PTT DSS III - QA - Amendment 3.pdf

Pilot Training Transformation Device Support Services III (PTT DSS III)

Solicitation # FA300225R0010

Q&A

Question

Reference Question Answer

N/A

FAR 52.222-41 says, “…Contracting Officer did not attach a Service Contract Labor Standards wage determination to the solicitation, the offeror shall notify the Contracting Officer as soon as possible;

“ Will the Government please provide the SCA WD attachment or the WD reference number?

See WD attached for the following locations:

Atch 8-JBSA Randolph – WD # 2015-5253 Atch 9-Columbus AFB – WD # 2015-5157 Atch 10-Vance AFB – WD # 2015-5857 Atch 11-Laughlin AFB – WD # 2015-5303

N/A

Is there any incumbent/recompete or this is a brand-new project? If yes, could you please provide us with their award number or even if the customer bought similar services in the past.

Yes, Vertex Solutions LLC; Contract Number -FA300223C0004

N/A

Does the Government intend to classify portions or the entirety of the technical work performed under this contract as subject to SCLS?

No.

N/A

Is the Government willing to provide the applicable SCLS Labor Categories (LCATs) to assist Offerors with mapping appropriately?

Please refer to Attachment 1 – PWS, Section 4.0 and Attachment 6 – Price

Proposal Spreadsheet for the required LCATs

N/A

Lastly, the corresponding Wage Determinations by location need to be provided to Offerors to ensure appropriate pricing for the SCLS-covered, non-exempt roles.

See response to question 1, Atch 8-11 WD provided for each location.

Atch 1 PWS, Can the Government clarify whether the ITD Common Interface is expected to be developed from scratch or leverage existing codebases?

The ITD is developed and fielded. The common interface leverages existing codebases.

Atch 1 PWS, 5.1

Is there a historical average for hardware failures or repair incidents to help forecast sustainment workload?

Yes. The incumbent contractor provides Monthly Status Reports for all repair incidents.

Atch 1 PWS, Since airfares are a very volatile item, what the USG's definition of "the lowest customary standard, coach or equivalent airfare," when providing travel estimates?

Travel shall be conducted IAW Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 31.205-46 and Federal Travel Regulations.

Atch 1 PWS, What is the USG's definition of "outside the Contractor's local area." when determining travel authorizations?

Travel shall be conducted IAW Federal Travel Regulations, using a 50 mile radius to determine if travel is considered within the local commuting area.

Atch 1 PWS, The phrase "If deemed necessary…" is included in this PWS paragraph in reference to GFE. What GFE items has the USAF deemed necessary as GFE for execution of the PTT DSS III program?

If deemed necessary by the Government, Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), AF email accounts, and CACs shall be issued as part of onboarding.

Atch 1 PWS, 6.4

Regarding accomplishment of ACAs, who are the current primary OEMs for the PTT devices and who are their key suppliers (example: visual database providers)

Ryan Aerospace, Bugeye Technologies, Brunner Simulation, and Prepar3D

12 Atch 2 Instructions,

3.5 &4.3

Please confirm what items are considered in the 7 page limitation for Past Performance. Please see paragraph 4.3.2 – Past

Performance Summary Sheet

Atch 2

Instructions, 4.3.5

What constitutes a “major or critical aspect” of the requirement for the purposes of identifying which subcontractors must submit consent letters?

Please see Atch 2-Amendment 2, Section 4.3.5; a major or critical aspect of the requirement not performed by the Prime Offeror.

Atch 2

Instructions, The Volume Information states: " Offeror’s proposal shall consist of five (5) separate volumes:" however only 4 Volumes are listed.

Please identify what the 5th volume is.

There is no 5th volume, this will be corrected with an Amendment

Atch 2 Instructions, 3.1

Instructions for the section indicate how offerors are to name each file " The file name shall be

“Company Name – FA300225R0010 - Initial” (i.e.

Bravo, Inc. – FA300225R0010 - Initial) for the first submission." however the instructions do not provide information on where to put the Volume number or how to identify the Redacted versions.

Can the government please provide detailed instructions for the Offerors on the file naming convention?

Redacted: Company Name – FA300225R0010 – Initial_redacted

Atch 2

Instructions, 2.1

Please clarify what information is required in Volume 1 General Information for item 6. Does the government expect offerors to provide a redacted version of Volume II only or all Volumes?

