DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVSUP FLEET LOGISTICS CENTER NORFOLK

1968 GILBERT STREET SUITE 600

NORFOLK VA 23511-3392

J&A No. 26-284

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity.

The requiring activity is Joint Staff (JS), J7 Deputy Directorate for Joint Training (DDJT); the contracting activity is NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Norfolk, Contracting Department.

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

This is a sole source bridge action to be awarded as a new FAR 15 standalone contract. Contract support is currently being provided by Serco, Inc (Serco) under N0017819D8194 / N0018924F3026 with a period of performance (PoP) of 01 May 2024 through 31 January 2027.

However, the contractor has been utilizing level of effort hours at a faster rate than anticipated and funding constraints have only allowed the current task order to be funded until 29 September 2026.

The current follow-on contract is in the pre-award phase of the acquisition. Based on the independent Government estimate and anticipated contract type of non-firm-fixed-price (FFP), the task order award must be approved by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in accordance with the recently adopted DFARS 216.104-70 and PGI 216.104-70 (Class Deviation 2026-O0045 Revision 1), which implements Executive Order (EO) 14402 Section II (b)(ii)(A). The exact time frame is not known for approval to be granted and therefore the contracting activity must award a standalone bridge contract to allow for continued contract support.

The sole source bridge contract will have an anticipated four-month base period, from 30 September 2026 through 31 January 2027 followed by three (3) one-month option periods consecutively following the base period ending 30 April 2027. This requested PoP is the Government’s best estimate for the continuation of critical contract services until approval is granted for a non-firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract type and award of the follow-on task order is made.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is responsible for Joint Force Development Activities.

JS J7 DDJT has responsibilities to serve as the lead agent for Joint Force Development. This includes managing the Joint Training Exercise and Evaluation Program, conducting and assessing joint and multinational training and exercises for assigned forces, and assisting the Chairman, Combatant Commanders, and Service Chiefs in their preparations for globally integrated joint and combined operations. JS J7 is also responsible for the scheduling and coordination of Combatant Command (CCMD) exercises and Joint National Training Capability (JNTC) programs, providing joint training to CCMD battle staffs, leading the collaborative development of joint training standards, and providing strategic planning input on joint training-

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104 related modeling and simulation (M&S) issues. Ultimately, in alignment with the Directorate’s assigned responsibilities, JS J7 DDJT develops, delivers, and continuously researches ways to improve individual, staff, and collective joint training in efforts to enhance the operational readiness of the current and future joint force. Due to the scope of the requirement and magnitude of effort associated with supporting CCMDs and joint training efforts, this DDJT requirement is referred to as the “Collective Joint Training” (CJT) requirement.

The mission of JS J7 DDJT is to execute the Chairman’s Title 10 responsibilities for both Joint Training (JT) and a Joint Lessons Learned Program (JLLP). DDJTE develops, delivers, and enables a continuum of individual, staff and collective joint training to enhance the operational effectiveness of the current and future joint force through a concept-driven, threat informed capabilities development approach. This supports the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), Combatant Commanders (CCDRs), and Service joint training exercises in preparation for globally integrated joint operations to implement the Joint Warfighting Concept and increase warfighter lethality and readiness. JLLP enhances Joint Force readiness and effectiveness gained in joint operations, training, exercises, experiments, and wargames.

In support of the planning, management, and execution of this training, the contractor support includes assisting DDJT with logistics, Modeling & Simulation (M&S) management, scenario development, database builds, media replication, courseware development, concept integration, analysis and assessment of training, Information Management / Knowledge Management (IM/KM), Cybersecurity, and identifying capability gaps associated with the Joint Force Development (JFD) mission. This requirement is primarily for Operations & Maintenance (O&M) services but also contains a small portion of Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation (RDT&E). The RDT&E efforts include Event Testing and all associated subtasks, and Experimentation, developing Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) and M&S technical capabilities that facilitate the integration of new experiments and concepts into exercises.

The estimated value of this bridge action is

The standalone bridge contract will have a total PoP consisting of a four-month base period and three one-month option periods.

The resultant contract will be funded with FY26 Operation and Maintenance (O&MN) as well as Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding.

