ACC A2 IC CSO_Call 0001_Cybersecurity Program Transformation.pdf

AIR COMBAT COMMAND/A2, AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

(ACC/A2, AF IC)

COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS OPENING (CSO)– CALL 0001

FA7037-26-S-C001

Topic Area 007: Air Force Intelligence Community Risk Management and Cybersecurity

AF IC & 16th Air Force (16 AF) Cybersecurity Program Transformation

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2. PURPOSE

3. CSO APPROACH AND OVERVIEW

4. GENERAL INFORMATION

5. SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 The 16th Air Force, Directorate of Communications (16 AF/A6) is responsible for maintaining the cybersecurity and compliance for approximately 3,600 information systems and networks across a hybrid enterprise of on-premises and cloud environments.

1.2 The 16th AF/A6 is looking for new and innovative capabilities to obtain a comprehensive cybersecurity assurance program that ensures a quantifiable and compliant security posture across the enterprise. This includes the strategic infusion of

Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create a predictive defense posture, align with DoW modernization goals, and maintain a technological advantage.

2. PURPOSE

2.1 This Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) Call, in accordance with 10 USC 3458, Federal Acquisition Regulation-Overhaul (RFO) 6.101, and R-DFARS 212.70 Defense

Commercial Solutions Opening, is a competitive solicitation of proposals focused on technologies to meet ACC/A2’s and the AF IC’s mission. The Government seeks the best approaches to meet the capability objectives described herein.

2.2 "Innovative" means any technology, process, or method, including research and development, that is new as of the date of proposal submission, or any new application of an existing technology, process, or method as of that date.

2.3 The Government anticipates a single award under this CSO for an integrated solution encompassing all topic areas and capabilities described in Attachment 6.

3. CSO CALL APPROACH AND OVERVIEW

3.1 This CSO Call seeks the best commercial approaches to meet various technology objectives of ACC/A2 in support of AF IC initiatives. All items, technologies, and services acquired using a CSO Call will be treated as commercial items. The

Government encourages proposals that span a wide spectrum of possible technical and business solutions in response to the specific technology topics stated in

Attachment 6. The Government reserves the right to award funding to any combination of proposals which offer the best overall value to the Government, and to oversee any and all processes and approaches once initiated. Awards of efforts as a result of this announcement will be in the form of contracts or other transactions (OT) as codified in 10 U.S.C. §2371b (section 2371b).

3.2 Funding for participation in this program is highly competitive, and the price of proposed technologies should be considered. Awards resulting from this CSO Call will be made based on the evaluation results of a two-stepped proposal process described in Section 5. The Government reserves the right to fund all, some, one, or none of the proposals submitted; may elect to fund only part of a submitted proposal;

and may incrementally fund any or all awards under this CSO Call. All awards are subject to the availability of funds.

3.3 All coordination and communication between offerors and the Government will be conducted using the System for Award Management (SAM) website at SAM.gov and the points of contact associated within this CSO Call, as specified in Section 4.

3.4 Note: Do not include Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in responses.

White paper responses are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S.

Government to form a binding contract or agreement. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the government to issue a solicitation, or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the government to a particular acquisition approach.

The government will in no way be bound to this information if any formal solicitation is issued. This request for white papers is issued solely for information, market research, planning purposes and to identify interested sources. Further, unsolicited proposals will not be accepted. Funding is not available at this time.

Release of this request for white papers should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought.

Response to this CSO Call is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this and any follow-on information requests. All submissions become government property and will not be returned.

4. GENERAL INFORMATION

4.1 POINT OF CONTACTS. Questions regarding the administrative content of this

CSO Call must be addressed to the Contracting Office below. Questions regarding the technical content of this CSO Call must be addressed to the Technical Point of

Contact (POC) below.

