FA4890-17-R-0001_Questions_from_Industry_-_1_Jun_17.pdf

FA4890-17-R-0001 RFP Questions

Industry Questions And Responses Primary Training Ranges (PTR) Solicitation FA4890-17-R-0001

Posted: 1 Jun 2017

1. With the number of mini-mutes at each of these locations, how many of the mini-mutes will be operational at any one time or should we anticipate that all mini-mute locations will be staffed for every event?

Government Response: The Mini-MUTES is a remotely operated system using the Mission Control Group (MCG) that is located at the main site location.

2 PPI TOOL: When completing the PPI, and the PPI is being submitted as a sub, do the sections requesting information on utilization of small business and whether a subcontracting plan were required under the contract being referenced need to be completed?

Government Response: Complete all applicable sections.

3. RFP, Section L-10.1.1 Past Performance Summary, on page 99, the sentence is incomplete. The sentence reads, ”Describe the roles of the references submitted for the Offeror, subcontractors, teaming partners, and/or joint venture partners in relation to proposed past performance information IAW paragraph” …………….IAW what paragraph?

Government Response: The sentence is complete as written, however a return has brought the rest of the sentence to the next line. Its reads… “Describe the roles of the references submitted for the Offeror, subcontractors, teaming partners, and/or joint venture partners in relation to proposed past performance information IAW paragraph L-10.1.2. Identify the scope summary of the contract submitted as it relates to the Primary Training Range (PTR) scope.”

4. Reference: Section M-2.1.1.1.a and Section L-9.4.1.1.a. Section M-2.1.1.1.a Subfactor A: Program Management, Aspect I- Management and Integration has in subparagraph M-2.1.1.1.a the evaluation criteria of “and demonstrates complete technical understanding of the requirement.” This does not appear to have a corresponding Section L-9.4.1.1.a requirement to discuss our technical understanding of the requirements.

Question: Where should the discussion of the technical understanding of the requirements be placed in the various Technical Volume Section L Subfactors and Aspects that is being evaluated by M-2.1.1.1.a?

Government Response: The Government will utilize the information provided in response to paragraph L-9.4.1.1.a to evaluate an offerors technical understanding of the requirement for this aspect.

5. Reference: Section M-2.1.1.1.a Subfactor A: Program Management, Aspect I- Management and Section L-9.1. Section M-2.1.1.1.a Subfactor A: Program Management, Aspect I- Management and integration has in subparagraph M-2.1.1.1.a the evaluation criteria of “and demonstrates complete technical understanding of the requirement.” Additional Section L-9.1 says “Technical Volume shall be specific, detailed, and complete to clearly and fully demonstrate the Offeror has a thorough understanding of the SOW requirements.” It is unclear to what level of detail the Government is looking for so that bidders meet the criteria of M-2.1.1.1.a “demonstrates complete technical understanding of the requirement.”

Question: Please clarify what level of detail the Government is looking for to thoroughly demonstrate an understanding of the SOW.

Government Response: The Government cannot predetermine the level of detail for each offeror, as their understanding of the SOW will vary. The Government requires each offeror to provide the level of detail that supports its Program Management approach.

6. Reference: Technical Exhibit #2, Avon Park Section, Equipment to be Operated/Maintained, Page

114. This TE shows Avon Park has two (2) WISS set ups but it is unclear if they are operated concurrently and how long they are operated concurrently as this impacts staffing.

Question: Are the two Avon Park WISS sets operated concurrently and, if so, how many hours per day are they operated concurrently?

Government Response: The WISS systems may be operated concurrently at any time during the range hours of operations. Currently it is estimated that this occurs for less than 40% of an operational week, but specific times fluctuate due to various factors. The requirement to operate concurrently is generally known in advance with the publication of the weekly schedule, but may change due to weather, aircraft maintenance, etc.

7. Reference: Technical Exhibit #2, Holloman Ranges Section, Equipment to be Operated/ Maintained, Page 143. This TE shows that the Holloman Ranges have three (3) WISS set ups but it is unclear if they are operated concurrently and how long they are operated concurrently as this impacts staffing.

Question: Are the three Holloman Ranges’ WISS sets operated concurrently and, if so, how many hours per day are they operated concurrently?

Government Response: The WISS systems may be operated concurrently at any time during the range hours of operations. Currently it is estimated that this occurs for less than 40% of an operational week, but specific times fluctuate due to various factors. The requirement to operate concurrently is generally known in advance with the publication of the weekly schedule, but may change due to weather, aircraft

8. Reference: Technical Exhibit #2, Mountain Ranges Section, Equipment to be Operated/ Maintained, Page 155. This TE shows that the Mountain Home Ranges have two (2) WISS set ups but it is unclear if they are operated concurrently and how long they are operated concurrently as this impacts staffing.