See Atch 2-Amendment 2; Table 1- Number & Type of Copies Required, indicates which volumes need to have a redacted copy

Atch 2

Instructions, 2.1

For Volume 1, are offerors supposed to include a copy of their Reps and Certs with Volume 1. If yes, please clarify that these will not count toward the

2 page limit for the Volume.

See Atch 2-Amendment 2; Please see Paragraph 2.1 – General Volume I which indicates what should be included within the volume

Atch 3

Evaluation, SF 2

Could the Government confirm how they will weigh the approach to maintaining multiple geographically dispersed training sites in the

Technical Objective evaluation?

See Atch 3-Amendment 2, Section 3.1.2.

Atch 4

Provisions

Are offerors expected to provide Attachment 4 completed with their offer and if so, where are they to include this information, and/or how are offerors to name the file?

Only applicable fill in required.

Atch 6 –

Price Spreadsheet

Possible Formula problems; the Annual Price column only accounts for the FTE and Unit Price data (=E10*G10). To properly account for Offeror pricing it should be updated to include the Total

Hours data (=E10*F10*G10)

See revised Atch 6 Amendment 2. A corrected Price Proposal Spreadsheet is uploaded with Amendment 2. Total Hrs should be the total number

Atch 6 –

Price Spreadsheet

The formula for the TEP does not include the CLINs 0015-0019 in the bottom-line calculation.

Can the USG confirm the existing formula is incorrect and should include these CLINs in the calculation?

See response to question 20, Revised Atch 6 Amendment 2.

22 Atch 6 – Price

Spreadsheet

For CLINs 0020 and 0021, how will these items be funded and paid out (FFP or CRNF) to the awardee during program execution?

IAW Paragraph 2 of the Combined Synopsis/Solicitation, the government intends to award a firm fixed price (FFP) contract.

Atch 6 –

Price Spreadsheet

Not all positions on the Pricing Matrix are SCLS-covered positions. Regarding these positions, how are offerors to present pricing for the four (4) options periods noted in the solicitation?

The PoP is for 1 year. There are no option periods and the solicitation will be amended accordingly

24 Atch 6 – Price

Spreadsheet

Do all PTT DSS III positions presented in the pricing matrix have to be physically located at the sites posted in column C (Location) of the file?

Yes.

NA

Does the Government anticipate that offerors submit a Quality Control Plan, Program

Management Plan (PMP), including a Transition Plan or Cybersecurity Plan with their offerors?

If so, where should offerors include these documents in their offer?

How should the offeror name these files?

Yes. See PWS 26.0, PWS 6.3, PWS 4.1 and PWS 4.3. Name the file ‘Quality

Control Plan’, ‘Program Management Plan’, ‘Transition Plan’, ‘Cybersecurity Plan’; Include in Volume II - Technical

NA

What software licenses are required to be maintained and paid for by PTT DSS III offerors?

None

Quality Control Plan

(QCP), PWS

26.0, There seems to be a disconnect regarding the QCP submission. The PWS say a draft QCP is due

10 days after award, the Evaluation documents says the QCP is part of the subfactor 1 evaluation criteria and the Instructions do not mention the QCP anywhere as part of the proposal submission. What are the requirements for the QCP and proposal submission?

Atch 1-PWS Amendment 2 has been updated to match Atch 3 – Evaluation

Criteria Amendment 2

28 Solicitation (Combined Synopsis), 5

What CLINS are FFP on the solicitation?

All CLINS are FFP

29 Solicitation (Combined Synopsis), 5

To ensure all offerors utilize the same pricing baseline, will the USG add the current DOL, SCLS

WD's to the solicitation documents?

See response to question 1

Solicitation (Combined Synopsis), 7

Can the USG confirm the Period of Performance on this solicitation is only a single year? Att 3-

Evaluation Criteria (Para. 3.3.2) notes the TEP will include "the Base Period and all four options periods."

The PoP is a single year. Attachment 3, Paragraph 3.3.2 will be corrected in

Amendment 2

Solicitation (Combined Synopsis), Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at FAR 52.212-3, Offeror

Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services, with its offer.

Where are offerors to put this information and how should they name the file?