Contracting Office POC: Ms. Teresa Gonzalez

Email: 16AF.AMIC.Det2PKBICCSO@us.af.mil

Technical POC: 16 AF/A6

Email: 16AF.AMIC.Det2PKBICCSO@us.af.mil https://sam.gov/ mailto:16AF.AMIC.Det2PKBICCSO@us.af.mil

4.2 CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. Offerors are encouraged to submit unclassified white papers to simplify and expedite reviews and response by the Government. If an offeror deems that a white paper contains classified information, please refer to paragraph 5.2.1.3 for submission instructions. Classified submissions must be handled, labeled, and stored in accordance with the National Industrial Security

Program (NISP) Operating Manual.

Offerors must possess all required personnel security clearances, facility clearances, and other infrastructure requirements necessary to perform any proposed classified work in accordance with the Contract Security Classification Specification (DD

Form 254) without reliance on Government resources.

5. SUBMISSION INFORMATION

5.1 SUBMISSION OVERVIEW. Step I submissions shall include both the Quad Charts and White Papers prepared in accordance with the formats at Attachments 1 & 2 respectively. Each company may submit one white paper and one quad chart for this

CSO Call. Submissions should address all TOPICS and all requirements outlined in

Attachment 6. Step I submissions can be submitted at any time prior to

12 Jun 2026, but offerors are encouraged to monitor Sam.gov for any specific amendments to the CSO Call that may have updated information. The Government will invite select Offerors to submit full proposals based on favorable evaluation results of Step I submissions. Step II submissions will be requested ONLY by the

Contracting Officer and will contain separate submission instructions and timelines within the Request for Proposal (RFP) letter.

5.2 TWO-STEP SUBMISSION. This CSO Call will be conducted in two steps as follows:

5.2.1 STEP I. Interested offerors must submit Quad Charts and White Papers in accordance with instructions provided in this CSO Call. Step I submissions will be evaluated against criteria as described in Attachment 7 of this CSO Call. Due to the requirements and financial scope of this CSO Call, offerors must ensure that submissions are succinct yet descriptive. Proposals will not be evaluated beyond page length limitations. Proposals that lack technical depth and rigor or are not within the

ACC/A2 mission will be assessed accordingly.

5.2.1.1 All Quad Charts should include the information indicated on the sample template in Attachment 1.

5.2.1.2 The White Paper narrative expands on the Quad Chart presentation.

Instructions for format and content are located in Attachment 2. Each offeror shall include in the white paper a preliminary Technology Readiness Level

(TRL) assessment of the proposed technology that conforms to the technology objectives and an expected TRL at the conclusion of the effort. The offeror shall perform a TRL assessment according to the Department of War

Technology Readiness Assessment Guidance. The offeror must address the overall proposed TRL for the system, application, or process – not just individual components.

5.2.1.3 White paper and quad chart submissions shall be sent to

16AF.AMIC.Det2PKBICCSO@us.af.mil for review and shall include “Call

0001 Cybersecurity Program Transformation” in the subject line of the email. If there is a need for a classified white paper/quad chart submission, send an email to 16AF.AMIC.Det2PKBICCSO@us.af.mil to receive instructions for classified submissions.

5.2.2 Notification of Selection. All offerors providing Step I submissions will be contacted by the Government, either with an email letter informing them that the effort proposed is not of interest to the Government at this time or with a request for a formal price and technical proposal by a specific date.

5.2.3 STEP II. Step II proposals will only be accepted from Offerors who upon review of Step I submissions are invited by the Contracting Officer to submit a full proposal. In order to be considered for award under Step II, offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov, be considered responsible within the meaning of RFO 9.1, have a satisfactory performance record, and otherwise be eligible for award based on federal law and regulation.

5.2.3.1 Proposal Submission. Upon notification for a proposal by the

Contracting Officer, offerors have 15 calendar days to prepare and submit a proposal in accordance with the format and instructions at Attachments 3-5.

Each proposal shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) and detailed pricing.

All pages shall be numbered.

5.2.3.2 Proposal Review, Evaluation and Selection Process. Each proposal will be evaluated on its technical merit according to the criteria and process detailed in Attachment 7. Proposal selection will be primarily based on technical merit, importance to agency programs, and funding availability.

Qualified Government personnel will conduct reviews and, if necessary, convene panels of experts for evaluation.

