Att 5 AIT-7 Section L_v16_26AUG2024.pdf

SECTION L – INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

L.1. BACKGROUND

The United States Government (USG) anticipates awarding three Firm-Fixed- Price (FFP) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts as a result of this solicitation. However, the USG reserves the right to award (1) no contract(s),

(2) one contract, or (3) two contracts, if an insufficient number of offerors are found to be acceptable. The IDIQ(s)’ Period of Performance (PoP) will be five one-year ordering periods.

It is the USG’s intent to award without discussions; therefore, it is imperative that Offerors submit their best terms initially. However, the USG reserves the right to hold discussions. Offerors are encouraged to examine the solicitation in its entirety, and to ensure that their proposal contains all necessary information, provides all required documentation, and contains the Offeror’s best terms.

Offerors shall complete two copies of Attachment 0002, AIT-7 Price Matrix and provide these with their submission. One copy should contain all required fill-ins.

The other copy should complete all fill-ins minus the pricing information (i.e., unit costs).

Offerors shall submit their proposal by electronic mail (email) to both the Contracting Officer, Benjamin Geringer, and Contract Specialist, John Kerch, at benjamin.l.geringer.civ@army.mil and john.d.kerch.civ@army.mil respectively.

Maximum e-mail attachment size is 20 MB, which includes the e-mail itself and all attachments. Please note that self-extracting .exe and .zip files will not be accepted. Offerors are responsible to ensure electronic attachment files are virus free and functional. You may contact John Kerch and Benjamin Geringer by separate e-mail to confirm Government receipt of electronic proposals. Offerors shall ensure all representations and certifications are up to date.

Files shall not contain classified data. The use of hyperlinks in proposals is prohibited.

If the Offeror’s proposal is larger than 20 MB, separate emails are permitted.

When submitting multiple emails, the Offeror shall sequentially number each email in the subject line (e.g., 1 of 3, 2 of 3, etc.). It is the responsibility of the Offeror to ensure that the USG has received the complete proposal BEFORE the solicitation due date and time.

Late Submissions Offerors are responsible for submitting proposals, and any modifications or revisions, so as to reach the Government office designated in the solicitation by the time specified in the solicitation. It is the Contracting Officer’s discretion if late submissions will be considered, so Offerors are cautioned to submit their proposal on time as late submissions may not be considered.

Formal Communications The solicitation, amendments, notices, and other information will be made available on SAM at https://sam.gov.

Offerors are advised to monitor the SAM website continuously for any new information regarding this solicitation. Offerors are deemed to have knowledge of all documents related to this solicitation that are posted to SAM.

Should an amendment be issued against the solicitation, the Offeror shall acknowledge it by signing the Standard Form (SF) 30, entitled Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of Contract, and include it with their proposal submission.

Small Business Subcontracting Plan:

Since this is a full and open competition, Offerors are required to provide an individual small business subcontracting plan. Details for submitting the plan are as follows:

Filing Naming Structure: Offeror Name Small Business Subcontracting Plan (SBSCP).

o Filename example: ABC_Corp_SBSCP.pdf

Format: Microsoft 365 Word Document (.docx) or Portable Document Format (.pdf)

Page Limit: No limit

A Small Business Subcontracting Plan is required for all large businesses and shall be submitted in accordance with FAR 52.219-9. If your firm is a current participant in the DoD Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program, it may submit its approved Small Business Subcontracting Plan under the Test Program in lieu of the requirements under FAR 52.219-9. If your firm participates in the DoD Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program, it shall be subject to contract clauses DFARS 252.219-7003 and DFARS 252.219-7004. If your company does not participate in the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program, it is subject to the requirements of FAR 52.219-9.

Offerors shall complete the attached price model, Attachment 0002, Attachment_0002_AIT-7_Price_Model_TBD.xlsx. Prices proposed will be FFP excluding the informational Contractor Manpower Reporting CLINs. The Government has provided surrogate numbers for all ordering years associated with CLINs series. For CLINs requiring input, all proposed prices shall be stated in U.S. dollars, rounded and displayed to two decimal places.

L.2 Definitions

Definitions are as follows:

Acceptable: Proposal meets the minimum requirements of the solicitation.

Unacceptable: Proposal does not meet the minimum requirements of the solicitation.

