts. The modification to the master contracts is a no-cost modification. Pricing at the master contract level is restricted to sole source labor-hour and time-and-materials type task orders, and is therefore not applicable to the TORFP because the order is competitive. Additionally, administrative costs to the Government to maintain the contracts’ ordering periods is di minimis given contract administration for the entire OASIS 8(a) contract program continues through December 19, 2029.

9. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS (see Part

10) OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED.

Market research was initiated in February 2024 to identify the capabilities and qualifications of contractors who could support U.S. SOCOM’s EDAT requirement. The following actions were taken during market research:

● Knowledgeable individuals in Government and industry were contacted;

● Government databases were queried for information relevant to the acquisition requirements;

● An advance Notice was issued via Symphony on July 18, 2024 , to all contractors under the GSA OASIS 8(a) IDIQ – Pool 1. The Advance Notice provided drafts for the Performance Work Statement and Section H of the TORFP, as well as invited interested Industry Partners to Industry Day and Due Diligence sessions.

● Interactive, online communication was conducted among industry, acquisition personnel, and customer agencies. A virtual Industry Day was held on July 25, 2024, via Google Meet and was attended by 21 industry partners.

Virtual Due Diligence sessions were held July 25-26, 2024, via Google. These one-on-one sessions were provided to twelve interested Industry Partners. All five of the TORFP respondents attended both the Industry Day and Due Diligence sessions.

The result of the market research was that the Government expects to receive adequate competition via the GSA OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 vehicle. Additionally, the Contracting Officer determined, based on the abbreviated award timeline, procurement cost savings and

5 To promote competition to the fullest, GSA AAS’ Office for Defense/ SOCOM performed extensive market research dating back to 2023 and issued an RFI in February 2024 soliciting responses from OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 contractors to determine capability, which yielded sixteen (16) responses. A sources sought notice was also issued via Symphony in July 2024 and an Industry Day was held on July 25, 2024, which was attended by 21 contractors.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

reduction in schedule that this effort be set aside under OASIS 8(a), Pool 1.

10. OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

GSA AAS’ Office for Defense/SOCOM had spent a significant amount of time and resources in acquisition planning, market research, and issuance of the solicitation to meet their customer’s urgent needs in a timely manner due to the complexity of the requirement. The ordering activity incurred significant administrative costs in preparation for this complex TO. Resolicitation would result in a substantial duplication of cost and effort to compete a contract to support this specific requirement for U.S. SOCOM EDAT.

The Agency themselves stated $770,000 has been spent to date to put their task order in place.

Additionally, the team is supported by the Acquisition Division Director, Sector Director, and Legal Counsel to oversee compliance and strategic guidance. For the EDAT requirement, additional resources were allocated to maintain an expedited timeline for the award. Specifically, three additional Contract Specialists were brought on to manage the workload effectively. A travel estimate of $35,000 was also included for the team to travel to the client for evaluation training. Project travel was also necessary, with the Technical Evaluation Board, Contracting Officer, and Contract Specialist traveling to the client site to conduct in-depth technical evaluations. This on-site presence facilitated more effective collaboration and ensured a thorough evaluation process. Several trips were required. If the procurement process were to be restarted, the agency would forfeit the entire pre-award effort and associated time, as costs incurred would not be recovered until invoices begin to be paid post-award.

The purpose of this extension of the master contract ordering period is to provide sufficient time for thorough and accurate evaluations should the ordering agency not meet their December 10, 2024 target date for award and for the protest resolution process (if needed). Additionally, it is not feasible - nor possible - for any other contractors to be awarded a task order in adequate time to support the requirement. However, as of the date of this document, the apparent awardee is unknown, which is why all five contractors who submitted offers to the subject TORFP ordering periods must be extended to allow the evaluation work to be finalized.

If GSA was to fail to authorize the extensions of the ordering periods for the specific impacted contracts, not only would the mission be significantly negatively impacted (there would be no services awarded to allow for continuity of the mission), but a recompete of the services would have to begin in earnest with other JOFOCs most likely being necessary. This would mean the U.S. SOCOM’s mission would not be executable, as planned, and this is unacceptable.

Additionally, contractors who prepared their proposals for submission in accordance with the TORFP have spent Bid and Proposal (B&P) costs in order to compete under the order.

Generally speaking, contractors spend between 1% and 3% of the total value of the potential order to develop and submit their proposals to the Government in response to highly technical and complex solicitations, such as those OASIS was developed to support, including the subject task order.

Additionally, the customer, U.S. SOCOM’s mission will be compromised if the services within the TORFP are not awarded timely.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

To address the unexpected delays in evaluations, the GSA AAS contracting team continues to meet with their legal advisors, acquisition analysts, and technical experts daily to expedite the review process, mitigate/resolve potential issues, and develop solutions as well as an action plan to ensure the EDAT project stays on track to be awarded as expeditiously as possible.

Lastly, to minimize or eliminate the need for non-competitive extensions in the future, GSA will apply transition lessons learned to all follow on GSA procurements for these types of services.

13. CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVALS

TECHNICAL PERSONNEL CERTIFICATION:

I certify the supporting data for this Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition, was provided by the responsible requirements owners from GSA AAS, Acquisition Office for SOCOM FEDSIM. GSA fully relied on the information provided by the GSA AAS agency, who own the U.S. SOCOM EDAT task order requirement. The data which formed the basis for this justification has been certified as complete and accurate by the ordering activity’s technical or requirements personnel who provided the information herein and signed the GSA agency request form on file.

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION AND APPROVAL:

I certify this Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition, in accordance with FAR 6.302-2, is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

___________________________ Date: _______________________ Daniel Trimboli,GSA Contracting Officer Office of Professional Services and Human Capital

Approvals:

__ ________________________ Date: _______________________ Kristi Irvin, Competition Advocate Office of Professional Services and Human Capital

___________________________ Date: _______________________ Tiffany T. Hixson, Head of the Contracting Activity Office of Professional Services and Human Capital

CUI / SP-PROCURE

12/18/2024

Docusign Envelope ID:

12/19/2024

Docusign Envelope ID: 4B265826-CD50-460F-8D86-DBD2E30D4FE6

12/19/2024