Echelon Sole Source Special Notice in PDF as Published In SAM.gov on November 13th 2026 in support of Contract Modification No. 27.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

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SOLE SOURCE SPECIAL NOTICE

(JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION)

In Support of

Addition of Three Operational Watch Officers to the

Transportation Operations Center Support Contract

Echelon Services, LLC

Contract No. 693JK423C500009

Requiring Activity U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the

Secretary (OST), Office of Intelligence, Security and

Emergency Response (S-60)

Contracting Activity U.S. Department of Transportation, OST, Acquisition Services

Division (M-63)

Contractor Echelon Services, LLC

Proposed Modification Contract Modification No. 27 (as identified in the source draft;

verify before issuance)

Personnel Two Senior Watch Officers and one Journeyman Watch

Officer

Proposed Period of Performance December 1, 2026 – September 30, 2028, subject to confirmation of alignment with contract option periods

Proposed Modification Value $1,315,961.03

Current Contract Value $6,189,494.80

Proposed Revised Contract Value $7,505,455.83

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1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE REQUIRING ACTIVITY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

Agency (Requiring Activity)

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)

Office of the Secretary (OST)

Office of Intelligence, Security and Emergency Response (S-60)

Contracting Activity

U.S. Department of Transportation

OST, Acquisition Services Division (M-63)

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

2. NATURE AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

The Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the Secretary, Office of Intelligence, Security and Emergency

Response (S-60), intends to modify its existing Transportation Operations Center (TOC) support contract with

Echelon Services, LLC (Contract No. 693JK423C500009), to add three operational Watch Officers (two Senior

Watch Officers and one Journeyman Watch Officer), for the time-period running from December 1st, 2026 through

September 30th, 2028.

The proposed action is intended to address current TOC staffing deficiencies and support the Department’s expanding 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operational requirements.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY’S NEED

DOT requires two Senior Watch Officers and one Journeyman Watch Officer to support the TOC’s continuous operational mission. These personnel will perform specialized operational watch-standing functions and are not being requested to perform traditional physical security or building access-control duties.

The Watch Officers will support TOC operations, including:

• Monitoring transportation-related incidents, threats, and significant all-hazards events on a continuous basis.

• Collecting, assessing, validating, and disseminating information to maintain departmental situational awareness.

• Coordinating notifications and information-sharing with S-60, DOT operating administrations, and federal, state, local, and other interagency partners, as appropriate.

• Preparing, reviewing, and coordinating operational reports, situation updates, and executive-level information products.

• Supporting departmental emergency response, recovery, and continuity operations, including activation and response activities.

• Maintaining operational proficiency, continuity, and consistent watchstanding practices across all shifts.

The two Senior Watch Officers are intended to strengthen shift-level leadership, supervision, operational decision-making, quality control, and mentoring. The Journeyman Watch Officer will add operational capacity to support incident monitoring, information coordination, notifications, reporting, and continuity of watch operations. Final position descriptions, labor categories, qualifications, and duty assignments should be aligned with the contract’s statement of work and the approved staffing plan.

4. STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

In accordance with the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul’s (RFO’s) Part 6 (section 6.103-1), DOT’s

Contracting Officer has determined that the subject Justification’s contemplated deployment of three

TOC Watch Officers is satisfactorily available only by adding them to Echelon’s existing TOC Contract

No. 693JK423C500009, and has determined that competition is precluded for the reasons indicated below. There are no substitutes available that would meet DOT’s need for quickly obtaining an indispensable and seamless continuity of TOC operations.

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In accordance with the applicable statutory authority and acquisition regulations governing Other Than Full and

Open Competition, the Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to modify its existing Transportation Operations

Center (TOC) Support Services Contract No. 693JK423C500009, awarded to Echelon Services, LLC, to add two

Senior Watch Officers and one Journeyman Watch Officer.

The proposed contract modification is intended to address critical operational staffing deficiencies within the

Departmental Office of Intelligence, Security and Emergency Response (S-60) and maintain the continuity of the

Department's 24/7 Transportation Operations Center mission. As described in this justification, the TOC has experienced a reduction in available federal Watch Officer staffing due to retirements and the return of personnel assigned from DOT modal administrations to their respective organizations. These staffing reductions, coupled with expanding operational responsibilities, have increased the need for additional qualified personnel to sustain operational coverage, strengthen shift-level leadership, and support the Department's emergency management and incident coordination requirements.

DOT proposes to obtain these additional services through a modification to Echelon Services, LLC's existing TOC support contract. This approach is intended to facilitate the integration of qualified personnel into the established

TOC operational environment, minimize disruption to ongoing operations, and address the Department's identified staffing requirements in a timely manner.

DOT’s contracting officer has determined that the contemplated Echelon Watch Officers Contract Modification is within the scope of the existing Echelon contract.