Clarifications: Clarifications are limited exchanges, between the Government and Offerors, that may occur when award without discussions is contemplated.

Communications: Communications are exchanges, between the Government and Offerors, after receipt of proposals, leading to establishment of the competitive range.

Discussions: Discussions are negotiations conducted after the establishment of a competitive range that may, at the Contracting Officer’s discretion, result in the offeror being allowed to revise its proposal.

Uncertainty: Any aspect of a non-cost/price factor proposal for which the intent of the offer is unclear (e.g., more than one way to interpret the offer or inconsistencies in the proposal indicating that there may have been an error, omission, and/or mistake).

L3. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

In the event of a conflict between the Offeror's proposal and the solicitation, the solicitation shall take precedence.

The Offeror’s proposal shall be signed and submitted by an individual having authority on behalf of the Offeror to enter into a contract based on the submitted proposal. Each Offeror’s proposal shall be written in the English language and conform to the instructions below. The proposal shall be valid for a period of not less than 185 days from the required submission date. The proposal shall clearly state in an Executive Summary Coversheet submitted with Volumes One and Two, the length of time the proposal is valid (e.g., 185 days from solicitation closing date). Your proposal MUST be valid for at least a period of 185 days from the final closing date of the solicitation, which may change if the solicitation is amended.

L4. PROPOSAL PREPARATION & ORGANIZATION.

In accordance with FAR 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors – Competitive Acquisition (Nov 2021), the Government reserves the right to award without discussions with Offerors. Offerors are encouraged to examine this solicitation in its entirety and to ensure that their proposal contains all necessary information, provides all required documentation, and is complete in all respects. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions and to permit Offerors to revise their proposals, if deemed necessary by the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO).

Each Offeror shall submit only one, unique proposal that addresses all Government requirements outlined in the solicitation. The Offeror’s proposal shall consist of the following Volumes:

(a) Volume 1 – Technical

(b) Volume 2 – Price

Files shall not contain classified data. The use of hyperlinks in proposals are prohibited.

Late Submissions. Offers, modifications, revisions, or withdrawals of offers will be in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. Reference FAR 52.215-1(c)(3)(ii):

(ii)(A) Any proposal, modification, or revision received at the Government office designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers is "late" and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made, the Contracting Officer determines that accepting the late offer would not unduly delay the acquisition; and-

(1) If it was transmitted through an electronic commerce method authorized by the solicitation, it was received at the initial point of entry to the Government infrastructure not later than 5:00 p.m. one working day prior to the date specified for receipt of proposals; or

(2) There is acceptable evidence to establish that it was received at the Government installation designated for receipt of offers and was under the Government’s control prior to the time set for receipt of offers; or

(3) It is the only proposal received.

(B) However, a late modification of an otherwise successful proposal that makes its terms more favorable to the Government, will be considered at any time it is received and may be accepted.

L.5. COMMUNICATIONS

Definitions:

(a) Clarifications: Clarifications are limited exchanges between the Government and the Offerors that may occur when award without discussions is contemplated.

See FAR 15.306(a)(1).

(b) Communications are exchanges between the Government and Offerors, after receipt of proposals, leading to establishment of the competitive range. See FAR 15.306(b)

The solicitation, amendments, notices, and other information will be made available on https://sam.gov and/or https://chess.army.mil/

Should an amendment be issued against the solicitation, the Offeror shall acknowledge by signing the Standard Form (SF) 30 entitled Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of Contract and include it in their proposal submission. In the event the offeror has already submitted a proposal, and it is before the final proposal submission time/date, the offeror may submit a revised proposal. After the closing time/date of the solicitation, an offeror MAY NOT submit a revised proposal unless informed they may by the Contracting Officer. This notification would likely, but does not have to, come in the form of a solicitation amendment.

When submitting questions please follow the below formatting:

Subject line of the email should list: Request for Proposal (RFP) Number (No.), Offeror Name, Cage Code, Date email Sent (e.g., DDMMMYYYY – 05DEC2023).