Question: Are the two Mountain Home Ranges’ WISS sets operated concurrently and, if so, how many hours per day are they operated concurrently?

Government Response: The WISS systems may be operated concurrently at any time during the range hours of operations. Currently it is estimated that this occurs for less than 40% of an operational week, but specific times fluctuate due to various factors. The requirement to operate concurrently is generally known in advance with the publication of the weekly schedule, but may change due to weather, aircraft

9. Reference: Technical Exhibit #2, Poinsett EW Section, Equipment to be Operated/Maintained, Page

167. It is unclear from TE #2 Poinsett EW Section if Smokey SAMs are operated in conjunction with the AN/VPQ-1 stationed at Bulldog as it says they are together at Poinsett.

Question: Are Smokey SAMs operated out of the Bulldog remote EW site at Fort Gordon?

Government Response: No, Smokey SAMs can only be used at Poinsett Range within the government owned lands.

10. Reference: SOW 1.9 and SOW 1.9.3.4. SOW 1.9 states key personnel include “Site Manager, Alternate Site Manager, and Chief RCO” yet SOW 1.9.3 4 lists key personnel as “Program Manager, Quality Control Manager, Site Managers, and Chief RCOs (at each site)”

Question: Please clarify what positions are considered key personnel.

Government Response: Personnel identified in SOW paragraph 1.9 are local key personnel and their contact information is to be provided to the CO and COR. Key personnel requiring minimum qualifications are identified in SOW paragraph 1.9.3.4. Section L, 9.4.1.1.d has been amended for clarification.

11. Reference: SOW 1.14.1 thru 1.14.1.6

Question: Is there any current Government equipment on-hand that does not have the UII as required by SOW 1.14.1 or sub-paragraphs that the contractor will have to mark and register or is that requirement only for new equipment acquired during the upcoming contract?

Government Response: The UII has been implemented during the current contract, however it has not been fully implemented. The contractor should assume that all equipment that meets the UII requirements will require marking and registration.

12. Reference: SOW 5.14 TODO Training. While the SOW 5.14 title is TODO Training the text talks about TMDE monitor training which is confusing.

Question: Is, in fact, TODO training going to be provided or will it be TMDE Monitor training that is being provided as per SOW 5.14 text?

Government Response: The paragraph title TODO is correct. The text below the paragraph title has been corrected to reflect TODO.

13. Reference: Section L-5.1 states “the original and copies shall be date stamped or postmarked on or before the date/time specified in paragraph L-7 using a common carrier…..”

Question: Is it safe to assume that proposal will be accepted as long as it is stamped or postmarked (versus delivered) by June 5 for Past Performance and June 12 for Technical and Price volumes?

Government Response: No, Section L-5.1 has been amended to read, “L-5.1 Offerors are responsible for ensuring proposals reach the Government office listed Block 7 of the SF 33 by the time specified in solicitation paragraph L-7.4.1. Late proposals will be handled in accordance with FAR Clause 52.215-1. Please mark all packages as follows:”

14. Reference: PPI, Section L Attachment #1, Figure #7, RFP page 106 and PPI Character Limit Document file. Figure 7 shows the sample Business Relationship page and there is a block called “*Place of Work”. The asterisk denotes it is a mandatory block that must be filled out. This is to show where that company will be performing work on the contract being bid. The PPI Character Limit document shows this mandatory field is limited to 50 characters. If a company is going to be working at all or a majority of PTR CONUS and the OCONUS sites it may be impossible to describe in 50 characters.

Question: Please provide instructions on how to complete this block if a company will be working at multiple sites.

Government Response: Offerors may us the following abbreviations in the Place of Work section of the PPI if character space is an issue…

AP Avon Park Range GB Grand Bay Range BF Belle Fourche EWS DC Dare County Range HR Holloman Ranges (Oscura, Red Rio, Centennial) PT Poinsett EWR & Bulldog MOA MH Mountain Home Ranges (Saylor Creek, Juniper Butte, No Drop Complexes) SN Snyder EWS GU Guam EWS

15. Reference: PPI, Section L-9.4.3. Subfactor C: Facility Clearance (DD254). RFP states “offeror shall provide information from DD Form 254, items 6a through 6c for offeror and 7a through 7c for each subcontractor, with proposal submission.”