5.2.3.3 Rights in Technical Data, Computer Software and Computer Software

Documentation. Offerors shall mark each page of their proposal that contains proprietary information. It is the Government’s intention to acquire only that which is necessary to satisfy agency needs and this will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. An offeror may provide with its proposal assertions to restrict, use, mailto:16AF.AMIC.Det2PKBICCSO@us.af.mil http://www.sam.gov/ release or disclosure of data and/or computer software and computer software documentation that will be provided in the course of contract performance. Rules governing these assertions can be found in RFO Part 27 and R-DFARS Part 227 and may be accessed at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul

ATTACHMENT 1: QUAD CHART FORMAT

The following information must be included in the Step I Quad Chart. Quad Charts shall not exceed 1-page in landscape view. Quad Charts must follow the formatting guidelines on the slide template below but can adapt milestones to appropriate measurable outcomes based on the solution proposed (the proposed period of performance may be months versus years, etc.).

lear concise sentences descri tion of the oal of the effort rief descri tion of is ana ement and y ersecurity service su ort and the technolo y ro osed for investi ations and methods to e used durin the course of investi ation rief statement that identifies the net advanta es of the ro osed technolo y over current ractices and com etin technolo ies ulleted list of technical or scientific challen es escri tion of the current maturity of the ro osed technolo y with res ect to the echnolo y eadiness evel ulleted list elivera les e study written re orts rototy e device or roof of rototy e testin ame of om any ode ame email and hone

ATTACHMENT 2: STEP I WHITE PAPER FORMAT

The White Paper narrative expands on the Quad Chart presentation, and must be 8.5 x 11 inches with one-inch margins, no longer than two pages, single-spaced, with text in Times New Roman, no smaller than 12 point font. All white papers must specify a project title the fferor’s organization, CAGE code, the specific topic areas, and Call number associated with the submission (see Attachment 6). Pages in excess of the page limitation will not be read or evaluated. White Papers must not exceed a file size of 10 MB.

The White Paper must be limited only to further explanation of the information conveyed in the

Quad Chart, as deemed necessary by the Offeror. The information should provide sufficient information on the proposed solution to allow for an assessment by a technical expert.

Expand as deemed necessary on the following sections of the Quad Chart:

• Objective and integrated solution approach across all capability areas

• Description of the effort

• Benefits of the Proposed Technology

• Technical and integration challenges and proposed mitigations

• TRL at project start and planned TRL at project completion

• Major Goals/Milestones by Government fiscal year.

White paper and quad charts shall be sent to 16AF.AMIC.Det2PKBICCSO@us.af.mil for review.

If there is a need for a classified white paper/quad chart submission, send an email to

16AF.AMIC.Det2PKBICCSO@us.af.mil to receive instructions for classified submissions.

ATTACHMENT 3: STEP II TECHNICAL PROPOSAL FORMAT

(DO NOT SUBMIT UNLESS INVITED BY CO IAW Section 5.2.3 above)

The Technical Proposal portion of the Step II submission shall not exceed 10 pages, excluding cover page and table of contents. Any pages submitted in excess of the 10-page limit will not be considered or evaluated.

Suggested page limitations for individual sections are listed below; however, these are guidelines not strict limits.

I. ABSTRACT. [1 page suggested.]

II. SCOPE. This proposal is submitted in response to the ACC/A2 & AF IC

Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) Call on… . [Cite the Project Title. 8 pages suggested.]

a. Objective. [A clear and concise description of the objective of the proposed project.]

b. Background. [Provide the necessary technical and scientific background to support the scientific and technical merits of the proposed project.]

c. Programmatics. This effort will support the ACC/A2 & AF IC initiative

[topic number] aimed at developing [capability area or topic title] technologies or methodologies. [Describe the offeror’s management plan for the proposed project; list supporting and collaborating organizations and subcontractors; clearly identify roles and responsibilities of each organization and subcontractor supporting the project].

d. Relevance. [Describe the relevance of the proposed project in terms of

ACC/A2 and AF IC mission, end-user needs and the technology maturity of the proposed project.]

III. CREDENTIALS. [Describe the Offeror’s qualifications to perform the proposed work across all capability areas. 2 pages suggested.]

