831404367_C-RAM_JA_Post_Jan_29.pdf

JUSTIFICATION & APPROVALS (J&A) FOR FEDERAL ACQUISITION

REGULATION (FAR) SUBPART 16.5 ACQUISITIONS

EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Multiple Award Schedule/Multiple Award Contract (MAC) Orders under MAC/ Fair Opportunity – FAR 16.505, Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 216.505-70, Procedures, Guidance, and Information 216.505-70

Purchase Request Number: 831404367 Contract Number: HC1028-08-D-2023 Task Order (TO) Number: TBD Procurement Title: Counter – Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) Sense and Warn (S&W) Contractor Manning Forward Operating Base (FOB) Locations Contracting Office: Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) – Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) – Scott/PL83 Authority: FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C)

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Number: JA15-001

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE), hereby approve this exception to fair opportunity pursuant to the authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C).

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING OFFICE:

a. Requiring Agency:

Program Directorate, C-RAM, 5250 Martin Road, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama 35898

b. Contracting Office:

DISA DITCO – Scott-PL83, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois 62225-5406

2. NATURE AND DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: The purpose of this action is to issue a new task order (TO) to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (NG) against ENCORE II contract HC1028-08-D-2023 for continued service for the C-RAM S&W contractor manning requirement. The TO will be issued as a cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) for a 12 month base period and three one-year options to provide the necessary services and incidental supplies to support C- RAM S&W staffing in support of the Force Protection mission for United States Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan. The base year will be funded with fiscal year 2015 operations and maintenance funds.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: USFOR-A has a continuing critical need to provide C-RAM force protection capabilities which provide life-saving warning to unprotected personnel against indirect fire attacks at US FOB locations in Afghanistan. Failure to provide

C-RAM S&W Contract Manning 831404367- JA15-001 these S&W capabilities will deny US government personnel the ability to take cover prior to indirect fire events and place undue risk on life and limb to exposed personnel.

These services are currently being provided by NG under ENCORE II TO HC1028-08-D- 2023/0042. NG supports eight FOB locations with highly competent staffing and operations of C-RAM S&W. Continuation of current services will permit uninterrupted coverage for US Forces, and preclude the necessity to pull C-RAM contractor operators from Afghanistan leaving US Forces exposed to unwarned indirect fires.

The period of performance (POP) is as follows:

Base Year: January 26, 2015 – January 25, 2016 Option Year 1: January 26, 2016 – January 25, 2017 Option Year 2: January 26, 2017 – January 25, 2018 Option Year 3: January 26, 2018 – January 25, 2019

4. SUPPORTING RATIONALE, INCLUDING A DEMONSTRATION THAT THE

PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE

ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY:

a. Exception to Fair Opportunity. The extension must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract where all ENCORE II contractors were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original award.

b. Description of Justification. The current contractor has built a level of expertise over the course of the current TO 0042 such that the FOB contractor operating teams have earned the trust and confidence of their supported military organizations. The FOB contractor operating teams have been fully assimilated into each respective military unit at their respective FOBs and provide significant contractor continuity of effort as the various military organizations rotate in and out of the FOBs. This contractor continuity gives the government the benefit of having already trained contractor personnel with the expertise and familiarity of the FOB, situational awareness of threat and threat tactics, force protection mission, execution of associated force protection tasks, and keen awareness of the terrain surrounding each FOB to identify potential points of origin from where threat fires are launched. Introduction of a new contractor at this time would require considerable resources, time, and effort to build the same level of expertise and trust with supported military organizations and needlessly place personnel at risk of injury from indirect fire until a suitable alternate team of operators could be trained and develop the necessary skills to provide the split-second instincts required. Further, changing contractors would also result in an 8-10 week gap in coverage in providing a life-saving force protection capability if the requirement was competitively procured and a different contractor was selected.

