ACTS MR Sources Sought questionnaire (11Sep2020).pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

HEADQUARTERS AIR COMBAT COMMAND

ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT AND INTEGRATION CENTER

JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS VA

Agile Combat Power

11 September 2020

MEMORANDUM FOR POTENTIAL OFFERORS

FROM: ACC AMIC/PKB

129 Andrews St., Ste 110 Langley AFB, VA 23665

SUBJECT: Market Research Questionnaire FA489020R0034, Air Combat Training System (ACTS) Operations, Maintenance, and Engineering Requirement

1. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF POTENTIAL CONTRACT: The United States Air Force (USAF), Air Combat Command Acquisition Management Integration Center (ACC AMIC) is in the process of determining the acquisition strategy to obtain non-personal services for the Air Combat Training Systems (ACTS) operation, maintenance, & engineering support at Barksdale AFB LA, Eglin AFB FL, Langley AFB VA, Mountain Home AFB ID, Nellis AFB NV, Seymour Johnson AFB NC, Shaw AFB SC, Tyndall AFB FL, Dyess AFB TX, Ellsworth AFB SD, Aviano AB IT, Spangdahlem AB GE, RAF Lakenheath UK, Al Dhafra UAE, Gulfport CRTC MS, Volk CRTC WI, Alpena CRTC MI, Savannah CRTC GA, and JRB Fort Worth TX. Some of these locations include support at units geographically separated from the primary ACTS site. The ACTS program supports aircraft and ground participant instrumentation along with robust ground system data integration which increases the quality of aircrew training in air combat, weapons firing boundary recognition, and tactics employment by presenting graphic and alphanumeric displays of aircraft and weapon status data both during the operational training sortie and for post-flight debriefings. ACTS support is focused on Operations, Maintenance, and Engineering of live Operational Training Infrastructure (OTI) systems. This is primarily centered on the P5 Combat Training System (P5CTS) yet also includes ancillary datalink, integration, communication, and display systems. P5CTS pods have high accuracy real-time positional information, air-to-air data link, onboard recording, downlink, and in-pod weapon simulations.

Associated equipment provides interface to electronic warfare threats, radar sources, datalink integration, and communications interface. Maintenance activities include hardware and software maintenance of all assigned ACTS equipment as well as daily loading/unloading of pods. Operational activities include both live and post-mission operation of all assigned equipment. Live operations include real-time control of the training mission, Range Training Officer duties, Tactical Data Link Manager, and Threat Operator duties. Post-mission operations include merging and building a consolidated mission file, providing dedicated debriefing services, and supporting a complete reconstruction of the sortie. Engineering activities cover software products, radio/transceiver systems, and computer/networking systems.

Engineering activities provide a means to ensure the ever-evolving ACTS capabilities are supported by intentional operations and maintenance approaches. The operations, maintenance, and engineering activities function together to provide a consolidated operational picture of the entire training environment supporting robust warfighter training before, during, and after the sortie for current and evolving system capabilities. The resulting contract will be centrally managed by ACC AMIC at Langley AFB, Virginia.

2. OBJECTIVE OF MARKET RESEARCH: We are conducting market research to assist in determining acquisition strategy for the subject procurement. Specifically, feedback is sought from industry in regards to practices to obtaining the required services, as well as the capability of industry in providing the required services within our military environment. Additionally, the government requests industry input as to potential efficiencies. Contract type, practices, potential small business set-aside strategy as authorized by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19, and performance-based specifications are being considered in development of the solicitation. Your input will greatly assist in this development. A draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) has been posted with this questionnaire to Contract Opportunities section of the betaSAM website at https://beta.sam.gov, and you are invited to review this document and provide feedback on the document itself, as well as to the below questions.

3. INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM INDUSTRY: Please review the associated draft PWS posted to this site and the following questions, and provide any input you would like considered as we formulate the acquisition. This requirement is currently in the 8(a) program and is expected to be issued as an 8(a) set aside. However, the Government requests information in regards to the capabilities of all small business to ensure that accurate capabilities in the marketplace are captured. For the Contracting Officer to set aside any acquisition over $150,000 for small business, there must be a reasonable expectation that two or more offerors can satisfactorily perform contract requirements and that award will be made at a fair market price. Total set-asides cannot be made unless such a reasonable expectation exists.

The Government believes that it is mutually beneficial to determine the capability of offerors eligible for set-asides early in the procurement process in order to preclude the need for a modification of the acquisition strategy later. The Government is not requesting technical/management proposals, only capability information that will be used as market research to develop the acquisition strategy and solicitation.

Questions from prospective offerors and the subsequent answers will be posted throughout the presolicitation phase of the procurement. We expect to make further postings of draft documents (including a draft solicitation) in the coming months, in anticipation of issuing a final solicitation within the next year. Your continued input is welcome throughout this process. Please provide a brief capability response to each of the following and limit your entire response not to exceed twenty (20) pages.

GENERAL

a. Please include the following information about your organization in your response:

i. Name of Organization

ii. NAICS

iii. DUNS Number

iv. CAGE Code

v. Address

vi. Telephone Number

vii. Facsimile Number

viii. Point(s) of Contact and E-Mail Addresses

ix. Size of Business: Small or Large

x. Status of Business: Small Business Administration (SBA) 8 (a) Business

Development Program Concern, Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zone Concern, Small Disadvantaged Business Concern, Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern and/or Women-Owned Small Business Concern

b. The anticipated NAICS code for this procurement is 541330, Engineering Services utilizing the exception which lists the size standard as $41.5M for Military and Aerospace Equipment and Military Weapons. Provide any input regarding your capability to accomplish the work as a prime contractor, or any other information relative to setting aside the procurement for small business participation only. Please provide input as to whether the NAICS code accurately reflects the requirement described in the PWS.

c. Are O&M support services similar to our requirement typically performed utilizing standard regulations/standards? Do other contracts include any industry-specific training, certification, or inspection requirements that are in conflict with the referenced Air Force standards? Please note any major differences in the government’s requirement and similar requirements found in the marketplace.

d. We anticipate the significant portion of the requirement will be on a fixed-price basis. A portion of the contract covering the effort for travel, equipment purchases, and other expenses is to be procured on a cost-reimbursable basis. Please provide any comments you may have regarding the estimated workload as shown in the draft PWS. Identify any limitations to fixed-pricing strategy of this effort.

e. Submit evidence that your company has the requisite accounting, purchasing, property, insurance, and funds management capabilities to support this effort. Please include an explanation of your ability to provide sound management and physical security of government assets. Also, include a discussion of the methods your company utilizes to ensure fiscal control, your inventory tracking procedures, and the purchasing capability within your company necessary to ensure continuous support of the ACTS program.

COMPANY CAPABILITIES

a. What is your past experience with ACTS operations? Identify any contracts with contract number and the awarding agency that you have previously worked on that are similar in scope to the ACTS contract. Submit evidence of experience and ability to provide similar support to sustain mission/training systems, the operations and maintenance (O&M) of equipment, and design/development of systems for contracts containing geographically dispersed sites. Please include brief information on your company’s managerial, technical, and financial resources to be able to meet the program requirements as detailed in the draft PWS.

b. Have you supported similar contract operations at both CONUS and OCONUS locations? If so, please provide a list of locations supported.

c. Have you accomplished a contract transition at both CONUS and OCONUS locations? Please include a brief summary of actions taken to transition contract oversight with particular emphasis on OCONUS transition actions.

d. What is your past experience with supporting ACTS operations unique to MAJCOMs covered under this effort (ACC, AFGSC, USAFE, ANG, and AFRC)? For example, high ops tempos at ACC locations, long missions at AFGSC sites, USAFE coalition considerations, and ANG hub-spoke and weekend operations.

e. Do you plan to subcontract any of the work?

f. This requirement will include support for workload for several CONUS and OCONUS sites as described in above paragraph 1. In order to provide support within the ACTS Contract, multiple personnel at each site are required to have Secret/Special Access Program (SAP) clearance and certain positions at OCONUS sites must also be eligible for clearance up to Top Secret (TS).