The DOT contracting officer’s AI-assisted Google Market Research, and the DOT contracting officer’s market research performed in the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) contractor-search-website, has not revealed the existence of any contractor-company, other than Echelon, which could provide the needed Watch Officers to DOT with the high level of speed and efficiency and continuity and smoothness-of-transition indispensable to the

Department.

5. STATEMENT DEMONSTRATING THE UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR

OR THE NATURE OF THE ACTION REQUIRING THE USE OF THE AUTHORITY

A. Nature of the TOC requirement

The USDOT Transportation Operations Center (TOC) serves as the Department’s 24/7 operational coordination and situational awareness center, supporting the principles and functions of the National Incident Management System

(NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS). The TOC provides continuous monitoring, collection, analysis, validation, coordination, and dissemination of information regarding significant transportation incidents, emerging threats, and all-hazards events. Through established incident management, information management, and interagency coordination processes, the TOC supports departmental situational awareness, incident notification, operational coordination, resource coordination, executive decision-making, emergency response, and continuity of operations. The TOC also facilitates information sharing and coordination with federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and transportation sector partners to support a coordinated, whole-community approach to incident preparedness, response, and recovery.

The TOC’s operational responsibilities and expectations have continued to expand. These responsibilities include increased demands for situational awareness, incident assessment, executive-level reporting, interagency coordination, and operational support during significant national events and emergency activations. Meeting these requirements depends on a sufficiently staffed and experienced watch workforce across all shifts.

B. Reduction in federal and modal Watch Officer staffing

The TOC has experienced a reduction in its federal Watch Officer workforce due to retirements and the return of personnel assigned through DOT modal administrations to their respective organizations. As these personnel have departed, the modal administrations have elected to redirect available funding toward their working capital funds rather than provide additional funding to replace the Watch Officers who had been supporting TOC operations.

These workforce changes have reduced the federal staffing capacity available to support the Department’s 24/7 operational mission. They have also increased the need for qualified contractor personnel to help maintain

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consistent watch coverage, preserve operational continuity, and provide the experience and shift-level leadership required to support TOC operations.

C. Specialized operational functions are distinct from physical security services

S-60 is not seeking additional personnel to perform traditional physical security functions, such as lobby guard duty, access control, or building security services. The requirement is for operational Watch Officers assigned to the TOC at DOT Headquarters, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC.

The required personnel must possess the operational experience and competencies necessary to support the

USDOT Transportation Operations Center's 24/7 mission in accordance with National Incident Management System

(NIMS) principles and Incident Command System (ICS) concepts. Responsibilities include continuous operational monitoring; incident identification, assessment, and information validation; development and maintenance of situational awareness; incident notification and reporting; information sharing; operational coordination; and support to departmental emergency management and response activities. Personnel must be capable of supporting incident management functions, maintaining operational information flow, coordinating with appropriate Departmental and interagency stakeholders, and providing timely, accurate, and actionable information to support senior leadership decision-making. Required qualifications include demonstrated experience in emergency management, incident management, operational coordination, and emergency communications, along with strong analytical, organizational, and written and verbal communication skills. Personnel must also demonstrate the ability to function effectively within an established 24/7 operational watch environment and support preparedness, response, recovery, and continuity of operations activities.

Accordingly, this requirement is fundamentally different from traditional physical security guard services. The requested personnel will perform specialized operational watch-standing and incident management support functions consistent with NIMS principles and ICS concepts, rather than conventional facility security, access control, or protective services. The existing DOT Guard Services contract administered by M-40 is intended to support physical security and access-control requirements, whereas S-60 requires personnel with the operational competencies necessary to support the Department's incident monitoring, situational awareness, information management, notification, and interagency coordination responsibilities. Therefore, the requirement is for qualified operational Watch Officers who support the Department's emergency management and incident coordination mission, not traditional security guards.

D. Rationale for adding the personnel to the existing Echelon contract

Adding the three Watch Officers to Echelon Services, LLC’s existing Transportation Operations Center (TOC) support contract is intended to address S-60’s current operational staffing deficiencies while maintaining continuity of the Department’s established 24/7 operational coordination capability. The existing contract provides an established framework for contractor management and the delivery of TOC operational support services. Subject to confirmation that the proposed labor categories and duties are within the scope of the existing contract, adding these personnel would facilitate their integration into established TOC operating procedures, watch schedules, incident management processes, and information-sharing protocols.

This approach is intended to strengthen the TOC’s ability to support situational awareness, incident information management, operational coordination, resource coordination, and interagency information sharing. Utilizing the existing contract may reduce procurement and transition-related delays, minimize disruption to ongoing operations, and allow S-60 to address identified staffing deficiencies more efficiently. It would also support the continuity of established operational practices, departmental notification procedures, incident reporting requirements, and coordination with federal, state, local, and transportation sector partners during routine operations, emergency activations, and significant national events.