In the body of the email, please include the name of the attachment referenced, its section No., if applicable its paragraph No., and its page No., as shown below, (1)

Question 1:

Attachment Name: __________________________________ Section No. ________________________________________, Paragraph No. (if not applicable, can put N/A) ____________, Page No. __________________________________________, (2)

Question 2:

Attachment Name: __________________________________ Section No. ________________________________________, Paragraph No. (if not applicable, can put N/A) ____________, Page No. __________________________________________, (3)

Etc…

The Government intends to accept only one set of questions, so offerors are encouraged to prepare all their questions in a single document/email. Please note, while the Government will review all questions, it is the Government’s discretion on which questions it will answer. The Government does not have to provide answers to all questions.

However, if the Contracting Officer determines it is in the best interest of the Government, additional questions may be allowed. If the Contracting Officer allows additional questions, all offerors will be allowed to submit additional questions by the time/date specified by the contracting officer. Any late questions will not be accepted. Closing time/date and responses to questions will be provided via https://sam.gov and/or https://chess.army.mil/. Please check both sites diligently for updates.

Offerors are advised to continuously monitor the sam.gov and https://chess.army.mil/ websites for new information. The Offerors are deemed to have knowledge of all documents that are posted to sam.gov and https://chess.army.mil/.

During the evaluation process, the Government may, at its discretion, enter into clarifications or communications as needed. The Government need not enter into communications or clarifications with all Offerors.

During the evaluation process, the Government may, at its discretion, enter into clarifications or communications, as needed. The Government need not enter into communications or clarifications with all Offerors. In evaluating the proposals, the Government will evaluate the lowest-priced proposals first, and may not evaluate all proposals, if three (3) technically acceptable proposals are received from the lowest-priced proposals. Any Offeror eliminated from further consideration, to include Offerors that submitted proposals that were not technically evaluated, will be notified officially in writing.

Technical evaluations will be performed beginning with the lowest priced Offeror(s).

If a sufficient number of Offeror(s), as determined by the Government, are technically acceptable, and meet all other requirements of this solicitation, award may be made to those Offerors without discussions.

If a sufficient number of Offeror(s) as determined by the Government are not technically acceptable, then evaluations may continue and the SSA may continue evaluating additional offers and award to the next lowest priced Offeror(s) found acceptable in Technical; or enter into discussions and establish a competitive range.

The contracting officer may determine the number of most highly rated proposals exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted. The competitive range may be limited for purposes of efficiency.

Under the scenarios described above, it is possible that higher priced offers will not be evaluated for Technical acceptability. It is possible that higher priced offers may receive an award if lower priced offers are not technically acceptable.

A finding of acceptable for Technical of an Offeror does not ensure inclusion in a competitive range, if one is set.

L.6. PROPOSAL FILES.

The Offeror shall be held responsible for the validity of all information supplied in its proposal, including information provided by potential subcontractors. The Government does not assume the duty to search for data to cure problems it finds in the proposals. The burden of providing thorough and complete information remains with the Offeror.

All information pertaining to a particular volume shall be confined to that volume to facilitate independent evaluations. The Government will evaluate the information contained in each volume separately; therefore, each volume must stand on its own.

Proposal files shall comply with the instructions below. Each volume shall be clearly identified. All pages of each volume shall be appropriately numbered. A Table of Contents (TOC) shall be created using the TOC feature in Microsoft (MS) Word. The title page and table of contents are excluded from the page limitations.

MS Word files should use the following page parameters:

Margins – Not smaller than Top, Bottom, Left, Right –1.0” Gutter – 0” From Edge – Header, Footer – No smaller than 1.0” Page Size, Width – Not to exceed 8.5” Page Size, Height – Not to exceed 11”

Paragraphs shall be separated by at least one blank line. 12 point Arial font is required. Tables and illustrations may use a reduced font size not less than 8-point and may be landscape. Tables and illustrations should be labeled or titled and referenced. Tables, charts, figures, etc. should be used for tabular type data.

It should not be used to capture narratives. Narratives are more appropriately placed in the body of the proposal.

At the Government’s discretion, any text, tables, charts, figures, etc. not complying with the above restrictions may not be considered or evaluated for award. Therefore, Offerors are cautioned to proofread their proposal.

Offerors shall ensure that the print for the entire proposal is easily readable without magnification. If an evaluator determines text is not readable, it will not be included as part of the evaluation.

Digital files MUST be compatible with Microsoft 365 (i.e., MS Office files such as .docx, .xlsx, .pptx.).