The 8-10 week delay represents the time it would take to train and validate new personnel, attend predeployment training, and then time to deploy to Afghanistan. USFOR-A requires uninterrupted support in providing S&W of the indirect fire threat that continues to impact US Forces in support of OEF, and as a result it is not possible to competitively procure continued support to begin by the expiration of TO 0042 on January 25, 2015.

c. Justification:

(1) Minimum Government requirements. The minimum requirement is the sustainment of eight enduring S&W FOB locations in Afghanistan. USFOR-A requires that there be no gap in coverage after the expiration of TO 0042 on January 25, 2015 due to ongoing hostilities in Afghanistan.

(2) Proposed sole source contractor. NG, 4807 Stonecroft Boulevard, Chantilly, Virginia 20151, can effectively and efficiently provide the uninterrupted expertise to satisfy the requirements for this award. Since its inception in 2010 in response to an urgent war-fighter need in OEF, NG has been the only source to provide the staffing and operations for C-RAM system of systems (SoS). Over the past four years NG has developed highly specialized knowledge of the complexities of C-RAM SoS and the threat environment. The success of the C-RAM program in providing continuity of mission essential force protection against an ever-changing indirect fire threat depends on continued provisioning of NG’s specialized knowledge and services. The C-RAM Program Management Office (PMO) examined the cost efficiencies associated with a sole-source award based upon logical follow-on. Contractor efforts in program management, hiring of operators, training, and deployment of personnel would be highly duplicative, even if a second contractor were capable of performing the same complex efforts.

The C-RAM PMO estimates management labor savings, training savings, and facilities cost savings, could be realized if awarded sole-source to the current contractor. Contractor direct labor and other indirect costs associated with the program management, hiring actions, operator training and replicating a successful personnel deployment model would significantly increase the cost to the government if a second contractor were used. Award of this effort to NG would provide best value to the government. Award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.

(3) Discussion regarding cause of sole source situation. As discussed in paragraph 6, the market research conducted for this procurement confirmed that at current time NG continues to be the only source with the expertise, efficiencies, and experience to execute the C-RAM mission. Further, service requirements beyond the proposed POP will be evaluated on an ongoing basis and a decision on an additional follow-on approach will be made pending the current Administration’s efforts to identify enduring requirements and subsequent post withdrawal footprint of FOB locations throughout Afghanistan.

(4) Demonstration of unique source. The C-RAM SoS overall is not a commercial item in accordance with the FAR Part 2 definition. While C-RAM contains some commercial items, it is not a commercial system. The commercial items are integrated with one another via an existing Army command and control (C2) system, forward area air defense, in a manner not duplicated by any other existing commercial system. Additionally, the air and missile defense workstation forms the C2 backbone of the C-RAM SoS and NG is the only source with the expertise and in-depth knowledge of interoperability requirements with manning and operations to perform the continuation of this effort in an efficient and economical manner. Because of NG’s unique technical expertise and knowledge, and the critical nature of C-RAM’s ongoing force protection mission in OEF, conducting a competitive procurement to obtain an alternate supplier for this requirement is not an efficient or economical solution at this time. The requirement for manning and operations of the C-RAM SoS requires a thorough and intimate knowledge of the architecture and C2 components, which NG possesses.

(5) Procurement discussion. Once the US government and the Afghan government complete their negotiations and mutually concur to a Status of Forces Agreement, USFOR-A will begin planning for drawdown and transition activities for the enduring requirement. Based upon the experience encountered in Iraq with the drawdown of US Forces, it is estimated that this planning process could take up to three years. NG has provided this service since its inception in July 2010 in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and there have been no other contractors operating the C-RAM SoS to date.

(6) Impact: Award to any source other than NG will disrupt C-RAM PMO’s ability to field, operate a critical war-time force protection capability, and unnecessarily increase risk to deployed forces. It will result in unacceptable delays in resetting C-RAM fieldings in Afghanistan if a new source without NG’s experience and specialized knowledge attempts to perform these services. Leaving USFOR-A personnel in theater without the indirect fire protection of the C-RAM SoS would cause an unacceptable and unnecessary risk to those personnel. Failure to provide a continued immediate response to the OEF mission and maintain the staffing and operations of the C-RAM capability will likely increase the casualties caused by indirect fire attacks on US personnel in Afghanistan.