Redacted_JOFOC_Lear_Extension_-_FINAL_26JUL2019.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

AUTHORITY: FAR 6.302, 41 U.S.C. 253(c)

CONTRACT #D16PC00231

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by FAR 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements by FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This document is a justification for other than full and open competition for the Department of the Interior, Interior Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), on behalf of the U.S. Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Program Executive Office (PEO), Integrated Warfare Systems (IWS), Test and Evaluation Division (1TE).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

AQD is requesting approval to extend the period of performance of contract D16PC00231 with Phoenix Air Group, Inc. (PAG) of Cartersville, GA. This is a Firm- Fixed-Unit Price type contract. The current period of performance is 1 September 2016

– 31 August 2019. This modification will extend the potential period of performance end date to 29 February 2020. This extension period is intended to allow for continuity of services while the government completes evaluation and award of a new, competitive, contract for these services. The requested period of time allows for the possibility of a protest and/or transition period to a new vendor while ensuring continuity of service. In the event that both of these events occur, the 2-month option period may be necessary to ensure there is still time for a transition period, which is critical to the success of any other vendor (see Section 5 below).

NAVSEA’s requirement for commercial aviation support services was previously competed and awarded to Tempus Jets in 2016, contract D16PC00083. A post award protest was received in June 2016, which resulted in re-evaluation of the proposals.

Tempus Jets received a stop work order while DOI attempted to resolve the protest.

PAG’s current contract, D16PC00231, was awarded as a sole source bridge contract to fulfill the NAVSEA’s immediate need for continued aviation support services while DOI attempted to resolve the protest. Contract D16PC00083 with Tempus Jets was terminated in February 2017 when it was determined there were material changes, driven by new regulations and safety concerns, in the government’s requirement.

Since February 2017, the Navy aviation work has transferred offices within AQD, which presented a substantial learning curve for the new aviation contracting team to overcome on system processes, implementing new contracting processes with the Navy customer, and managing any urgent day-to-day workload in addition to multiple IDIQ re-competes. The day-to-day workload consisted primarily of last minute task order requests and contract modifications from the Navy to accommodate next day test events. This rapid turnover environment delayed the initiation/development of the follow-on solicitation until February 2018 when the acquisition plan was approved. The solicitation was submitted into the review and approval process at the beginning of October 2018 and was approved the beginning of April 2019.

AQD is currently in the middle of re-competing this requirement. AQD released solicitation 140D0419R0007 on 8 April 2019 as a competitive Request for Proposals in accordance with FAR 12 and 15 for the commercial aviation support services currently being provided by PAG. More than one proposal was received by the proposal due date, 24 May 2019. In order to conduct a thorough evaluation, which may include a competitive range, discussions, and final proposal revisions, award is not anticipated to be completed prior to the current contract expiration date.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

NAVSEA PEO IWS 1TE has an immediate need for continued commercial aviation support services for test and evaluation (T&E) of the Aegis Combat System (ACS) and other Integrated Electronic Warfare (EW) systems utilizing two ‘Exclusive Use” (EU) and three “On-Call” (OC) turbojet aircraft.

PAG will provide personnel and aircraft outfitted with government furnished T&E equipment to fly predetermined testing scenarios with the US Navy ships or land-based systems so the radar and other warfare system instrumentation can be tested and calibrated, as well as for the training of the radar operators. Services provided during these test events include, but are not limited to towing aerial targets; transportation of equipment, personnel, and supplies; communications relay; GPS position recording;

and electronic warfare. These test events involve the coordination of many military assets (i.e. ships, submarines, aircraft, drones, other support contractors, and naval personnel), costing millions of dollars per day to conduct.

The estimated cost for the extension period are identified below –

Extension Base Period: 1 Sept 2019 – 30 Nov 2019 = Extension Option Period 1: 1 Dec 2019 – 31 Jan 2020 = Extension Option Period 2: 1 Feb 2020 – 29 Feb 2020 =

The addition of this extension period increases the overall total contract value as follows:

From: $26,372,700.73 By:

To:

4. An Identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

FAR 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1)

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

At this time, PAG is the only vendor deemed qualified to provide the required services. PAG is in possession of all the necessary certificates required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Aviation Services (OAS), Air Mobility Command (AMC), and Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), to include all security clearances for facilities accessed as specified in the DD Form 254 – “Department of Defense (DOD) Contract Security Classification Specifications.”