Options, if exercised, will be funded utilizing FY27 O&MN/RDT&E funds.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1)-

(2) as implemented by FAR 6.103-1 and FAR 6.103-2 - the agency’s need for the supplies or services is of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the Government would be seriously injured unless the agency is permitted to limit the number of sources from which it solicits bids or proposals, and only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

The nature of this action requires the use of the authority cited in paragraph four. As addressed further in this section, there is an urgent need for the Government to continue critical contract services due to an unforeseen regulatory requirement implemented via E.O. 14402, and the Government therefore requires additional time to secure the formal approval of a non-FFP contract type. This bridge action is a follow-on contract for the continued provision of highly specialized services. Award to any source other than the incumbent contractor would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's urgent requirements and a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.

A preliminary package for the follow-on acquisition was provided to the contracting officer by JS J7 DDJT dated 01 August 2025. This included a draft performance work statement (PWS) and IGE. Initial review by the contracting office began upon receipt and the contracting officer posted a request for information to SAM.gov dated 21 August 2025 with a closing date of 01 October 2025. Following the RFI, the formal solicitation was issued on 15 April 2026 and evaluations are currently ongoing, but award is delayed pending the mandatory EO 14402 non- FFP approval.

Due to the time required to secure formal approval of a non-FFP contract type under DFARS 216.104-70 (Class Deviation 2026-O0045, Revision 1) and complete the source selection process, a sole source bridge contract to the current service contractor, Serco, is required to ensure continuity of services and avoid disruption to mission-critical services while the follow-on competitive acquisition is completed. Awarding the bridge contract on a sole-source basis to the current service provider is necessary to ensure uninterrupted continuity of services, as they are currently performing the requirement and possess the specialized institutional knowledge, trained workforce, and established processes required to immediately continue performance without disruption. Competing the bridge contract action would introduce unacceptable schedule risk and potential service interruption due to new contractor transition time, onboarding, and familiarization with the specialized requirements that cannot be accommodated within the urgent timeframe. Any service disruption would result in the inability for JS J7 DDJT to complete its critical mission of supporting global joint training support.

In addition, requesting information, evaluating quotes, and awarding to another vendor other than the incumbent contractor for this brief period would result in an estimated substantial duplication cost of which is not expected to be recovered through competition. These costs include the sunk transition and onboarding costs a new vendor would incur in bringing on board 1,642 Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) in an extremely short time-period, and the costs associated with conducting an additional competition for this brief, urgently required award. This estimate was derived by calculating the sunk transition and onboarding costs a new vendor would incur for this brief bridge contract, and the costs associated with conducting an additional competition for this brief award Because these costs would be duplicative of the efforts already being expended in awarding the long-term competitive follow-on requirement, and the transition costs could potentially be incurred again when that follow-on is awarded, paying them for a short-term bridge represents an inefficient and ineffective use of Government resources.

A Request for Authorization of Bridge Contract (RABC) has been processed for this action.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable.

Only the contractor Serco can immediately provide contract performance and maintain critical services under the CJT program for the reasons stated above. Therefore, effort to solicit offers from any source other than Serco, as stated previously, would not allow the Government adequate time to ensure continuity of services and avoid disruption to mission critical services while the follow-on competitive acquisition is completed.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government of the supplies/services covered by this J&A will be fair and reasonable.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

Future competition is planned and the competitive procurement for a follow-on task order is in the pre-award phase of the acquisition and must be approved in accordance with EO 14402. This bridge contract action is simply to allow the necessary time to process the competitive requirement as the execution time under EO 14402 for approval of a non-FFP type task order is unknown.

It is the considered opinion of the Contracting Officer that it is not in the best interest of the Government to issue a Request for Information or a Sources Sought synopsis for the instant action. Specifically, as discussed above, the competitive follow-on acquisition is being conducted, but is pending approval and award; the proposed bridge is intended to allow continuation of services pending the award of that competitive follow-on task order. Requesting information and evaluating capability statements for potential solicitation and award to other than the incumbent contractor is considered an inefficient and ineffective use of Government resources as it would be duplicative of the efforts expended in conducting the competitive follow-on requirement and would further risk delays to this urgent requirement. The waiver of this requirement was included in the RABC signed by the Head of the Contracting Agency.