IV. WORK TO BE PERFORMED. [Provide details of the work to be performed by task and subtask. 9 pages suggested.]

a. General. [Provide an overview.]

b. Detailed Tasks. [Describe the details of all tasks needed to perform the proposed work. Clearly distinguish base period tasks and option tasks as appropriate.]

V. PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE. [Depict the tasks and sub-tasks and the duration of performance of each in a Gantt chart or other suitable chart. Briefly describe the proposed period of performance. 2 pages suggested.]

VI. REFERENCES. [List any relevant documents used to develop the technical approach. 1 page suggested]

ATTACHMENT 4: STEP II PRICE PROPOSAL FORMAT

(DO NOT SUBMIT UNLESS INVITED BY CO IAW Section 5.2.3 above)

The price proposal must include pricing information sufficiently detailed for a meaningful evaluation. Since this CSO Call is limited to commercial solutions, detailed cost breakdowns are not required. However, the offeror must provide sufficient supporting data for the

Contracting Officer to determine price reasonableness. The offeror bears the burden of establishing price reasonableness.

The Offeror shall prepare the Price Proposal (with the exception of the narrative information described below) using Microsoft Excel format, but shall merge all Price Proposal documents into one Adobe PDF file for ultimate proposal submission. Include the Topic Number and the

Project Title on all pages. Retain the Excel version for subsequent Government request.

Format requirements:

• Paper Size – 8.5 X 11-inch paper

• Margins 1-inch

• Spacing – single

• Font – Times New Roman, 12 Point

Cover sheet attached to the price proposal shall include:

• Full company name and address of Prime Contractor

• CSO Call number and Title

• Point of contact, name, title, and phone number

• CAGE code

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

• Identification of any Government property required for performance

NOTE: If an Offeror takes exceptions to the requirements called out in the announcement, the exceptions should be clearly stated in the price proposal.

ATTACHMENT 5: STEP II STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) FORMAT

(DO NOT SUBMIT UNLESS INVITED BY CO IAW Section 5.2.3 above)

A SOW must be included in with the full proposal as part of the Step II submission. The

SOW does not have a page limit but should be approximately 3–5 pages in length and must be a separate and distinct document suitable for incorporation into the procurement instrument. Do not include proprietary data or markings in the SOW. Pages must be numbered and the initial page must show the document date under the title.

The proposed SOW must accurately describe the work to be performed, and performance metrics based on your proposed solution and the objectives in the SOO. The proposed SOW must also contain a summary description of the technical methodology as well as the task description, but not in so much detail as to make the SOW inflexible. The SOW template should include the following sections and specifically respond to the Statement of Objectives

(SOO) the Government provided with the Request for Proposal (RFP):

1. OBJECTIVE. This section is intended to give a brief overview of the project and should describe why the work is being pursued and what the offeror intends to accomplish.

2. SCOPE. This section includes a statement of what the SOW covers. This should describe all capability areas, goals, and milestones for the effort.

3. BACKGROUND. The offeror must identify appropriate documents that are applicable to the effort to be performed. This section includes any information, explanations, or constraints that are necessary to understand the project tasks and requirements. This section should describe the effort’s relationship to previous and ongoing efforts.

4. TASKS AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS. This section contains the detailed description of tasks that are necessary to perform the proposed work. These tasks will represent the work to be performed in any potential contract award, and, thus, shall be considered contractually binding. This section should be developed in an orderly progression and presented in sufficient detail to establish the feasibility of accomplishing the overall program goals. This section should clearly distinguish base period tasks from option period tasks. The sequence of performance must be presented by fiscal year and task order, as in Section IV of the Technical Proposal.

The SOW must contain every task to be accomplished and the metrics by which these tasks will be measured, generally depicted in a Services Summary. Note that the

Government reserves the right to modify and negotiate the language in the SOW prior to any potential contract award.

4.1. Task descriptions must be definite, realistic, and clearly stated. Use the phrase

“the contractor shall” whenever the work statement expresses a provision that is binding. Use “should” or “may” whenever it is necessary to express a declaration of purpose. Use “will” in cases where no Offeror requirement is involved (e.g., power will be supplied by the government. Use active voice in describing work to be performed.