Some positions require Sensitive Compartmentalized Information (SCI) clearance. The remaining personnel at each site will be required to have clearance up to Secret. Does your company have the capability to acquire personnel, in sufficient numbers and labor categories, with appropriate clearances who can perform ACTS support? Please provide information on any obstacles you anticipate in acquiring and retaining a trained, qualified and certified workforce.

g. What is your company’s experience with managing personnel with SAP clearances?

h. To receive individual logistical support (e.g., BX/Commissary, driver’s license, fuel card, MWR) while employed in Germany/Italy, technicians working on ACTS must have a Technical Expert Status Accreditation (TESA). Does your company have the capability to acquire personnel who can meet TESA requirements?

i. What is your company’s experience in handling and managing government encryption aids/Communications Security (COMSEC) material?

j. What is your company’s experience with providing software engineering services for 3D merge, display, and playback software?

k. What is your company’s experience with providing field-level engineering services for radio, communications, and network systems?

l. What is your company’s experience with configuring, operating, and integrating range threat systems for live training and exercise events?

m. What is your company’s experience with handling and managing data link systems (i.e. Link-16, SADL, FDL, BOSS)?

n. Does your company have maintenance management principles/processes similar to what the Air Force uses? How do you apply/implement these processes? How does your company manage issues affecting operations & maintenance processes, support/logistics concepts, and procedures in improving maintenance effectiveness?

o. What type of information retrieval/data storage system does your company currently use that would meet our requirements for tracking inventory of all supported equipment and reporting operational metrics?

p. What experience does you company have with updating government data management systems.

In particular, please list your experience with Reliability, Availability, Maintainability for Pods & Integrated Systems (RAMPOD), Special Purpose Recoverables Authorized Maintenance (SPRAM), Integrated Maintenance Data System (IMDS), and Joint Deficiency Reporting System

(JDRS).

q. Discuss your firm’s ability to provide and maintain a Quality Management System (QMS) adhering to ISO 9001:2015 compliance that meets the government’s inspection/quality requirements. Also, please identify any obstacles that compliance with ISO 9001:2015 may create. See the draft PWS for more details.

r. Does your company have experience managing Government Furnished Equipment and/or Government Furnished Property in the last 3 years per DFARS PGI 245.103-72?

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

a. What changes, if any, do you suggest we make to the draft PWS to allow for a more performance-based requirement? Please identify any portions of the draft PWS that, as written, are too restrictive or prohibit the flexibility to perform according to your established practices.

b. Do the referenced mandatory Air Force instructions and other publications conflict with established practices? Provide any comments you may have as to standard practices for procuring similar services in the marketplace.

c. Identify any components of the PWS that conflict with the quality assurance provisions that are part of your normal, established practices. What would you consider to be key critical performance measurements and minimum standards to be met?

d. Are there industry standards, instructions or procedures that would meet AF needs or replace

Government directives that are listed in the draft PWS?

e. What industry standards exist for performance metrics for this type of effort?

f. Identify any components of the PWS that may conflict with known installation practices at the identified performance locations.

g. Identify any particular challenges with OCONUS operations that should be specifically addressed in the PWS.

4. This information will only be used for market research purposes and will not be used for proposal evaluation later. Information will be used solely to formulate acquisition strategy and for the development of the solicitation. Feedback is welcome at any time, although we request responses to the above information be sent to the following email addresses: john.foster.23@us.af.mil and sharon.potter@us.af.mil no later than 30 October 2020.

SHARON D. POTTER

Contracting Officer