Q&A.pdf

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS for SSO DRAFT RFP FA2550-17-R-2006:

A Draft RFP was posted to Industry on 13 June 2017 for feedback relating to the documents provided. In response to those questions, a final RFP is posted on FedBizOpps as well as answers to the questions received as follows:

1) Do contractor personnel have to have the certifications at contract start/date of hire or can they obtain them with in the 6 month criteria as stated in 8570.01-M?

Answer: Contractor personnel are required to have the certifications at contract start date.

Department of Defense (DoD) 8570.01-M, Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program states in C2.3.9. that contractor personnel supporting IA functions in Chapters 3, 4, 10, and 11 shall obtain the appropriate DoD-approved IA baseline certification prior to being engaged. Contractors have up to 6 months to obtain the rest of the qualifications for their positions outlined in AP3.T1.

2) Does the current contract have a Contingency Operations Plan in place and exercisable?

Answer: Yes there is a contingency operations plan in the current contract.

3) The Contingency Operations Plan is due at contract start. How much time will there be between contract award and contract start?

Answer: The Contingency Operations Plan is due according to CDRL A002 Contingency Operations Plan. The anticipated contract start date is 1-Sep-17.

4) When is the anticipated contract start date?

Answer: The anticipated contract start date is 1-Sep-17.

5) Will the Government provide the existing Contingent Operations Plan at contract award in order to facilitate the delivery at contract start date?

Answer: No, The contractor shall establish and maintain a complete contingency plan to ensure continuation of services during periods of emergency, such as a national wartime mobilization in accordance with (IAW) DODI 1100.22, Policy and Procedures for Determining Workforce Mix.

6) How many hours per week does the contractor assist the COMSEC Custodian?

Answer: no more than 30 minutes

7) Please clarify “provide technical support.” What kind of support will the contractor personnel be providing to the SAFB ISO and ISSOs?

Answer: Provide advice and assistance to the Government regarding secure configuration and operation of the Assets. Will apply knowledge and experience with standard information system security concepts, practices, and procedures.

8) What level of expertise will the contractor personnel require to provide technical support to the SAFB ISO and ISSOs? Subject Matter Expert?

Answer: Thorough understanding and application of network security principles, practices and implementations. Understanding of system methodologies including but not limited to client server, web hosting, web content servers, policy servers, directory servers, firewalls, WAN, LAN, Switches, and routers. Ability to troubleshoot technical configurations.

9) Are there current systems that will to be transitioned from DCID 6/3 or DIACAP? If so, please provide UNCLASS information as to the systems and potential level of effort?

Answer: We follow the ICDs and JSIG

10) What kind of training material (monthly) is required to be provided to appointed ISSOs?

Answer: Information Assurance Training

11) Does the 50th SW use either EITDR or EMASS?

Answer: The government does not recognize the acronyms.

12) How mature are the current Configuration Management, Vulnerability Management, Patch Management, Incident Response and the security awareness & training program?

Answer: Programs have been in place for years and are always evolving.

13) Does the 50th SW use HBSS?

Answer: The government does not recognize the acronym HBSS.

14) How many of the 50SW unit locations are inspected / visited during the year? How many contractor personnel participate in each inspection/visit?

Answer: 8 local units are inspected/visited. 2 Contractor personnel participate.

15) The provided list of 50 SW GSUs is not all inclusive. Are there any potential GSU or other contractor potential locations in Hazardous locations and/or hostile fire locations?

Answer: No

16) Are any of the positions on this contract Wage Determination positions? If so, which ones?

Answer: Please refer to the revised Wage determination 2015-5417Rev5 and FAR Clause FAR Clause 52.222-42, Statement of Equivalent Rates, Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires in Final RFP for suggested positions. However, it is up to the contractor to propose acceptable labor categories to perform the required service.

17) How many past performance questionnaires will be required for this proposal?

Answer: Refer to Addendum to 52.212-1 of the SF1449.

18) Why is the Government using NAICS 561611 – Investigation Services, when the PWS does not include Investigation Services? Will the Government consider a change of the NAICS to 541611 which covers the type of work in the PWS?

Answer: Based on market research effective performance requires contractor technical expertise in SCI/SAP physical, personnel, and information assurance. 561611 Investigation Services industry comprises includes establishments of general management consultants that provide a full range of administrative, human resource, marketing, process, physical distribution, logistics, or other management consulting services to clients.

19) Please confirm that the base period is 9 months long and the option periods are a full 12 months in duration?

Answer: The period of performance is revised in final RFP.

20) CLIN 0002, 1002, 2002, 3002, 4002, and 5002. What does the quantity of 4 Each mean? (4 trips per contractor per period or 4 trips total across all staff per period or something else)

Answer: The quantity is revised in the final RFP.

