Sources_Sought_Notice_7Jul17.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

HEADQUARTERS AIR COMBAT COMMAND

JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS VA

Agile Combat Power

7 Jul 2017

MEMORANDUM FOR POTENTIAL OFFERORS

FROM: ACC AMIC/PKB

SUBJECT: Solicitation FA4890-18-R-0001 MQ-9 Contract Aircrew Training (CAT) and

Courseware Development (CWD, Market Research Questionnaire

1. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE FOR INFORMATION AND PLANNING

PURPOSES ONLY. This announcement closes 4:00 p.m. EDT on 28 Jul 17. The Government is seeking industry input from all sources (small and large business) at this time. Small Business concerns are highly encouraged to respond to this request in order for the Government to determine if this acquisition should remain full and open competition or set aside for small businesses under the auspices of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19. The applicable North American

Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 611512 (Flight Training) with a size standard of $27.5M. Interested parties must be registered under NAICS 611512 in System for

Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov, formerly known as Central Contractor Registration

(CCR). The Government is also seeking Industry input to determine whether or not this requirement should be procured as a Commercial Service versus a Non-Commercial service.

Request all potential offerors complete Attachment 2 and return with their response(s). The information acquired will be used to determine whether the requirement should remain a

Commercial acquisition. The Government plans to consider all information submitted in response to this Sources Sought notice.

a. The United States Air Force, Air Combat Command, Acquisition Management and

Integration Center (ACC AMIC), Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA, is in the process of determining the acquisition strategy to obtain non-personal services for the follow-on MQ-

9 Contract Aircrew Training (CAT) and Courseware Development (CWD) contract to include Instrument Refresher Course (IRC) for personnel in support of operations, as required, at Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), NM; Creech AFB, NV; March Air Reserve

Base (ARB), CA; and Hancock Air National Guard Base (ANGB), NY. Additional

CONUS locations may be required to support Continuation Training (CT) in the future which may include Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) training capability. If required, a modification to the contract will be accomplished. The MQ-1 has phased out and will not be a part of this follow-on contract.

b. The Government is considering a hybrid incentive, award fee-type contract with both cost reimbursable and fixed priced line items to fulfill this requirement based on historical data and market research. However, a determination of contract type has not yet been made. Additionally, a determination regarding the set-aside status of this effort has file:///C:/Users/1158904760A/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.Outlook/4E4NT1WW/www.sam.gov not been made. The current MQ-1/9 CAT/CWD Contract, FA4890-13-C-0104 was awarded competitively to a large business under full and open competition.

c. The Government anticipates making the award on or about 30 Jun 18. The period of performance will cover a three-month phase-in period (1 Jul 18 – 30 Sep 18), one base-year period and four (4) one-year option periods for a total of 5 years, 3 months. Actual performance will start 1 Oct 2018. This acquisition will be issued as a Request for

Proposal (RFP) on or about 8 Jan 2018. Please note: This is an estimated posting timeframe and it is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor the Federal

Business Opportunity website (FedBizOpps) at http://www.fbo.gov for all subsequent postings. A draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) (Attachment 1) is posted in conjunction with this notice to provide the size, scope, and complexity of this requirement.

d. This is not a formal Request for Proposal (RFP), and no contract will result from this notice, nor does it commit the Government to any acquisition for these services.

All interested parties should submit a capabilities package (limit to no more than 15 pages total) outlining their key business abilities relevant to the performance of this requirement and addressing the questions found at Attachment 2 and paragraph 4 of this memorandum. Please submit the requested information to this office NLT the closing date and time (28 Jul 17, 4:00 p.m. EDT) to Ms. Imelda A. Reantaso (Contract

Manager) at imelda.reantaso.1@us.af.mil and Capt Hannah Kosirog (Contracting

Officer) at hannah.kosirog.1@us.af.mil. Request that you use the title “[Company Name]

– Sources Sought” in the e-mail subject line.

e. This information will only be used for market research purposes and will not be used for proposal evaluation later. All information received will be protected and safeguarded as source selection information in accordance with FAR 3.104, Procurement Integrity.

Information will be used solely to formulate acquisition strategy and for the development of the solicitation. The Internet and e-mail shall be used as the primary means of disseminating and exchanging information. Hard copies of documents posted on FBO will not be made available. The Government will provide an e-mail confirmation acknowledging receipt of information submitted. If you have difficulty in emailing your response and/or confirmation of receipt is not received, then you are encouraged to contact Ms. Imelda A. Reantaso at (757) 225-5797 or Capt Hannah Kosirog at (757) 225-

2153.

Please include the following information about your organization in your response:

- Name of Organization

- Address

- Telephone Number

- Point(s) of Contact

- E-Mail Addresses

- Cage Code

- DUNS Number

- Size of Business: ______ Small ______ Large

- Business Size Status:

http://www.fbo.gov/ mailto:imelda.reantaso.1@us.af.mil mailto:hannah.kosirog.1@us.af.mil

SBA 8(a) Business Development Program Concern:

Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zone Concern

Small Disadvantaged Business Concern:

Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern:

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern:

Women-Owned Business Concern:

Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business Concern:

2. OBJECTIVE OF MARKET RESEARCH: This market research is conducted to assist in determining acquisition strategy for the subject procurement. Specifically, feedback is sought from industry in regards to commercial practices to obtaining the required services, as well as the capability of industry in providing the required services within our military environment. Contract type, commercial practices, potential set-aside strategy as authorized by FAR Part 19 and performance-based specifications are being considered in development of this solicitation. Your input will greatly assist in this development. A draft PWS has been posted with this questionnaire to www.fbo.gov, and you are invited to review this document and provide feedback on the document itself, as well as to the below questions.

3. INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM INDUSTRY: Please review the associated draft

PWS posted to this site and the following questions, and provide any input you would like considered as we formulate the acquisition. In order for the Contracting Officer (CO) to set aside any acquisition over $150,000 for small business, there must be a reasonable expectation that offerors can satisfactorily perform contract requirements and that award will be made at a fair market price. Total set-asides cannot be made unless such a reasonable expectation exists. The

Government believes that it is mutually beneficial to determine the capability of offerors eligible for set-aside early in the procurement process in order to preclude the need for modification of the acquisition strategy later. The Government is not requesting technical/management proposals, only capability information that will be used as market research to develop the acquisition strategy and solicitation.

Questions from prospective offerors and the subsequent answers will be posted throughout the presolicitation phase of the procurement. Please mark any information that you wish to be protected as “acquisition sensitive” or “proprietary.” We expect to make further postings of draft documents (including a draft solicitation) in the coming months, in anticipation of issuing a final solicitation early 2018. Your continued input is welcome throughout this process.

4. QUESTIONS

a. General:

1) Do you intend to submit a proposal as a prime contractor for this requirement?

2) The anticipated NAICS code for this procurement is 611512, which has a small business threshold of $27.5M. Provide any inputs regarding your capabilities as a small business under NAICS 611512 to accomplish the work as a prime contractor, or any other information relative to setting aside the procurement for small business participation only.

http://www.fbo.gov/

3) Submit evidence and ability to provide program management of a large and technically complex MQ-9 CAT/CWD services type contract. Provide references and points of contact.

4) Include information on your company’s technical and financial resources to be able to meet the program requirements of this nature and size as detailed in the draft PWS posted with this notice.

5) Include evidence of your company’s ability to provide program management sites at geographically-dispersed locations for CAT/CWD services similar to those in the draft

PWS attached.

6) Address your company’s ability to manage and integrate subcontract efforts.

7) Specifically address the up-front capital investment and ability to hire qualified personnel, ISD Management Plan experience and Quality Control capabilities to provide and maintain an inspection system that meets the Government’s inspection and quality requirements.

8) Do you currently possess the required security clearance(s) or have the ability to obtain personnel with sufficient clearance before contract award?

9) Should this effort be competed as an LPTA or a Trade-Off? If you support a Trade-Off, what do you see as trade space? Support your position.

b. Small Business Subcontracting:

1) In the event this acquisition remains as unrestricted, there will be a requirement for large business offerors to provide a small business subcontracting plan. The

Government is interested in input from industry regarding small business subcontracting opportunities. What is a realistic small business subcontracting goal for large businesses to achieve?

c. Company Capabilities:

1) What do you see as advantages and disadvantages of incentive fees and award fees?

Which do you support and why?

2) What would you consider to be key critical performance measurements and minimum standards to be met? What industry standards exist for performance metrics for this type effort?

3) Do you have any recommendation for additional performance objectives?

5) What other issues, questions, or concerns should the Government consider?

d. Performance Work Statement:

1) What changes, if any, do you suggest we make to the draft PWS to allow for a more performance-based requirement? What percentage/areas of the PWS requirements do you see as being performance based vs non-performance based? Please identify any portions of the draft PWS that, as written, are too restrictive or prohibit the flexibility to perform according to your established practices.

2) Do you anticipate any problems with acquiring and retaining a trained workforce to support the level of effort described in the draft PWS? Identify any risks/concerns you may have. Provide any information/obstacles on commercial practices to train MQ-9 instructors and industry standards for certification.

e. Industry Practices:

1) Are there industry standards, instructions or procedures that would meet AF needs or replace Government directives that are listed in the PWS?

5. Feedback is welcome at any time, although we request responses to the above information and response to Attachment 2 no later than 4:00 PM EDT on 28 Jul 2017. All questions must be in writing.

HANNAH J. KOSIROG, Capt, USAF

Contracting Officer