4.2. Do not use acronyms or abbreviations without first defining them. Place abbreviations and acronyms in parentheses following the first usage of the spelled-out phrase.

4.3. If presentations and meetings are identified in the Offeror’s schedule, the Offeror must include the following statement in the SOW: “ onduct presentations and meetings at times and places specified in the contract schedule ”

4.4. The desired project structure consists of base period tasks, focused on demonstrating the feasibility of the technology, and option tasks, which cover design, fabrication, testing, and evaluation of the final product. Execution of option tasks will be dependent upon and determined by the contractor’s performance during and the results produced from the base period tasks.

ATTACHMENT 6: SOLICITATION TOPIC

Topic 007: Air Force Intelligence Community Risk Management and Cybersecurity

The AF IC seeks machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions to transform the checklist-based ICD 503 RMF repetitive task to automated and predictive reporting process.

• Provide technology-based solutions to provide near-real-time cybersecurity posture information for the AF IC Enterprise.

• Provide detailed data analysis abilities in support of FISMA reporting.

• Provide highly skilled technical expertise supporting NIST 800-53 and other AF and National IC Risk Management and Cybersecurity mandated requirements.

AF IC & 16 AF/A6 Cybersecurity Program Transformation

The 16 AF/A6 is responsible for maintaining the cybersecurity and compliance for approximately 3,600 information systems and networks across a hybrid enterprise of on-premises and cloud environments. The 16th AF/A6 is interested in innovative technologies and services related to the areas of mission or technical interest listed below. The level of detail provided for each item or the order in which they appear is not intended to convey any information regarding relative priority:

1. Modernize the Cybersecurity Framework. Seeking the modernization of the Risk

Management Framework from a manual, compliance-driven and reactive model.

2. Institute a Data-Driven, AI-Powered Defense. Seeking an Artificial Intelligence

(AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capability to automate RMF and cybersecurity repetitive activities.

3. Integrate and Operationalize Zero Trust Principles. Seeking the integration and operationalization of Zero Trust principles across the Air Force IC Enterprise.

4. Sourcing and Integrating A Highly Specialized Multi-Disciplinary Workforce.

Seeking solutions of sourcing and integrating a team of highly technical and qualified personnel who meet or exceed DoW 8140 certification standards.

5. Secure Government Data and Intellectual Property Rights. Desired solutions would ensure the Government is not “loc ed in” to a ro rietary system and ensures maximum flexibility for future data usage and system modifications.

There are no specific Technology Readiness Level (TRL) requirements for proposed projects.

However, proposed prototypes or solutions should be at a sufficiently mature to enable the assessment of the viability, technical feasibility, application, or military utility of the proposed solution and support a field demonstration within a year, as an ideal. For proposed projects that will require longer than a year to support a field demonstration, proposals need to provide sufficient justification such as long lead times, or other substantiation

The Government reserves the right to fund all, some, one or none of the proposals submitted; may elect to fund only part of a submitted proposal; and may incrementally fund any or all awards under this CSO Call. All awards are subject to the availability of funds.

ATTACHMENT 7: EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SELECTION PROCESS

The Government will review each Quad Chart and White Paper (Step I) and select offerors with the greatest potential to meet the operational needs of ACC/A2 & AF IC based on the capability areas in Attachment 6. A determination will first be made whether each offeror is technically qualified and has a comprehensive understanding to execute the proposed solution based on the information stated in the Quad Chart/White Paper.

The offeror is advised that only Firm Fixed Price (FFP) or Fixed Price Incentive (FPI) contracts may be awarded as a result of this CSO Call.

The Government will determine the most technically competent and capable of the qualified offerors using the criteria below:

• Criteria (Factors) for Selecting Quad Chart/White Paper for Full Proposal Submission:

o Technical merit/applicability, o Importance to ACC/A2 & AF IC mission o Fund availability

• Relative Importance: All Factors are of equal importance

• Method of Evaluation: Peer or scientific review