Include with Volume I, IAW Atch 2 Para 2.1; Company Name – FA300225R0010 –

Reps-Certs

32 Solicitation (Combined Synopsis), Offerors are required to complete fill-ins for this Provision. Where are offerors to put this information and how should they name the file?

Include with Volume I, IAW Atch 2 Para 2.1; Company Name – FA300225R0010 –

52.204-24

Friday, May 23, 2025

33 PWS, P 7

What are specific certifications, education requirements, along with any years of experience requirements for personnel?

Please refer to section 4.3 of the PWS for requirements for the Cybersecurity position. Additional requirements were added to Atch 1-PWS Amendment 2

34 Atch 2 – P 3

Re: 3.4.3: Could the Government please allow Offerors to cross-reference different sections in the same document and/or volume if those sections include a duplication of requirements?

Please refer to Attachment 2 Amendment 2, Paragraph 3.4.3

35 Atch 3 – P 7 The evaluation criteria table within 3.2.5 notes that the “Offeror’s available past performance evaluations (PPSS and/or CPARs) were rated

Please see revised Atch 3, Amendment 2, removed, the following under 3.2.5

“The Government will use the

Satisfactory [not Satisfactory] or above in all areas.”

There is nowhere for self-rating on the PPSS.

Would the government please update the form to include a field for self-rating to meet this requirement?

performance quality ratings and description as outlined below”. Also, removed the Performance Quality Assessment table.

36 Atch 2 – P 3

ITO states “The file name shall be “Company Name – FA300225R0010 - Initial” (i.e. Bravo, Inc. – FA300225R0010 - Initial) for the first submission.”

How would the government like for offerors to differentiate the file names for each individual volume?

IAW attachment 2, Section C, there should only be 1 proposal submitted.

Within that proposal there are 4 volumes. Volumes should be differentiated by their volume number, i.e. Volume I, Volume II etc

37 Atch 2 – P 4 Does “original” mean Word version for all of the Volumes (General, Technical, PP, Price?) Yes

38 Atch 2 – P 2

Volume information states “Offeror’s proposal shall consist of five (5) separate volumes” – only 4 are listed throughout. Please confirm number of volumes required.

Please see response to question 14

39 Atch 2 – P 2 Are the instructions included in section 2.1 for each volume or just the General volume? Section 2.1 applies to General Volume I

40 Atch 2 – P 5 Is amendment acknowledgement and inclusion part of the page count for the General Volume? Yes, see Attach 2, Section 2.1, #10

41 Atch 3 – P 5 Confirming that we do not submit CPARS if we are submitting a PPSS? Correct

42 Atch 5 Can we provide the same past performance content in a different format than provided in Attachment 5?

No, please use the attachment provided with the solicitation

43 Atch 5 Please confirm that we do not need to send these to the government for scoring. Correct

44 N/A Where should we provide reps and certs? See response to question 31 45 N/A What is the validity date? How long the quote is valid

46 N/A

Respectfully requesting a page count increase for the Past Performance volume; with the current formatting/template restrictions we only have approximately ½ a page to capture inputs for sections J & K.

Page limit will not be increased, per attachment 5 the Government is requesting a brief description. The limit is 7 pages which allows for 1 additional page for additional information to be captured

47 N/A

Respectfully requesting a page count increase for the Technical volume; given the complexity of each subfactor and inclusion of required PWS elements, 7 pages is not adequate to capture all information and be in compliance.

Page limit has been increased to 10 pages for the Technical Volume (see atch

2, Table 1)

48 N/A Does the Government intend to classify portions or the entirety of the technical work performed under this contract as subject to SCLS?

See response to question 3

49 N/A

If so, is the Government willing to provide the applicable SCLS Labor Categories (LCATs) to assist Offerors with mapping appropriately?

Lastly, the corresponding Wage Determinations by location need to be provided to Offerors to ensure appropriate pricing for the SCLS-covered, non-exempt roles.

See response to question 1

4 June 2025

50 Atch 2, Page

Attachment 2 references the Option to Extend Services and mentions an option period beyond the base year may be necessary.

Section 3.3.2 states - The sum of the extended total amounts for all FFP CLINs for the Base Period and all four (4) option periods will equal the TEP.

Can the Government please clarify the Period of Performance for this contract?