Question: To include a DD254 for Prime and each subcontractor will affect our already limited page count; we ask that you please exempt this section from the page count.

Government Response: Section L-9.4.3. Subfactor C: Facility Clearance (DD254) of the RFP states “offeror shall provide information FROM DD Form 254, items 6a through 6c for offeror and 7a through 7c for each subcontractor, with proposal submission”. The Government does not require actual DD Form 254’s.

16. Reference: PPI Character Limit Document file. There are three areas that require detailed narrative on our cited contracts: Performance Explanation, Brief Description of Effort and Factor/Subfactor Experience.

Question: Please clarify what you are looking for in the “Performance Explanation” field.

Government Response: The question was forwarded to the EZ Source Help Desk and they stated that there is no field named "Performance Explanation" in the PPI Tool. The actual field in the PPI tool is labeled "Explain the differences in Period of Performance, if applicable:" and that field is only used if there's a difference in the period of performance dates. So the field name explains the use and what needs to go in the field. They simply shortened the name on the PPI Character limitation document.

17. Reference: PPI Character Limit Document file. We have been involved with some on-line submitted proposal documents that have character limits and some of those limits included spaces, others are just the characters and punctuation only. The PPI Character Limit Document file did not specify.

Question: Please define what is included in the PPI Character Limit Document file.

Government Response: Character limit includes characters, spaces, etc.

18. Reference: SOW 2.9 Situational Awareness Systems (SAS) Display and TE-2. In reviewing TE-2 equipment we could find the SAS only at Dare County and Poinsett sites and the SAS is not listed at any of the other sites. SOW 2.9 seemed to infer the contractor would operate and maintain the SAS at all sites.

Question: Are SAS displays only located at Dare County and Poinsett sites or are they at other ranges/sites also? If so, which additional ranges?

Government Response: The SOW paragraph 2.9 describes the SAS system. TE-2 identifies equipment locations.

19. Reference solicitation section L-5.3.1, 5.3.2: Please clarify which volume, or volumes, to place the contact information of the authorized signer and authorized negotiator.

Government Response: The information requested in section L-5.3 can be placed in Volume III, Price.

20. Reference solicitation section L-7.4.1: Please clarify whether only the PPI system submission has a closing date of 5 June, or whether the entire submission of Volume II—Past Performance is due on that date.

Government Response: L-7.4.1 has been updated to reflect the date for all proposal information is 12 June 2017.

21. Question: What is the current utilization rate on the B&G ranges?

23. Question: The government lists a total of 10 Mini-Mutes at Belle Fourche and 7 inactive. Does that mean there is a total of 17 MM at Belle Fourche or does it mean that of the 10 listed only 3 active?

Technical Exhibit 2 – Workload Data – Belle Fourche An/MST – T1(V) 10 each - 1 each at MM-01, MM-02, MM-03, MM-04, MM-05, MM-06, MM-07, MM-08, MM-10, MM-11, MM-12

(7 inactive emitters on main site, they require corrosion control) MCG 3 Each Main site

Government Response: There are 17 total, 7 of which are inactive and require corrosion control.

24. Technical Exhibit 2 - Workload Estimate, The workload history shows duration time for all sites except two.

Government Response: The SOW was updated to provide estimated times.

25. Question: Can the Government provide the duration times for Poinsett B&G and Grand Bay Range?

Government Response: The SOW was updated to provide estimated times.

26. Question: Will employees have access to the internet from the operating locations in order to discuss program issues or other company business that is not related to PTR?

Government Response: Government provided internet access is for performance of contract requirements only. The contractor is responsible for internet access to perform company business.

27. Question: Is there cellular service available at each of the locations?

Government Response: There is cellular service available at all locations, however due to the remote location of some of the sites the reception may drop out.

28. Question: Can the government to clarify what “services” means in paragraph 5.19. In the EWS section, requires the contractor to operate and maintain the weather station…..under General Services it states that the government will provide meteorological equipment and services for the contractor to perform the requirements.

4.1.4 WEATHER STATION OPERATION

The contractor shall operate and maintain the weather station. Weather data shall be relayed to agencies requiring the information on an as requested or as necessary basis. During periods of extreme weather conditions, the contractor shall closely monitor the weather station to ensure that radar equipment Technical Order operational limitations are not exceeded.

5.19 METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE

The Government will provide necessary meteorological equipment/services for the contractor to perform the requirements of the contract.

Government Response: Both paragraphs apply. 4.14 is a need beyond the basic of 5.19 and is only for data needed for the EW equipment where the local barometric pressure is needed for equipment operation. SOW language was clarified.