21) Who is the incumbent contractor?

Answer: THMG, INC.

22) What is the contract number for the legacy contract?

Answer: FA2550-12-C-2009

23) What is the previous level of effort for the legacy contract?

Answer: Refer to paragraph 1.0 of the PWS.

24) When does the Government anticipate releasing the RFP?

Answer: The final RFP is posted on FedBizOpps.

25) What is the Government’s anticipated level of effort on this contract (labor category and associated hours per period)?

Answer: Refer to paragraph 1.0 of the PWS.

26) Section 1.0 The Contractor must possess a current TopSecret security clearance based on a Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) current within five (5) years, and must be eligible for access to SCI/SAP, and willing to submit to a random Counterintelligence Polygraph examination. Will potential new hires need to possess SCI eligibility on day one? Or, will the customer allow the vendor to request an upgrade to SCI for potential new hires that only possess a Top Secret clearance but have SCI eligibility?

Answer: Personnel need a TS and be SCI eligible at the contract start.

27) Section 1.2.9.1 The contractor shall possess TS Clearance with SCI/SAP eligibility for individuals performing Physical, Personnel, and Information security duties. Will contract personnel be read on to any SAP’s under this task where the SAP policy specifically states that periodic reinvestigations must be submitted every 5 years? If not, when evaluating potential new hire clearances via JPAS, what timeframe must the investigation close dates be within? 5, 6, 7 years? Or, when the vendor evaluates potential new hire clearances via JPAS, can we disregard the investigation close date as long as eligibility is reflected in

JPAS?

Answer: 1.2.8 SCI/Collateral Security Program: will not require SAP at this time, but needs to be SCI eligible and reflected in JPAS. The other contractors will be read into SAP.

28) Does Section 1.1.3 only refer to vendor direct-billed employees and their clearances? Is the vendor required to process clearances for DOD personnel under the vendor’s CAGE code or is the vendor managing the process as part of a DOD entity?

Answer: Not sure I understand. Personnel need a TS and be SCI eligible at the start. When it comes time for a re-investigation, the contractor processes the clearances.

29) Section 1.1.10 The contractor may experience delays entering and/or exiting the base due to exercises or increased security, base closure or late reporting due to weather conditions, etc. Exercises should be expected, at a minimum, on a quarterly basis. In the event of adverse weather events like heavy snow, what is the government’s expectation from the vendor regarding work call and opening and closing the SCIF(s)?

Answer: Contractor personnel follow the direction put out to base personnel by the Wing CC.

30) If a Government or military body is not able open/close SCIFs, does the customer authorize contractors to do so?

Answer: Residents of the SCIFs may be authorized to open/close SCIFs.

31) Section 1.1.11 Place of performance and hours of operation: The 50th Space Wing/Special Security Office (50 SW/SSO) is located at Bldg 300, Rm 270, SAFB, CO. Normal operating hours are 0730-1630, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays. Is this the only place of performance for personnel?

Answer: This is the main place of performance. There are also GSUs which are located in Appendix E of the PWS.

32) 1.2.3 50 SW SCI/SAP Physical Security Program. 1.2.4 50 SW SCI/SAP Personnel Security Program. 1.2.5 50 SW SCI Personnel Security Program. 1.2.6 50 SW Information Assurance Security Program 1.2.7 SCI/SAP Security Program. 1.2.8 SCI/Collateral Security Program. Does the government wish to have its own separate employee/point of contact (POC) for each of the programs above?

Answer: The government expects to see the task lead maintain POC for the programs as appropriate.

33) Section 1.2.5.6 Provide initial and annual training to all appointed SCI billet monitors. Will the government define how many billet monitors presently exist and what is the scope and type of training required?

Answer: Training is conducted IAW directives and guidance received from MAJCOM.

Government will not re-reimburse for vendor used materials.

34) Section 1.2.6.6 Develop and provide monthly training material to appointed ISSOs.Will the government define what training material is to be provided, who the training material belongs to and if it is vendor derived are the cost associated with the training reimbursable?

Answer: Training material belongs to the government and will be provided.

35) Section 1.2.6.10 Review and forward to the SSO and MAJCOM ISO quarterly site baseline reports.

Will the government elaborate on the what the “quarterly site baseline reports” are comprised of?

Answer: List and diagram of facilities of equipment to include classified equipment.

36) (PWS 1.0) Will the 5 year requirement for Security Clearance currency be updated to reflect DSS current 6 year standard?

Answer: Must be within 6 years and if an individual is pushing the 6 years, must have an open investigation. Government is not responsible to obtain the individuals clearance.