PoP: 22 June 2025 – 21 June 2026 (12 months)

*see response to question 30

PWS Pg 14 Para 29.0

“The work being performed under this contract shall be Controlled Unclassified Information

(CUI).”

Are all contract communications (internal/external), such as email, documentation, messages, demonstrations, etc.

required to be marked as CUI?

Correct

PWS Pg 2 Para 4.1

This section lists numbers of “ITDs” at each base, but “ITDs” is not defined in the scope of work or any place else in the PWS. Should the “ITD” listed actually be cITD or is a generic term encompassing some combination of cITDs and eITDs?

1. If “ITD” is used as a generic term that includes both cITD and eITDs, will the government provide the number of cITDs and eITDs at each location?

Will the mix of cITDs and eITDs change over the course of the contract?

2. If eITDs are included in the generic “ITD” term, how does the government foresee the 5 cITDs serving as adequate spares to sustain the eITDs to meet the operational availability requirements?

It is a generic term.

1. Yes, there will a total of 30 ITDs. eITDs are currently being fielded and will replace current common ITDs to maintain a mix of 21 cITD’s and 9 eITDs

(after delivery) at the UPT locations (Vance, Columbus, Laughlin) with 18 cITDs and 4 eITDs at Randolph, while all other locations are just cITD.

2. No. The 5 cITDs spares are to maintain the cITDs only. The eITDs will be under warranty during this PoP

PWS Page 4 Para 5.1

PTT devices comprise, but are not limited to, the following hardware components and materials”.

1. How does the list that follows differ between the cITDs and the eITDs? Are the hardware components and level of maintenance support standardized for all ITD devices maintained under the DSS III contract? If not, what are the significant differences?

2. Will the government provide a detailed mechanical, electrical, and software description of the cITD and eITD to allow the contractor to assess the implied requirements of meeting the operational availability requirement and the

A1. All cITDs are common across the inventory and all eITDs are respectively common across their inventory

A2. The government will provide a mechanical, electrical and software description of the cITD and eITD capabilities of personnel to maintain each type of

ITD?

PWS Pg 7 Para 7.0

1. It does not appear the government has specified any skill level or certification qualifications required to sustain cITDs and eITDs.

Furthermore, there are no specific details as the mechanical, electrical or software specifications of the ITDs. PWS Paragraph 7.0 appears to imply that it is up the contractor to determine the labor category, the skills and certifications associated with that labor category, along with the Wage Determination rate for that labor category. What level of DoD IAT will be required for supporting this contract?

2. Based on the information provided it is difficult to determine if the ITDs require basic IT skills, or full simulator technician skills. How will the government evaluate the adequacy of the proposed technician skills and certifications to perform the required tasks?

Please refer to section 4.3 of the PWS for requirements for the Cybersecurity position.

Additional requirements were added to Atch 1-PWS Amendment 2.

PWS Pg. 9 Para 12.0

Requires the contractor to furnish all materials and equipment needed in the performance of the requirement. Will there be a dedicated DSS III CLIN to support lifecycle management or spare part replacements to maintain operational readiness requirements?

Yes.

PWS Pg 11 Para 17.0

1. PO-1 Will the government provide the list of software that could require patches?

2. PO-2 and PO-4, Will the government provide at least a top-level bill of materials to inform the equipment and personnel skill levels required to perform these tasks?

1. The majority of patches are handled automatically under the management system. Any other patches required can be performed by a basic admin.

2. Please refer to section 5.1 and Atch 1-PWS Amendment 2.

PWS Pg 2 Para 4.1

1. Do we need to add SAVRs to this list? As of right now, there are 15 in use for FBF at Columbus AFB for syllabus training.

No.

PWS Pg 4, Section 5.1

This PWS section states “PTT devices comprise, but are not limited to, the following hardware components and materials:

• Desktop and laptop computers;

• Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) and all associated peripherals;

• Tablets;

• Monitors;

• Robust flight chairs;

• Hands-on throttle and stick (HOTAS)”

Can the Government please specify which Tablets are being supported?

iPad Mini (Electronic Flight Bag) will only be supported under DSS while connected (physically and/or virtually) to the ITD

Amendment

Is it the Government's intention to add four plans to the Technical Volume without increasing the page count?

See updated response to question 47