E200493 JA Posted.doc

EXECEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

22 May 2012 Purchase Request Number: MIPR N6600112MP00329, Tracking E200493.00

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (OTFAOC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Justification for OTFAOC Number:

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Contracting Officer, hereby approve the use of other than full and open competition of the proposed contractual action pursuant to the authority FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B). (For Multiple Award Contracts/Orders use for statutory authority exception to fair opportunity 10 U.S.C. 2304c(b).

JUSTIFICATION

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING OFFICE:

Agency: Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Code 56100, 56560 Hull Street, San Diego, California 92152

Contracting Office: DISA DITCO, 2300 East Drive, Scott Air force Base, Illinois 62225

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION(S):

Contract Type: FFP

Estimated Amount: $250,812.38 Type of Funding: Navy Working Capital Funds Year of Funding: FY 2012

Type of Action: New Task Order POP: 26 June 2012 – 30 September 2012

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES:

The United States Navy has a growing need for the Cyber skills to defend the many computer networks within the Fleet against Cyber attack. As more of our adversaries continue to build their Cyber capabilities to infiltrate or damage our critical networks, our Warfighters must be able to acquire the skills of Computer Network Operations (CNO) to defend and thwart future Cyber attacks. Through our successes in maritime Information Assurance (IA), Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), and Information Operations (IO), the scientists and engineers at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Pacific (SSC Pacific) are suitably poised to provide the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) the needed support to develop capabilities and tools for the CNO mission.

The fundamental skills involved in the development of CNO tools are an understanding of computer networks, high-level programming languages such as Python, low-level programming languages such as IA-32 assembly, and the techniques of software reverse engineering (analyzing programs at their lowest level to determine how they work or if they have vulnerabilities). These CNO skills can be directed at many of today’s computer Operating Systems (OS), however the Windows OS is the most common OS found on computers across the world. Our SSC Pacific scientists and engineers will need training on the internals of the Windows OS and how to develop CNO tools for the Windows OS in order to become proficient CNO programmers.

To ensure our students in a CNO Programmers training course receive the rigor and hands-on practical training required for development of CNO tools, each student will need their own computer to create CNO program examples. This is in addition to the course textbooks and reference materials. Each student’s computer will be pre-loaded with example CNO programs, CNO programming exercises, and software tools for CNO programming.

The CNO tool development training doesn’t need to provide any formal certification upon completion since the CNO skills attained from the course will be valuable and highly sought after by our Cyber customers (government agencies and military commands).

This is the first opportunity for SSC Pacific to offer such exclusive training to its scientists and engineers but the funding available within the command is FY12 money, which creates urgency for any training requiring more than two months. The CNO tool development training identified to meet the requirements of SCC Pacific and the U.S. Navy is more than two months since it should include both the CNO fundamental skills along with the Windows OS internals. The students identified to attend this training will also need their labor hours paid for by this same allotted FY12 money, therefore the CNO training must be offered to SSC Pacific before the end of this fiscal year (FY12). This severely restricts the period of performance on the contractor to June 1st, 2012 through September 30th, 2012.

4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY and DEMONSTRATION OF CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS:

(a) Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized. (FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B))

(b) ManTech Mission Cyber & Technology Group 's eleven week Computer Network Operations (CNO) Programmers course combines ten individual courses covering unique domains relevant to CNO that progressively build upon each other to provide students with a more comprehensive CNO learning experience. The instructors are experts in the CNO field and are currently developing CNO tools for the U.S. Department of Defense that support the mission of protecting and defending DoD’s critical networks. This makes them uniquely qualified to teach the most up to date and relevant techniques which simulate real world CNO challenges using hands-on labs. Their CNO Programmers course is continually evolving to cover the latest technology such as IPv6 and 64-bit architecture and integrate it into all the modules of the course.

This procurement will provide necessary Computer Network Operations (CNO) development training to SSC Pacific software developers in support of multiple Cyber customers.

Justification:

(1) In order to ensure the SSC Pacific software developers possess the requisite knowledge and skills to support Cyber customer tool development and other requirements the following subjects must be addressed in the training: Python, Networks, IA-32 Assembly, Software Reverse Engineering, Core Crucible, Windows Programming, Windows Internals, CNO User Mode Development, Introduction to EBFE, User Mode Crucible, CNO Kernel Mode Development, Kernel Internals, and Kernel Mode Crucible. After SSC Pacific conducted market research it was determined that only Man Tech has the capability to provide the continuous training that includes all the required learning objectives listed above. They are also able to provide the hardware, software, and technical support needed for the presentation for this course at SSC Pacific in San Diego, California.

(2) We propose to use Man Tech Mission, Cyber & Technology Solutions. Man Tech is the only company we have found that offers this level of training and instructor experience. Man Tech utilized their experience and expertise to develop this course specifically to address the lack of comprehensive training courses that teach experienced software developers how to become CNO Programmers. Man Tech does not offer this course to the general public it is only offered to government. This is due to the potential liability placed on ManTech for any inappropriate use of the knowledge gained by the CNO Programmers course. This restriction to government customers allows our SSC Pacific personnel access to sensitive and exclusive training required by our Cyber customers within DoD.