37) (Solicitation Pages 48 and 49, Past Performance, para II, B, (1) and B, (4) (k))) The description of past performance relevancy discusses the following: Technical complexity, size of the system supported, and criticality of system repair time (II, B, (1)) and Description of the system supported, technical complexity, overall size of the system, and the performance requirements (response time, repair time limits, etc.) and how it compares (relevancy) with the system to be supported on this contract effort. Most elements of these two statements do not seem to have any relevance to the PWS. Will the Government consider modifying the past performance relevance description to Technical complexity, size, scope, and similarity of support provided?

Answer: Refer to Volume III Past Performance Information of 52.212-2 in the Final RFP.

38) (page 49, Para II, C and Basis for Contract Award, para C.) This paragraph related to the technical proposal identified the following elements as being part of the offeror's response: "expected manning levels", "qualifications", and "management approach." These elements are not reflected in the six technical subfactors identified in the technical evaluation criteria. We want to ensure we provide a fully compliant proposal. Will the Government identify how the additional three factors fit into the expected technical response?

Answer: "expected manning levels", "qualifications", and "management approach." are part of Factor 2- Staffing Plan. Refer to Volume II of 52.212-1 in the Final RFP.

39) Pg 48 PART III – Technical Prop (3)(3)(e)) The entire proposal may also be delivered on Compact Disc (CD). Justification: We want to deliver a fully compliant proposal. Does "may" in this context mean CDs are optional? Also, is only one copy of each volume required?

Answer: Refer to paragraph I. H. and Volume I of 52.212-1 for instructions on CD requirements.

40) (Pg 48 - A PART I – Price Proposal (1)), States "The SOLICITATION constitutes the model contract.

“We want to deliver a fully compliant proposal. Is the offeror required to submit the model contract within the Price Proposal?

Answer: Refer to Volume IV Price Proposal of 52.212-1 in the Final RFP for submission requirements.

41) (Pg 48 – A PART 1 – Price Proposal (2)) States "CLINS 0002, 1002, 3002, 4002, & 5002 have NTE amounts, do not propose an amount on these CLINS." Justification: We want to deliver a fully compliant proposal. Will the Government be providing plug NTE amount within the Final RFP?

Answer: The Government has provided these amounts in the Final RFP.

42) Will cover pages for each volume be allowed and excluded from page counts?

Answer: The cover page is included.

43) Section 1.5.2: Will identified travel be for a single individual or will all staff need to travel for formal training each year?

Answer: This typically only affects the 50 SW IA person.

44) Section 1.5.3: What is the anticipated duration of these trips and will the Government assume responsibility of contract tasks while contractor staff is travelling?

Answer: Duration is usually a week and Government picks up the tasks.

43) Section 2, 2nd performance objective: How many facility residents will require annual training and will existing training materials transition from the incumbent contractor to the new contractor?

Answer: Training is sent out to all facilities and the Security Manager of the facility conducts.

For face to face training the # is approximately 200. Existing training materials will transition from the incumbent contractor to the new contractor for it is specifically driven by the government.

44) Section 2, 6nd performance objective: How many indoctrination requests are processed each month?

Answer: Varies - anywhere from 20 to 40 per month

45) Section 3: How many office spaces are available for contractor staff at Schriever AFB?

Answer: (3) SSO office, 1 SOPs, 4 SOPS

46) Can the Government identify workload data and/or historical staffing hours?

Answer: Standard working hours are M-F 0730-1630

47) Attachment 3 – DD Form 254 Does the offeror need to provide cognizant security office information within their proposal? If so, where should that data be included in the parts of the proposal?

Answer: Fill in information in blocks 6a, 6b, and 6c on the DD254 inclusive in Volume I- General.

48) Attachment 7 – SF 1449/Model Contract-Since there is no phase-in/transition period for this contract, does the Government want the proposed Quality Program Plan (QPP) included in the proposal?

Answer: Yes

49) Since there is no phase-in/transition period for this contract, does the Government want the proposed Contingency Operations Plan (COP) included in the proposal?

Answer: The Contingency Operations Plan is due according to CDRL A002 Contingency Operations Plan.

50) Can the Government identify the monthly or annual budget allocated for this contract?

Answer: No

51) Will the Government identify the plug numbers (unit price/net amount) to be used for the pricing proposal or can you confirm that those are not to be proposed?

Answer: The NTE amounts for travel have been provided in the Final RFP.

52) Has the Government previously determined that this contractor support is applicable to the Service Contract Labor Standards?

Answer: Yes, the current contract contractor support is applicable to the Service Contract Labor Standards.

53) Please clarify the duration of the CLINs 5001/5002 and if those will remain 6 months (ending 11/30/2022) or be extended to end on 11/30/2023.