Each Offeror shall name it’s files with their (1) company name (2) indicate the volume by using a capital “V” and the Volume No. by its numeric value, and (3) the date (formatted DDMMMYYYY), i.e., “CompanyName_V1_Technical_Date.docx.”

If multiple files are part of the same volume, these should be indicated by using a lower case “p” in the filename followed by the numeric part number in sequential order. For example, if Volume 1, Technical, contained three parts. Each file would be named as follows:

CompanyName_V1p1_Technical_Date.docx CompanyName_V1p2_Technical_Date.docx CompanyName_V1p3_Technical_Date.docx

If a proposal revision is allowed, the file name of all volumes revised MUST indicate a revision number along with the date the file was revised (e.g., CompanyName_V1r1_Technical_RevisionDate.docx).

If all the above apply (a part No. and revision No.), the filename would look similar to this:

CompanyName_V1p1r1_Technical_Date.docx

Digital file names MUST use the required naming convention for each specific proposal document. Filenames cannot exceed 40 characters. Filenames must not contain symbols such as quotes, dollar signs, percent signs, etc., or contain spaces (though underscores are acceptable). If an Offeror's file name is too long (more than 40 characters), it is permitted to abbreviate the filename such as Price and Technical can be shorten to “P” and “T” respectively. An example of this is shown below.

ABC_V1p1r1_T_2024FEB14.docx

MS Excel worksheets are considered one page each for page count purposes.

MS Project GANTT/ Program evaluation and review technique (PERT) charts are excluded from the page count restrictions.

“Foldouts” (pages larger than 8 ½” x 11”, but not greater than 11” x 17”), if needed for clarification, may be included within the volumes and will not be included in the page counts. Foldouts shall not exceed five per volume. Any foldouts exceeding this limit will not be considered. Foldouts (i.e., diagrams, charts, graphs) shall not be used as a substitute for narrative text.

To be considered for selection, the Offeror must submit a complete response to this solicitation using the sequence and format instructions provided in this section. The proposal shall be divided into separate volumes.

Offerors will submit their proposal via email with the subject line of the email containing (1) the Company name, (2) Cage Code, (3) RFP No, and (4) date email is sent.

Emails MUST be sent to BOTH John Kerch, john.d.kerch.civ@army.mil, and Benjamin Geringer, benjamin.l.geringer.civ@army.mil, to be considered. At the Contracting Officer’s discretion, these Points of Contact may change. If any of these points of contact change. All vendors will be notified via https://sam.gov.

Page Count Exceptions: The following are excluded from the page count limitations:

(a) Volume 1 – Technical : Tables of Contents, Hardware Table, Software Table, CLIN Content List, Technical Proposal Matrix and Technical Data Sheets

Please note, pages that exceed the page counts for each volume will not be evaluated unless otherwise stated.

L.7. OFFEROR CERTIFICATIONS/REPRESENTATIONS

All Offeror SHALL ensure their https://sam.gov Reps and Certs are up to date and accurate.

Offerors are deemed to have knowledge of all provisions and clauses included in this solicitation. Offerors SHALL include complete (i.e., fill-in) any fill-in provision and/or clauses listed in this solicitation and include these with their proposal submission.

Full text for provisions/clauses, if listed by reference in the solicitation, can be found at the following links:

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR):

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far

Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS):

https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/dfarspgi/current/index.html

Additional information for Volume 2:

(a) The Offeror shall provide any certification/corporate agreements with participating commercial firms.

(b) The Offeror shall provide letters of commitment between the prime and its major subcontractors as well as joint venture agreements if the prime is a joint venture.

Any contractor (or member of its team and/or subcontractor) having a Conflict of Interest as defined under FAR Part 9.5 must identify the conflict as soon as it is known and provide a recommended mitigation plan. For any potential conflicts of interest known by the Offeror at the time of proposal submission, a mitigation plan shall be submitted as a separate file that is included with the Offeror’s proposal.

L.8. PROPOSAL CONTENT

Each Offeror is required to submit the Price and Technical volume as part of their proposal as outlined below. The Offeror shall be held responsible for the validity of all information supplied in their proposal, including information provided by potential subcontractors. The Government does not assume the duty to search for data to cure problems it finds in the proposals. The burden of providing thorough and complete information remains with the Offeror.