(3) As part of the market research KEYW Corporation was considered, however, the only CNO training they offer is three individual courses that when viewed as a whole does not cover the Python programming and network topics. Another company considered during the market research was Raytheon SI Gov, however they are currently in the beta testing phase for their CNO training which will be based on the “Android” rather than the “Windows” Operating System and not meet SSC Pacific’s training or schedule needs. The final company considered was TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) which provides CNO training through their company Art of Exploitation (AoE). But when the AoE classes are compared to the topics of the ManTech CNO Programmers course, about four AoE classes were needed to cover most of the same topics of the ManTech course since the Python programming wasn’t covered by AoE. Additionally, scheduling multiple individual courses would create scheduling and funding problems for the SSC Pacific personnel requiring the training and the projects they support.

Impact: SSC Pacific’s ability to support their Cyber customers would be greatly diminished if their Software Developers are unable to advance their training in order to keep their skills on the cutting edge of technology through ManTech Mission Cyber & Technology Group’s CNO Programmer course.

5. COST/PRICE FAIR AND REASONABLE DETERMINATION: (FAR 16.505(b)(ii)(B)(5) Rates have been established within the ENCORE II contract. All rates set forth in the contract, and used on individual orders, were based on competition among the DITCO ENCORE vendors and a price analysis was accomplished.

The labor rates used/set forth in the ENCORE II contract will remain the same. The prices were considered fair and reasonable based on competitive proposals in conjunction with price analysis. The total estimated value for this action is estimated at $250,000.00. The proposal will be reviewed to consider the level of effort and the mix of labor proposed to perform the tasks being ordered and to determine the total price is reasonable.

6. MARKET RESEARCH:

(a) Method of Market Research: The market research conducted by the Program Manager (PM) and Contracting Officer Representative (COR) consisted of discussions with other Government PMs and Government Cyber customers; search of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Dynamic Small Business Search Engine http://dsbs.sba.gov/dsbs/search/dsp_dsbs.cfm; and internet searches.

(1) The PM’s discussions resulted in contacting ManTech Mission Cyber & Technology Group, KEYW Corporation, and Raytheon SI Gov as part of SSC Pacific’s market research. The results of these discussions with industry are addressed below in section 6(c).

(2) The SBA) Dynamic Small Business Search Engine http://dsbs.sba.gov/dsbs/search/dsp_dsbs.cfm did not produce any small businesses that were able to provide an all inclusive, continuous CNO training course.

(3) Extensive internet searches did not any produce results. There are several companies that are considering CNO training but do not currently have the training course developed and in place. Another result was TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) which provides CNO training through their company Art of Exploitation (AoE). Art of Exploitation (AoE) offers nine individual courses; however when the course topics were combined they do not meet SSC Pacific’s requirements. Additionally, these courses would potentially need to be scheduled separately based on AoE’s course availability. Scheduling multiple individual courses would create scheduling and funding problems for the SSC Pacific personnel requiring the training and the projects they support.

(b) Results of Market Research:

(1) ManTech Mission Cyber & Technology Group

(2) KEYW Corporation.

(3) Raytheon SI Gov

(4) Art of Exploitation (AoE)

(c) Analysis of Market Research:

(1) ManTech Mission Cyber & Technology Group is eleven weeks long and encompasses all the topics that SSC Pacific requires.

(2) KEYW Corporation recommended their Tools and Capability Development course which is only two weeks long and does not cover all the required topics to meet SSC Pacific’s requirements including Python, IA-32 and EBFE.

(3) Raytheon SI Gov is currently in the beta testing phase for their CNO training which will be based on the Android OS and is unable to meet SSC Pacific’s technical requirements of using a Windows OS.

(4) Art of Exploitation (AoE) offers nine individual courses; however when the course topics were combined they do not meet SSC Pacific’s requirements including Python. In order to obtain as many of SSC Pacific’s requirements as possible a minimum of four individual courses would need to be taken. Additionally, these courses would potentially need to be scheduled separately based on AoE’s course availability. Scheduling multiple individual courses would create scheduling and funding problems for the SSC Pacific personnel requiring the training and the projects they support.

7. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS. No additional facts

8. ACTIONS TAKEN TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO COMPETITION: (FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(7)) This is SSC Pacific’s first procurement of CNO Programmer Training. SSC Pacific will continue to conduct further market research in order to locate other potential sources of CNO Programmer training. This J&A will also be posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website (FBO.gov) in order to encourage more vendors to provide this type of continuous and comprehensive CNO training.

9. REFERENCE TO THE APPROVED ACQUISITION PLAN (AP) PROGRAM PLAN (PP): (DARS 8.405-6(g)(2)(S-91) & FAR 7.1) This procurement does not require a written Acquisition Plan.

SSC Pacific, J&A Page 1 of 5 Pages

7 May 2012/v1