A02.06 - JA TITAN ISR Final_Redacted.pdf

Control No:

Contractor: Strategic Alliance Consulting (SAC)

Version – March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Alliance Consulting, Inc. (SAC) ( a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) concern, is providing exceptional performance and is currently carrying the project, yet is subject to the 49% subcontractor limitation of this being awarded to the 8(a) prime contractor.

In an email, the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) stated that the 8(a) prime contractor was not performing at an acceptable level under the current contract effort and is not providing much added value to the Government, in comparison to their subcontractor SAC, and that the Government would benefit from this requirement being competed as an SDVOSB set-aside. The COR first notified the AGC Contracting office about the current contract issues on 9 April (initial email) to 16 April 2020 (email to AGC Acquisition Advocate) and requested the removal from the 8(a) Program due to Performance issues. This was to allow for enough time for full competition of the requirement within the five months between release and the requirement’s Period of Performance expiration. The AGC Contracting Officer and AGC Small Business Specialist sent the Request for Release from the 8(a) Program to the SBA on 28 April 2020. A final decision for the release of the requirement was not finalized until 30 July 2020. SBA informed the Contracting Officer of their approval on 11 August 2020 via phone. However, the Contracting Officer did not receive written notification of approval until 17 August 2020. Due to this extensive time period (in excess of 90 Days) between initial request and the granting of the release from the 8(a) Program, the AGC contracting office does not have sufficient time to provide adequate competition on a full set-aside contract. this requirement can be satisfied through an SDVOSB set-aside, as the current subcontractor is an SDVOSB and is performing the contract satisfactorily. The subcontractor is the only company capable of continuing full performance, ensuring there is no break in service come 30 September 2020. This award will provide the Government with the five months necessary to conduct a five-year SDVOSB competitive set-aside acquisition to allow for adequate competition with qualified contractors.

AGC has struggled to attain its SDVOSB goals in the past and sees this requirement as a viable option to help the agency meet its SDVOSB goal for 2020. Consistently, the AGC has missed their goal and has only once been above their objective goal since 2015. Below is a table detailing the AGC SDVOSB goals versus achieved percentages since 2015.

2015 2016 2017 Goal Achieved Goal Achieved Goal Achieved

SDVOSB

2018 2019 Goal Achieved Goal Achieved

SDVOSB

Version – March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

This opportunity to provide AGC with a SDVOSB award to provide higher achieved goals will in turn allow AGC to increase their goals and attain a higher overall Small Business goal.

(a) As described in FAR 6.302-5, full and open competition need not be provided for when a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the acquisition be made through another agency or from a specified source, or the agency’s need is for a brand name commercial item for authorized resale.

(b) Alternatives: If unable to proceed with a sole source award the options available are extremely limited. Suspending operations is completely untenable as Army TENCAP is scheduled to deliver the TITAN pre-prototypes and subsequent C-kits starting in 2 QTR FY22. The amount of development and integration would not have the amount of time necessary to meet these delivery dates if further delays continue. Additionally, the amount of available on-site personnel is austere. That coupled with the end of the period of performance of the current 8 (a) program makes the situation increasingly grim. There are not enough personnel to accomplish the requisite tasks as well as no qualified Information Assurance personnel to continue the mission. Finally, the use of the existing TITAN Surrogate systems in lieu of completing the pre-prototype work cannot be sustained. Some of the associated components have reached end of life while others simply are no longer available. These TITAN pre-prototypes and subsequent C-kits are the only viable replacement for the remaining TITAN Surrogate systems in the field.

SAC, Inc. has been providing SETA services to the AGC and Army TENCAP for other programs for the past five years and as a subcontractor on the current effort for one year. Their services are highly specialized to the unique nature of the TENCAP program and are not such that any other contractor can simply take over provision of the services without a period of training, familiarization and preparation. A break in service, or a transition period from a new contractor, in support of the TITAN program pending award of a follow-on TITAN services contract would unacceptably delay the Army TENCAP’s ability to respond to Department of the Army G2 and other National agencies' intelligence gathering requirements in the current international operational environment.