The Offeror's shall submit their proposal in separate volumes. All information pertaining to a particular volume shall be confined to that volume only. For example, technical information shall only appear in Volume 1. Pricing information MUST only appear in Volume 2. The Government will only evaluate the information contained in each volume separately and therefore, each volume must stand on its own. To minimize proposal size, duplication of statements within a proposal volume may be avoided by referencing that statement's location after it appears in full text for the first time. Offerors should confine their submissions to essential matters, sufficient to define the proposal and to provide an adequate basis for evaluation. The Offeror must not merely re-state the requirements stated in the RFP. Narratives must establish demonstrable evidence in support of any statements relating to promised capabilities or performance. Unsupported statements to comply with the contractual requirements will not be adequate. Offerors shall provide information by addressing the Factor in the format and sequence identified in the Solicitation.

No price information shall be presented in any part of the proposal except Volume 2 (Price) and only in accordance with the criteria established within that volume.

Each volume shall consist of a title page, a table of contents, and a body. The title page shall contain the title of the volume, name of the Offeror, and date of submission.

The Table of Contents shall include references to the proposal page number and paragraph of all major items.

Consecutive page numbering within each volume is required. Paragraphs shall be numbered and titled.

L.9. VOLUME 1 – TECHNICAL

Limited to fifty (50) pages. Tables of Contents, Consolidated Bill of Material (CBOM), Technical Proposal Matrix and Technical Data Sheets are NOT included in the page count. No executive summary is required for the Technical Volume.

The Technical approach shall demonstrate the Offeror’s technical capabilities and understanding of the requirement. The Offeror must demonstrate the ability to provide hardware and software identified for AIT equipment maintained for DoD, NATO, and Coalition Partners in dynamic, global AIT environments as stated in the AIT-7 PWS.

AIT System Requirements. The Offeror shall provide a narrative illustrating the methodology and process used when implementing the AIT System Requirements as defined by PWS Section 3.

Hardware and Software Requirements. The Offer shall provide a narrative and technical data sheets for all hardware and software being proposed within Equipment Requirements as defined by PWS Section 4 and Software and Firmware Requirements as defined by PWS Section 5.

Security Requirements. The Offeror shall provide a narrative illustrating the methodology and process used when implementing the Security Requirements as defined by PWS Section 6.

Consolidated Bill of Material (CBOM). An example and instructions for completion of the CBOM are contained in the tab labeled “CBOM Example-Instructions”. The Offeror shall provide a completed CBOM spreadsheet providing a detailed list of all subcomponent parts (e.g. batteries, RF/Power/Data cable assemblies, battery chargers, adapters, etc)

The Offeror is not to add any CLIN/SLINs without permission of the Contracting officer but may add rows to ensure all subcomponents are listed for each CLIN on the CBOM.

The Offeror's BOM shall describe the actual proposed configuration(s) and shall NOT include items that are not included with the CLIN, i.e. optional equipment. The Offeror shall provide the requested information in Attached 000# - AIT-7 CBOM – Vendor Name.

Technical Proposal Matrix. An example and instructions for completion of the Technical Proposal Matrix are contained in the tab labels “Example-Instructions” of Attachment

000# - AIT-7 Technical Proposal Matrix file. The Offeror shall provide a matrix demonstrating compliance to the requirements in the PWS.

The Offer’s completed Technical Proposal Matrix shall specify the location and section or page number for the specified PWS section and subsection listed. Proposal documents to be included in this matrix include the Technical Volume, Price Model, CBOM, and Technical Data Sheets.

The government will use the Technical Volume, CBOM, and Technical Data Sheets to determine if the offer’s proposed equipment meets or does not meet the requirement as defined within this solicitation. The table below shows the CLINs that will be reviewed and evaluated by the government