Answer: 6 months (ending 11/30/2022)

54) Does the Government have a bidder’s library established or do request for additional documentation need to be generated by the offeror?

Answer: No bidder's library. Offeror must generate documentation.

55) To ensure compliance with necessary fill-ins and certifications, do you want all the contract clauses included in the Pricing Proposal or only those fill-ins that are not reflected in System for Award Management (SAM) registration?

Answer: All the Contract clauses

56) In addition to the hourly rate and the fully burdened rate for each labor category, do we need to also include the labor hours proposed for each CLIN?

Answer: Refer to the Final RFP Volume IV- Price Proposal.

57) When citing key personnel as past performance citations, does the offeror need to submit a Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ)? If so, what type of people/role will be acceptable for the completion of the PPQ?

Answer: Refer to Specific Proposal Instructions, Volume III Past Performance Information in Addendum to 52.212-1 General Instructions to offerors in the Final RFP.

58) Please confirm is past performance citations are limited to 5 for the entire team or if you are allowing 5 for the prime offeror and 5 for each teammate/joint venture partner?

Answer: Refer to Specific Proposal Instructions, Volume III Past Performance Information in Addendum to 52.212-1 General Instructions to offerors in the Final RFP.

59) A staffing plan and relevancy matrix is identified in relevancy for past performance, but the instruction do not identify where this plan/matrix should appear in the offeror’s proposal. Please clarify if a staffing plan and/or relevancy matrix is needed in offeror’s proposal.

Answer: Refer to Volume II-Technical Capability of Addendum to 52.212-1 General Instructions to offerors in the Final RFP for staffing Plan requirements. A relevancy matrix is NOT a requirement.

60) What is the page limitation for Part III – Technical Proposal? Also, can you confirm that there are no page limitations for Part I – Pricing Proposal?

Answer: Refer to Paragraph H of Addendum to 52.212-1 General Instructions to offerors in the Final RFP for page limitations.

61) Does the technical proposal need to address the entire PWS or only those section identified in the subfactors?

Answer: Refer to the Final RFP Volume II- Technical Capability.

62) The RFP does NOT state the estimated number of FTE’s (full-time Equivalents); nor does it provide a historical workload data – Please provide both.

Answer: Refer to the Final RFP Volume II- Technical Capability. FTEs are the offeror’s understanding of the requirement in their technical capability approach.

63) Page 48 of 53, (3) Part III-Technical: Instructions do not state a proposal page maximum. Please clarify what is the proposal page number maximum for Part III-Technical.

Answer: Refer to Paragraph H of Addendum to 52.212-1 General Instructions to offerors in the Final RFP for page limitations.

64) Section 4.5 of the PWS Appendix E lists the 50 GSU locations. However, it does not state the number of FTE’s required at each location if any. Please clarify and provide? The number of FTE's in support of the GSUs is up to the Contractor to propose?

Answer: Refer to the Final RFP Volume II- Technical Capability. FTEs are the offeror’s understanding of the requirement in their technical capability approach.

65) Can you please provide the Historical Work Data?

Answer: Refer to the Final RFP Volume II- Technical Capability. FTEs are the offeror’s understanding of the requirement in their technical capability approach.

66) Attachment 2 – WD 2015-5417 (Rev4) 30DEC2016 – is out of date as the current WD is 2015-5417 Rev. 5 dated 13JUN2017. However, the RFP/PWS does not provide the labor categories for which the SCA is applicable? Please clarify.

Answer: Updated WD to 2015-5417 Rev. 5 in the Final RFP.

67) Pg. 42 of 53 - FAR Clause 52.222-42, Statement of Equivalent Rates STATEMENT OF EQUIVALENT RATES FOR FEDERAL HIRES (MAY 2014) is provided. Please clarify, are the Employee Class designations provided the correct labor categories for support under this RFP?

Answer: FAR Clause 52.222-42, Statement of Equivalent Rates has been updated in the Final

RFP.

68) You also state a Monetary Wage- Fringe Benefits range for a GS-15 Equivalent - $103,672-$134,776, which in accordance with the aforementioned clause and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) states the salary is $120,249. The rates you stipulate are not in compliance with Service Contract Labor Standards under 29 CFR, Part 4. Please clarify?

Answer: Wage Determination and FAR Clause 52.222-42, Statement of Equivalent Rates have been updated in the Final RFP.

69) The RFP does not stipulate who the Government considers “Key Personnel, in compliance with Section 1.1.13 - Contingency Operations Plan. Please clarify, who is considered “Key Personnel, as it relates to the Section 1.1.13 - Contingency Operations Plan.

Answer: PWS paragraph 1.1.13 does not reference "Key Personnel".