Without contractual coverage for these critical services, Army TENCAP will fail to execute critical aspects of its mission.

1) From past Market Research, it has been historically difficult to find the specialized skillsets necessary to perform duties listed in the TITAN requirements. Based on these factors, the need for a SDVOSB sole source contract award to the SAC, Inc. was requested.

Version – March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY contractors to be well versed in the technology and knowledge base for subsequent competition upon completion of this contract.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: Previously, the TITAN prototype work had been competed in the 8(a) Program for award. Upon the award, the contractor has not provided adequate contracting efforts and the subcontractor working with the prime shouldered the primary duties within the program and provided the necessary support to successfully complete the contract. Based upon the substandard quality of the prime contractor’s performance, the work has been approved to be taken out of the 8(a) Program. Due to the highly specialized services in support of Army TENCAP program and the relatively short term of the current contract, it will be impractical to compete this contract requirement among contractors other than SAC. In addition, a break in service would be detrimental to the program and would cause serious ramifications in the TITAN development cycle.

After the Contracting Officer received telephonic notice from the SBA regarding approval of the effort being removed from the 8(a) Program, a Request for Information (RFI)/Sources Sought (SS) for the TITAN services was posted on FEDBIZOPS on 11 August 2020 for 30 days. Comments from firms interested in providing the services were requested. The Government received five responses to the RFI/SS posted. Of those, only one was found fully capable, two were found partially capable and two were found not capable to fulfill the requirements of this TITAN services requirement. As such, the Government affirms that only one source, SAC, is capable of fulfilling the requirements necessary to ensure no break in service. SAC is a responsible contractor with respect to performance based on the Government’s experience with performance on the current action and the information outlined in paragraph 5, above. However, a competitive SDVOSB set-aside acquisition can be held during this 5-month contract where the Government expects to receive at least two responses to a request for proposal.

8. Market Research: Upon the decision to pull the current contract out of the 8(a) SB Program, the AGC began Market Research to determine the availability of SDVOSB concerns capable of meeting the requirements to perform the duties for the TITAN services. In accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 205.205-71, DFARS 206.302-1(d), and DFARS Procedures, Guidance and Information (PGI) 206.302-1(d), a request for information / sources sought was posted to Federal Business Opportunities on 11 August 2020 for 30 days to determine the availability of SDVOSB concerns which possess the capability to execute the requirements for TITAN services. There were five respondents indicating an interest in competing for these requirements. Of the five interested offerors, only one provided evidence of potential to satisfy the full Army TITAN requirement.

9. Interested Sources: From the RFI/SS issued, the following showed interest in this effort:

1) experience is primarily focused on tactical radios and SATCOM systems with some previous TENCAP experience. The company does have some Contingency Operations SIGINT experience, however GEOINT

Version – March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

11. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Typed Name: Date:

Title: Systems Engineer, AGC Signature

12. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable.

As a part of this basis, certified cost or pricing data:

will be required.

will not be required and the following exception applies (FAR 15.403):

Prices that will be agreed upon are based on adequate price competition.

Prices that will be agreed upon are based on prices set by law or regulation.

A commercial item is being acquired.

A waiver has been granted by the head of the contracting activity (HCA) in accordance with DFARS PGI 215.403-1.

The contract action is a modification to a contract or subcontract for commercial item(s).

The estimated cost of the contract action is less than the threshold for certified cost or pricing data.

Date: Typed Name:

Title: Contracting Officer Signature

13. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: Typed Name:

Title: Contracting Officer Signature:

Version – March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Approval Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of Technical Services for the Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C.2304(c) (5), as implemented by FAR Part 6.302-5 -- Authorized or Required by Statute, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services or property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Date:

Contracting Officer Signature: