FA7000-24-R-0009 USAFA DF Advisory and Assistance Services 26Jul24.pdf

FAIR OPPORTUNITY PROPOSAL REQUEST

(FOPR) No. FA7000-24-R-0009

Solicitation Title: United States Air Force Academy, Department of Faculty (DF) Advisory and Assistance Services

Issuing Office: FA7000

8110 INDUSTRIAL DR STE 200

USAF ACADEMY CO 80840-2303

Contracting Officer: Edna Hakenson edna.hakenson.1@us.af.mil

719-333-8265/719-330-9342

Alternate: Cheryl McGuire Cheryl.mcguire@us.af.mil

719-208-8726

Contract Specialist: Alexandra Blue

Alexandra.blue@us.af.mil

719-370-2428

FOPR Issue Date: 26 July 2024

Questions Due Date: 5 Aug 2024 2:00 PM, Mountain Time (MDT). Send questions via email to edna.hakenson.1@us.af.mil and alexandra.blue@us.af.mil or thru the Symphony Procurement Suite (https://oasis.app.cloud.gov/).

Proposal Due Date: 16 Aug 2024 2:00 PM, MDT. Send proposals via the FOPR’s link in the Symphony Procurement Suite (https://oasis.app.cloud.gov/). Please send notification email to Ms. Hakenson and Ms. Blue.

1.0. OASIS TASK ORDER INFORMATION

1.1. OASIS Pool Being Solicited/Awarded: Small Business (SB) 8(a) Pool 1

1.2. NAICS Code and Small Business Size Standard: 541990, All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

Size Standard: $19,500,000

1.3. Product Service Code (PSC): R499, Support – Professional: Other

1.4. Type of Contract: Firm-Fixed-Price

1.5. Type of Services: The type of services under this solicitation are considered:

mailto:edna.hakenson.1@us.af.mil mailto:Cheryl.mcguire@us.af.mil mailto:Alexandra.blue@us.af.mil mailto:edna.hakenson.1@us.af.mil mailto:alexandra.blue@us.af.mil https://oasis.app.cloud.gov/

Commercial Services

1.6. Extent of Competition: This solicitation will be based on: Fair Opportunity procedures

IAW FAR 16.505(b)(1)

1.7. The clearance level is Unclassified.

1.8. Place of Performance: US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO 80840

1.9. Estimated Period of Performance:

BASE PERIOD (12 months): 30 Sept 2024 – 29 Sept 2025

OPTION PERIOD ONE (1) (12 Months): 30 Sept 2025 – 29 Sept 2026

OPTION PERIOD TWO (2) (12 Months): 30 Sept 2026 – 29 Sept 2027

OPTION PERIOD THREE (3) (12 Months): 30 Sept 2027 – 29 Sept 2028

OPTION PERIOD FOUR (4) (12 Months): 30 Sept 2028 – 29 Sept 2029

2.0. CONTRACT LINE ITEMS (CLINS) AND CONTRACT TYPE BY CLIN

SEE ATTACHMENT 1

3.0. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES/SCOPE OF WORK

This is a non-personal services contract to provide Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) support to the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) Dean of Faculty (DF).

A&AS support shall fall into one of the following categories as defined in Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR) Subpart 37.2; Management and Professional Services; Studies, Analyses and Evaluations; and/or Engineering and Technical Services. Examples of these services are:

outside points of view on critical issues; advice regarding developments in industry; opinions, special knowledge, or skills of noted experts; enhancing the understanding of and developing alternative solutions to complex issues; supporting and improving the operations of organizations, support services for cadets, ensuring a more efficient or effective operation of managerial or information technology, artificial intelligence, hardware systems or R&D activities. In rendering the foregoing services, outputs may take the form of information, advice, opinions, alternatives, analyses, evaluations, recommendations, training, instruction, tutoring, counseling and support personnel needed for the successful performance of ongoing

DF operations. See Attachments 2 through 9 Performance Work Statement (PWS), to fully review the performance requirements required under this solicitation.

4.0. LABOR CATEGORIES AND DESCRIPTIONS

Offerors are free to propose whatever labor mix they feel is appropriate to complete this requirement. The proposed labor mix will be evaluated in accordance with section 7.0, Evaluation Crieteria and Basis of Award, of this solicitation. Additionally, the standardized labor categories in Section J.1, OASIS SB Labor Categories and Definitions, of the basic

OASIS contracts apply to this acquisition. All proposed labor categories should include a

Labor ID# from Section J. 1.

5.0. SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND TASK ORDER CLAUSES

See Attachment 10, Provisions & Clauses for agency specific and optional provisions and clauses that apply to this task order in addition to applicable and required clauses and provisions incorporated in accordance with OASIS contract section I.1.

6.0. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION

Addendum to FAR 52.-212-1, Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Products and Commercial

Services

A. This is a competitive fair opportunity selection conducted in accordance with (IAW)

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 16.505(b)(1). Orders placed under FAR 16.505

Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contracts are not source selections and are not subject to FAR 15.3 procedures. Accordingly, issuance of an order under this Fair Opportunity

Proposal Request (FOPR), should an award be made, shall follow the ordering procedures outlined in FAR 16.505, as supplemented.

B. The proposal submitted in response to this FOPR must be in compliance with the terms and conditions of the OASIS 8(a) Pool 1 requirements as stated in the FOPR and attachments. All claimed capabilities to meet the requirements shall be realistic and are subject to verification by the Government. Non-conformance with these instructions may result in rejection of the proposal or an unfavorable proposal evaluation or being deemed ineligible for award. The Government will select the best submission which conforms to the FOPR requirements (to include all stated terms, conditions, representations, certifications, and all other information required by the submission instructions), and is judged, based on the evaluation factors, to represent the best value to the Government. The Government seeks to award to the Offeror who is best suited to fulfill the Air Force requirements. This may result in an award to a higher rated, higher priced

Offeror, where the decision is consistent with the evaluation factor, and the Decision Authority

(DA) reasonably determines that the technical and/or overall business approach of the higher priced Offeror outweighs the price difference.

C. Offerors must clearly identify any exception to FOPR terms and conditions and must provide complete supporting rationale. The Government reserves the right to determine any such exceptions are unacceptable. Any exception determined unacceptable by the Government may result in the Offeror’s proposal being determined unacceptable and ineligible for award. This information shall be provided in the format and content of the table below within the Offerors proposal cover letter. If no exceptions are taken, include a statement stating so within the proposal cover letter. OFFERORS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ASK QUESTIONS PRIOR TO

TAKING EXCEPTION TO ANY FOPR TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

FOPR Exceptions

FOPR

Document

Page/ Paragraph Requirement/ Portion Rationale

PWS, ITO,

Evaluation factors, etc.

Applicable Page and Paragraph

Numbers

Identify the requirement or portion to which exception is taken

Describe why the requirement can/will not be met

D. The proposal shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The proposal should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements but, rather, shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet these requirements. Offerors shall assume that the

Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities or experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Offeror's proposal.

E. Discrepancies. If an Offeror believes that the requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are otherwise unsound, the Offeror shall immediately notify the Contract

Officer (CO) in writing with supporting rationale as well as the remedies the Offeror is asking the CO to consider as related to the omission or error.

F. Each Offeror shall submit an electronic copy of their proposal via Symphony Suite ( https://oasis.app.cloud.gov) no later than the required submission due date. For the electronic copies, indicate volume number and title, and use separate files to permit rapid location of information. The electronic copies of the proposal shall be submitted in a format readable by

Microsoft (MS) Office 2016 suite of applications or Adobe PDF.

G. Your response to this request shall include the following:

i. Volume I: Technical proposal

a. Technical Approach (limited to 24 pages)

b. Attachment 11 Staffing Approach

c. Attachment 14: Technical Experience (limited to 6 submissions)

d. Attachment 12 - OCI Disclosure and Analysis Form

ii. Volume II: Pricing Documentation

a. CLIN Pricing Worksheet Sheet (Attachment 1)

H. Failure to provide the items listed above may render your submission incomplete.

Incomplete submissions will not be evaluated and will be considered ineligible for award.

Complete submissions will be evaluated in accordance with the Basis of Award.

I. The Government is providing an historical annual workload hours and current positions

(Attachment 13) for the requirement. This information is provided for representational purposes only and should not be interpreted as the number of hours or personnel that should be proposed.

Questions must be submitted by 5 August 2024

The Offeror shall submit proposals for consideration no later than 2:00pm (Mountain Daylight

Time), 16 August 2024. Only one (1) proposal shall be submitted, per company, in response to this requirement. Proposals received after the date/time specified will not be evaluated. Proposals shall be addressed to Ms. Edna T. Hakenson, Contracting Officer, at edna.hakenson.1@us.af.mil and Ms. Alexandra Blue, Contract Specialist, alexandra.blue@us.af.mil and submitted to OASIS

Symphony Suite at https://oasis.app.cloud.gov/.

J. Offerors submitting a proposal in response to this FOPR shall submit a technical volume, and contract documentation/price proposal. Text shall be single-spaced, on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet with a minimum one-inch margin all around. 11 x 17 “fold-out” sheets may be used for large graphics

(e.g. staffing matrix). Font shall be no less than Times New Roman 10 pt for all narratives, however, 8 pt font may be used for graphics, charts, tables and figures. Pages shall be numbered consecutively within each volume. The page limits prescribed are maximum page limits for each volume. Pages submitted in excess of these limits will not be read or considered in the

Government’s evaluation of the proposal. All proposal information shall be submitted in either

MS Word or PDF format except for Staffing Approach Table (Attachment 11) and pricing information (Attachment 1) which shall be submitted in Excel format. Each volume shall be submitted as a separately-labeled electronic file. Offerors shall clearly label all files with a description appropriate for the contents of each document

Offerors must ensure that pricing information is only included in Volume II. Do NOT include any Pricing information in Volume I. All unit and extended prices provided shall be rounded to the nearest dollar. Extended prices must be divisible by the number of units proposed. Submit your proposal electronically in accordance with the table below. All electronic submissions shall reference the complete FOPR number in the subject line.

Table J.1 – Proposal Organization VOLUME Instructions

Paragraph

Number

VOLUME TITLE PAGE LIMIT

I (1) Cover Letter 3 pages

I (2)(a) Technical Proposal 24 pages

I (2)(b) Staffing Spreadsheet (Attachment 11) NA

I (2)(c) Technical Experience (Attachment 14) 6 pages

I (2)(d) OCI Disclosure (Attachment 12) NA

II (3) CLIN Pricing Worksheet (Attachment 1) NA

Page limitations shall be treated as maximums. If exceeded, the excess pages will not be read or considered in the evaluation of the proposal. Page limitations may be placed on responses to

Interchanges Notices (INs). The specified page limits for IN responses will be identified in the mailto:alexandra.blue@us.af.mil letters forwarding the INs to the offerors. Each page shall be counted except the following:

blank pages, cover pages, table of contents, tabs, glossaries, Staffing Approach (Attachment 11), and Organizational Conflict of Interest responses.

(1) Volume I: Cover Letter

Cover Letter shall include the FOPR Number, Offerors’ contract number, small business status/categories, company primary and alternate points of contact with email/phone and who is authorized to contractually obligate the company, CAGE Code, DUNS number, a statement that the company understands the requirements specified and will meet the performance standards and requirements therein, a statement that the company does or does not take exception to any of the requirements of this order and/or specific information if proposing a teaming arrangement.

(2) Volume I: Technical Proposal

(a) The Technical Proposal should be specific and complete. Legibility, clarity, and coherence are very important. Your responses will be evaluated against the Technical factors defined in Basis of Award below. Provide as specifically as possible the actual methodology you would use for accomplishing/satisfying the factor. Address your technical solution for meeting or exceeding the Government’s minimum performance or capability requirements of each technical factor.

(b) Staffing Spreadsheet, Attachment 11. breakdown shall be provided which shows the skill mix, labor categories, and minimum skills/experience (in support of overall staffing approach. All the requirements specified in the solicitation are mandatory. By your proposal submission, you are representing that your firm will perform all the requirements specified in the solicitation. Do not merely reiterate the objectives or reformulate the requirements specified in the solicitation.

(c) Technical Experience, Attachment 14. No more than 2 submissions per element above for a total of 6 for all of Factor Three. Submissions may only be from experiences in OASIS and within 3 years of FOPR release date.

(d) Attachment 12, Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI) Disclosure & Analysis

Form, DOES NOT count against the page count. If there are any OCIs for the prime and/or any team member/subcontractor in performance of the contract, identify those issues immediately to the Contracting Officer (CO), provide an analysis of the situation, and a plan to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate potential conflicts. In the event that this contract requires activity, such as the use of a subcontractor other than those that were submitted with the original proposal, that would create an actual or potential conflict of interest, the Contractor shall immediately notify the Ordering Contracting

Officer (OCO) of the conflict, submit a plan for mitigation, and not commence work until specifically notified by the OCO to proceed; or, identify the conflict and recommend to the OCO an alternate approach to avoid the conflict. Offerors shall submit a completed copy of Attachment 12 as part of their Volume I response. If no

OCI issues are applicable, in lieu of completing Attachment 12, Offerors shall include a statement to that effect in their proposal where it can be clearly identified.

(3) Volume II: CLIN Pricing Worksheet. The offeror must complete Attachment 1, CLIN

Pricing Worksheet. There is no page limitation.

7.0 Basis of Award: Addendum to FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation—Commercial Products and

Commercial Services.

A. Award will be made in accordance with the basic contract ordering procedures and the procedures specified in the FOPR, to the Offeror whose proposal results in the best value to the

Government. An order may be awarded to the offeror who is deemed responsible IAW FAR 9.1, as supplemented, whose proposal conforms to the FOPR’s requirements (to include all stated terms, conditions, representations, certifications, and all other information required by the FOPR instructions) and is judged, based on the evaluation factors to represent the best value to the

Government.

B. Following receipt of responses to this FOPR, the Government will perform a comparative analysis (comparing Offeror proposals to one another) on all proposals that are in compliance with the comparative analysis factors, in order to select the offeror that is best suited to fulfill the requirements of the FOPR. The comparative analysis will be based on the Offeror’s responses to the factors outlined in the FOPR, given their stated relative order of importance.

C. The Government intends to make award based on the initial proposal submissions without conducting interchanges. Therefore, each offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to hold interchanges using Interchange Notices (INs) if, during the evaluation, it is determined to be in the best interest of the Government. Interchanges are fluid interaction(s) between the Contracting Officer

(CO) and the Offerors that may address any aspect of the proposal and may or may not be documented in real time. Interchanges (if they become necessary) may be conducted with one

(1), some, or all Offerors responding to this FOPR. Any Offeror responses to INs will be considered in making the order selection decision

D. Evaluation Factors. IAW FAR 16.505(b)(1)(iv)(C), regarding the relative importance of each factor: Technical Approach, Staffing Approach, and Technical Experience are of equal importance. Individual criteria within each factor are of equal importance. All evaluation factors other than cost and price, when combined, are more important than cost or price.

E. Comparative Analysis Factors: For the factors below, the Government will perform a comparative analysis through the use of narratives, comparing each offeror against all other offerors. An unsubstantiated, unsound, or inconsistent approach will be considered an indicator that the Offeror does not understand the requirement and may not be considered for award. The proposal determined to be the best value to the Government when considering all price/cost and non-priced factors will be considered the best-suited to meet the stated requirements. In accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(1)(v)(B), formal evaluation plans or scoring of quotes or offers are not required

1. Factor One: Technical Approach

Under this factor, the Government will evaluate the offeror’s proposed technical approach based on the following criteria:

i. Provide an approach that demonstrates the ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel.

ii. Provide an approach that demonstrates how the offeror will ensure that all elements of the PWS and each Appendices are successfully performed. Provide a detailed staffing plan narrative which identifies the mix of labor categories, labor descriptions, labor hours, to meet the requirements of the PWS. The plan shall provide a logical approach that ensures the contractor’s understanding of the requirement.

iii. Provide an approach that demonstrates the ability to manage contract administration, respond to a new within scope task (see PWS paragraph 3.4), and issues affecting contract performance.

2. Factor Two: Staffing Approach.

Under this factors, the Government will evaluate the offeror’s proposed staffing approach based on the following criteria:

i. Complete Attachment 11, Staffing Approach for all proposed personnel.

ii. (Optional) Resumes for the Key Personnel Identified in PWS Appendices 3, 4, 5, and

7 are requested. An offeror will not be disqualified if resumes are not submitted but submission will be reviewed more favorably. These positions are:

Appendix 3: Falcon Telescope and Cadet Space Operations Center Support

Appendix 4: Operations and Maintenance Budget Support, Gift Funds Administrator

Support, Research Budget Support, and International Programs Budget Support

Appendix 5: Senior Scientist

Appendix 7: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Subject Matter Expert Support (SME), Data

Science Subject Matter Expert Support (SME), Data Engineer, and AI Engineer

3. Factor Three: Technical Experience

Under this factor, the Government will evaluate the offeror’s proposed technical experience based on the following criteria:

i. Provide a project, including contract number and POC, that demonstrates successful experience with recruiting and retaining specialized personnel and response to filling vacant positions.

ii. Provide a project, including contract number and POC, that demonstrates management’s successful ability to monitor technical performance of multiple positions

iii. Provide a project, including contract number and POC, that demonstrates the successful ability to quickly respond to changing requirements, requests for new in-scope work and contract performance issues (see PWS paragraph 3.4)

No more than 2 submissions per element above for a total of 6 for all of Factor Three.