CLIN/SLIN Description XX01 AA Hand-Held Barcode Terminal A (HHT-A) XX01 BA Hand-Held Barcode Terminal B (HHT-B) XX01 CA Hand-Held Barcode Terminal C (HHT-C) XX01 EA Hand-Held Barcode Terminal E (HHT-E) XX01 FA Hand-Held Terminal-F (HHT-F) XX01 GA Hand-Held Terminal-G (HHT-G) XX02 AA Imager for PC Input - General Bar Code (Tethered) XX02 AB Imager for PC Input - General Bar Code (Bluetooth) XX02 AC Imager for PC Input - IUID Label Markings XX02 AD Imager for PC Input - IUID Direct Part Markings XX02 AE Imager for PC Input - Extended Reading Range (Tethered) XX03 AB Portable/Wearable Bar Code Label Printer XX03 BA Stationary Bar Code Label Printer XX04 AA pRFID Fixed Reader w/antennas XX04 AB pRFID Vehicle Mount Fixed Reader w/antennas XX04 BA pRFID Smart Table XX04 CA Hand-held Terminal-Passive (HHT-P) (w/CAC Reader) XX04 EA pRFID Thermal Transfer Printer;

XX05 AA Bar Code Label Design and Printing Software XX06 AA Iridium Modem

In order to be found technically acceptable the offeror must be found to be have all 19 CLINs identified as meeting the requirement.

L.10. VOLUME 2 – PRICE

All prices shall be limited to two decimal places stated in US dollars. Furthermore, prices must be submitted on a Freight on Board (FOB) Destination basis and in U.S.

dollars.

Instructions for completion of the Price Model are contained in the tab labeled “Instructions” in Attachment 0003, “Price Model.” Offerors are required to state binding prices. Offerors may not make any changes or add information to the Price Model.

The enclosed Price Model is for the total price of each contract line item number/sub-line item number (CLIN/SLIN) and shall be completed in its entirety to show a Total Evaluation Price (TEP) for evaluation purposes. Each CLIN and SLIN shall include a thorough and detailed description identifying all components and parts that are included with the line item.

The Offeror is not to add any CLIN/SLINs without permission of the Contracting Officer.

The Offeror shall NOT provide a separate Price Notes page for any written explanation of the prices. Any written explanation of the prices may be construed as a disqualification and be cause for rejection of the proposal. Making assumptions to the pricing volume or pricing model will be considered as exceptions to requirements, which will make the Offeror non-responsive.

The prices shall be provided with no more than two (2) decimal places. The Offerors proposal may be rejected if the proposed prices are provided with more than 2 decimal places.

There is no page limit for the price proposal.

The Government will use a surrogate number for incidental materials, travel, and per diem. The same surrogate number will be applied to all proposals.

Instructions for completion of the Pricing Model:

All information to be filled in by the offeror is highlighted on the Pricing Model in blue. This including pricing any option years.

The offeror shall enter its full name in the space provided along with it’s SAM unique identifier and Cage Code. Offerors are required to price for the base period and all option years.

The proposed CLIN prices shall be the prices used by the Government to calculate the Total Evaluated Price.

L.11 Non-Government Advisors

Offerors are advised that employees of the firms identified below may serve as nongovernment advisors in the source selection process. These individuals will be authorized access only to those portions of the proposal data and discussions that are necessary to enable them to perform their respective duties. These firms are expressly prohibited from competing on the subject acquisition.

(1) Logistics Management Institute (LMI)

7940 Jones Branch Drive Tysons, VA 22102

Point of Contact: Kristin Gatti LMI Program Manager Phone: 804-252-9022 Email: kristin.j.gatti.ctr@army.mil

In accomplishing the duties related to the source selection process, the aforementioned firms may require access to proprietary information contained in an Offeror's proposals.

The identified support contractors will be required to protect an Offeror's information from unauthorized use or disclosure for as long as it remains proprietary and refrain from using the information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished.

All contractor personnel included in the source selection organization are required to sign a Source Selection Participation and Non-disclosure Agreement. The agreement requires the participating individuals to protect source selection and proprietary information IAW the Procurement Integrity Act.

IAW FAR 9.505-4(b), each Offeror shall enter into written agreements with the above support contractors to permit disclosure of the Offeror's proposals to these for the purpose of proposal evaluation. Copies of the executed agreements shall be provided in Volume 1 of the Offeror's proposal. Therefore, pursuant to FAR 9.505-4, LMI and Tenacious must execute an agreement with each Contractor that states it will:

Protect the Contractors’ information from unauthorized use or disclosure for as long as it remains proprietary; and

Refrain from using the information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished. To expedite the evaluation process, each Contractor must contact the above company to effect execution of such an agreement prior to the submission of proposals.

NOTE: This requirement shall flow down to all Subcontractors.