E. Operational benefits of the requested staffing

• Improved consistency of operational coverage across the TOC’s 24/7 watch schedule.

• Increased senior operational oversight and shift-level leadership.

• Improved quality, timeliness, and consistency of incident reporting and executive information products.

• Additional capacity to monitor and coordinate significant transportation incidents, emerging threats, and all-hazards events.

• Improved mentoring, knowledge transfer, and operational proficiency among watch personnel.

• Greater ability to support departmental emergency response, recovery, continuity, and national event requirements.

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6. A DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE SOLICITED FROM AS MANY

POTENTIAL SOURCES AS IS 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

See the Market Research confirmation given above in this document.

Further, the publishing of this Sole Source Special Notice, in SAM.gov, itself arguably provides the broadest and deepest possible world-wide search for firms (other than Echelon) which are fully-qualified to provide DOT’s needed three Watch Officers with the high level of speed and efficiency and continuity and smoothness-of-transition indispensable to the Department.

7. THE ANTICIPATED DOLLAR VALUE OF THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION, INCLUDING OPTIONS IF

APPLICABLE, AND A DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED

COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE.

The existing Echelon TOC contract value is $6,189,494.80, and the envisioned modification amount is

$1,315,961.03. Based on those figures, the envisioned revised contract value would be $7,505,455.83 after DOT’s issuance of the contemplated Echelon Contract Modification No. 27 adding DOT’s three needed Watch Officers

Cost Element Amount

Existing contract value $6,189,494.80

Proposed modification $1,315,961.03

Proposed revised contract value $7,505,455.83

DOT’s contracting officer is currently in the process of obtaining, from Echelon, pricing-data which the contracting officer believes will support the fairness and reasonableness of DOT’s contemplated Echelon-contract-price-increase in the amount of $1,315,961.03 for adding the three needed Watch Officers to the Echelon contract. No such Echelon Contract Modification will be signed by DOT’s contracting officer until after he has first ascertained the fairness and reasonableness of Echelon’s pricing.

8. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF

REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED

See the Market Research confirmation given above in this document.

Further, the publishing of this Sole Source Special Notice, in SAM.gov, itself arguably provides the broadest and deepest possible world-wide search for firms (other than Echelon) which are fully-qualified to provide DOT’s needed three Watch Officers with the high level of speed and efficiency and continuity and smoothness-of-transition indispensable to the Department.

9. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

The TOC is an essential departmental capability supporting continuity of operations, situational awareness, incident coordination, and emergency response. The loss of federal and modal Watch Officer staffing, combined with increased operational responsibilities, has created a need to strengthen the TOC’s available watch workforce.

The requested watchmen personnel are intended to address identified operational gaps and provide additional experience and leadership across the watch schedule.

10. A LISTING OF ANY SOURCES THAT EXPRESSED A WRITTEN INTEREST IN THE ACQUISITION

None----except any Sources which might hereafter submit any sole-source-contesting Statements of

Qualifications to james.mowery@dot.gov and Jacques.singleton@dot.gov and Leonel.raba@dot.gov, for mailto:james.mowery@dot.gov mailto:Jacques.singleton@dot.gov mailto:Leonel.raba@dot.gov

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receipt by those persons by DOT’s here-mandated deadline of 11:30 PM Eastern Standard Time November

28th, 2026.

11. A STATEMENT OF ANY ACTIONS THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY

BARRIERS TO COMPETITION, IF SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITIONS ARE ANTICIPATED

In support of any future and new TOC support services acquisition(s), it is anticipated that DOT would conduct market research and, as appropriate, use a competitive acquisition strategy to obtain the required operational Watch

Officer services.

12. CONCLUSION

S-60 requires additional operational Watch Officer staffing to address reductions in the federal and modal workforce supporting the TOC and to meet the Department’s expanding 24/7 operational requirements. The proposed addition of two Senior Watch Officers and one Journeyman Watch Officer is intended to strengthen shift-level leadership, improve operational coverage and reporting, and support departmental situational awareness, emergency response, and continuity operations.

S-60 proposes adding these personnel to Echelon Services, LLC’s existing TOC support contract, Contract No.

693JK423C500009, for the time-period running from December 1st, 2026 through September 30th, 2028.

However, any interested firm, other than Echelon, which believes that it could provide DOT’s three needed Watch

Officers with the high level of speed and efficiency and continuity and transitional-smoothness indispensable to the

Department, may attempt to prove that point by e-mailing a Statement of Qualifications to James.Mowery@dot.gov and to Jacques.Singleton@dot.gov and to Leonel.Raba@dot.gov, for receipt by those persons not later than 11:30

PM Eastern Standard Time, November 28th, 2026.

mailto:James.Mowery@dot.gov mailto:Jacques.Singleton@dot.gov mailto:Leonel.Raba@dot.gov