Furthermore, aircraft provided by PAG under D16PC00231 meet all minimum requirements as far as performance, payload, power plant(s), seating, and speed/endurance; are properly configured and carded; and have the applicable modification Supplemental Type Certificates (STC). Any one of these requirements can take a substantial amount of time to obtain and are expensive endeavors to pursue, to the extent that most vendors are not in possession of all requirements until under contract.

Some of the missions are hazardous as they require low-level, formation flying that may require up to four aircraft on profiles that have to be very accurate. System Operators would have to be trained on the government provided mission equipment, which would have to be incrementally transferred to the new vendor since they would be training at the same time the outgoing vendor would still be conducting taskings.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

Notice of Intent to extend sole source contract D16PC00231 with PAG will be posted to the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.201(b)(1) and (2). As discussed in section 2 above, AQD is currently in the middle of re-competing this requirement. Solicitation 140D0419R0007 was posted to FBO in April 2019; therefore, additional requirements notifications will not be provided.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will make a fair and reasonable determination by conducting a thorough and detailed price analysis, to include comparison of offered prices to market pricing, Government estimate, historical contract rates, as well as competitive pricing received in response to solicitation 140D0419R0007.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Prior to releasing solicitation 140D0419R0007, Market Research efforts included a query of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Dynamic Small Business search, a review of the Interagency Contract Directory Portal, a search of the various General Services Agency (GSA) online resources, and by obtaining technical feedback from NAVSEA PEO IWS 1TE and OAS. Additionally, a Sources Sought Notice (SSN) was issued and received three responses from industry, one small and two large businesses, expressed interest in the requirement.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

The NAVSEA PEO IWS 1TE supports the U.S. Navy mission by providing Enterprise level T&E planning and execution to meet combat systems test requirements across the surface ship Navy. Primary T&E functions support land-based and at-sea combat system testing for the AEGIS, Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS) and Enterprise Programs.

The T&E mission heavily depends on commercial aircraft to meet test objectives since fleet assets are not reliably available during the Navy’s test schedules. The Navy PEO IWS 1TE Program Office has contracted for commercial aviation services for 30+ years and continuance of those services is essential for the NAVSEA PEO IWS 1TE to fulfill their mission as discussed below.

Currently, there are no other commercial aircraft vendors or military squadrons that can fulfill all of the specific T&E requirements this contract supports due to the specialized aircrew experience, aircrew training qualifications, aircraft with all the required flight clearances, and troubleshooting capabilities of equipment required to complete the mission requirements. With millions of dollars of support being provided to internal and external Navy customers, NAVSEA PEO IWS 1TE’s considers this the most utilized aircraft services contract and only option to satisfy critical requirements for EW testing.

PAG provides the only source of cleared aircraft and aircrew in some of the most hazardous conditions involving day/night low level (500 feet and below) operations, target towing during non-fire tracking exercises and air defense live fire naval gun weapon systems testing, and the operation of electronic warfare jamming and deception equipment during challenging multi-aircraft formation flights. To allow another vendor to take over these requirements without a sufficient transition period dramatically increases the risk of mission failure and significant flight and personnel safety concerns.

The requirements for these services have increased and is anticipated to continue at current levels or increase as the Navy expands its shipbuilding programs as part of the Presidential guidance to increase the number of ships and improve weapon systems to meet growing real world challenges and ensure continuation of trade by maintaining open and safe sea lanes. Besides IWS 1TE ship weapon system Test and Evaluation requirements, other DoD programs frequently access the unique and available capabilities of this contract.

Continued dedicated services this contract brings is key to the success of multi-million dollar test events and reduces the risk to T&E program objectives and ship deployment capabilities.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

As discussed in section 5 above, AQD is currently in the midst of an active source selection. More than one proposal was received; however, the names of offerors and exact number of proposals will not be provided as this is considered source selection sensitive information.

11. A statement of any actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

As discussed in section 5 above, AQD is currently in the middle of re-competing this requirement. AQD released solicitation 140D0419R0007 on 8 April 2019 as a competitive Request for Proposals in accordance with FAR 12 and 15 for the commercial aviation support services currently being provided by PAG. More than one proposal was received.