Submissions may only be from experiences in OASIS and within 3 years of FOPR release date and submitted using Attachment 14 - Prior Experience Form.

4. Factor Four: Price

Price proposals should support the proposed technical approach and will be evaluated for Total

Evaluated Price (TEP). Contractors whose prices are determined to be incomplete or unreasonable will not be considered for award.

i. The Initial TEP (ITEP) will be calculated as the sum of the contractor’s proposed prices for the base period), all option year periods (four years), and the six-month extension of services (calculated at the Option 4 rates). Evaluation of options and extensions shall not obligate the Government to exercise such options. The six-month extension of services is

IAW FAR 52.217-8, “Option to Extend Services” and will be utilized if necessary. The six-month extension of services is not to be considered part of the Option Year 4 period and will be a separate option period. After any Interchanges or proposal revisions (if needed) the Government will evaluate the Final TEP (F-TEP). Attachment 1, CLIN

Pricing Sheet, does not include the 6 month extension of services. The Government shall calculate the six month extension of services by taking half of the extended price for

Option Period 4 to determine the 6-month extension prices.

ii. Adequate price competition is anticipated and exists if two or more responsible offerors, competing independently, submit priced offers that satisfy the Government’s expressed requirements. Therefore, the Offerors’ total evaluated prices (TEPs) will be evaluated for price reasonableness. The TEP will be the only discriminator amongst Offerors for this factor. Price analysis shall be used to evaluate the price reasonableness of each Offeror’s

TEP.

iii. The Government may compare Offeror TEPs, compare TEPs to the Independent

Government Estimate (IGE), or may use other price analysis techniques per FAR

16.505(b)(3). In the event only one offer is received, the Government will not perform a best value evaluation of the proposal, but rather will evaluate the Offeror’s proposal for technical acceptability.

iv. In accordance with DFARS 216.505-70, the Government may transition from a competitive process to a sole source acquisition if the requirements of DFARS 215.371-1 and 215.371-2 have been met. If the Government transitions from a competitive process to a sole source process, the proposal price/costs will be evaluated to determine a fair and reasonable price only. Additional pricing information, such as other than certified cost or pricing data may be required by the Government at this time. The Government may or may not enter into negotiations with the sole Offeror. Evaluation of option price(s) shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). For purposes of evaluation, the

TEP is defined in Attachment 1.

F. Unbalanced pricing. Offerors are cautioned against submitting an offer that contains unbalanced pricing. Unbalanced pricing may increase performance risk and could result in payment of unreasonably high prices. Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one (1) or more contract line items is significantly over or understated. The Government shall analyze offers to determine whether they are unbalanced with respect to separately priced line items or sub-line items. An offer that is determined to be unbalanced may be rejected if the Contracting Officer determines that the lack of balance poses an unacceptable risk to the Government.

G. The projects submitted by the Offeror to meet Technical Crietria 3, Technical Experience and information obtained from other sources available to the Government, such as the Contractor

Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), will be used as part of the responsibility determination made IAW FAR 9.104-1. The Government reserves the right to obtain information relative to present and past performance on its own.

8.0. NOTICE TO OFFEROR(S)

Funds are not presently available for this effort. The Government reserves the right to cancel this solicitation, either before or after the closing date. In the event the Government cancels this solicitation, the Government has no obligation to reimburse an offeror for any costs.

9.0. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

Document Title

Attachment 1 CLIN Pricing Worksheet

Attachment 2 Performance Work Statement dated 18 Jul 2024

Attachment 3 Appendix 1 – Mechanical Engineering Support

Attachment 4 Appendix 2 – Office of Labor and Economic Analysis Research Support

Attachment 5 Appendix 3 – Department of Physis and Meteorology Falcon Telescope

Network and Cadet Space Operations Center Developmental, Operational and Programmatic Support

Attachment 6 Appendix 4 –Dean of Faculty Budget Support

Attachment 7 Appendix 5 – Life Sciences Research Center Laboratory Technical

Support

Attachment 8 Appendix 6 – Dean of Faculty Registrar Student Information System

Support

Attachment 9 Appendix 7 – Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Development, Research And Academic Support To The Dean Of Faculty

Attachment 10 Provisions and Clauses

Attachment 11 Staffing Approach Table

Attachment 12 OCI Disclosure and Analysis Form

Attachment 13 Historical Annual Workload Data

Attachment 14 Prior Experience Form

CHERYL D. MCGUIRE

Contracting Officer