RFP_FA8555-13-R-0001 _Questions_ _Answers__1.pdf

MISSION SUPPORT A&AS

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

7 Mar 13

QUESTION 1. I heard the work of the incumbent contract #FA852911C0002 with Advanced Core Consulting, Inc. has been split into two contracts:

1. PM services valued at approximately $1M

2. Remainder of the services valued at approximately $45M

Or have I possibly gotten the $45M effort confused with the Manpower Support Services contract with Spectrum Comm Inc. (FA852808D0001)?

Finally, would you be willing to clarify the ceiling value of incumbent contract #FA852911C0002? Is it $2.9M or $4M?

ANSWER: This solicitation is not a follow on to Contract No. FA852808D0001. The current dollar value of Contract No. FA852911C0002 is approximately $5.6M.

QUESTION 2. Regarding the abovementioned RFP, are questions due on or by a certain date?

ANSWER: No, however questions should be submitted as early as possible as there are no plans to extend the RFP closing date.

QUESTION 3. Can you tell me if there will be a collecting and addressing of any open questions relative to the solicitation? Also, I did notice a small difference in the time that the proposal is due - on cover page of fed biz its 11:59 PM EST - on the first page of solicitation it states 3:30PM EST - can you clarify the time?

ANSWER: Solicitation questions will be addressed through a combined Q&A sheet posted on FedBizOpps. The proposal due date/time is 25 Mar 2013, 3:30PM EST.

QUESTION 4. Would the government sponsor an offeror for a Top Secret Clearance upon award, or is the expectation that the offeror already has the Top Secret Facility Clearance prior to award?

ANSWER: No. The Government expects the offeror to have employees with the proper security clearance to fulfill the functional position requirements.

QUESTION 5. The Air Force AMC recently put out an 8(a) set-aside procurement for ADVISORY AND ASSISTANCE SERVICES Solicitation FA855513R0001 currently held by advanced core consulting. It is my understanding that the original program is being broken into two separate programs with the above listed one being the PM part and the first solicitation. I also understand that later this year there will be a second procurement for the other part of this work. I was hoping you could tell me if that procurement is going to be full and open or also 8(a) set-aside or has no determination yet been made? Also, I was told the timeline for that procurement was around August-September, if that is not right could you let me know if a targeted release date has been made yet as well?

ANSWER: The current contract, FA8529-11-C-0002, contains approximately the same functional requirements as this solicitation, FA8555-13-R-0001.

QUESTION 6. Our company in conducting a team review of the published RFP FA8555-13-R-0001 and are inquiring as to the accuracy of the posted DD 254, in that block 2, Facility Clearance required “Top Secret”. Is this in fact the case that a Contractor TS facility clearance is required? A further review of the DD 254 section 10 & 11 clearly avoid all areas of interest that would require the contractor to conduct or handle TS material for this opportunity outside the control of a Gov’t operated and controlled facility. We also note that under the defined and provided Labor Categories that there is call out of several of the positions requiring TS qualified employees. Again, those contractor positions operating location under the defined labor categories would be located at the Warner Robins Facility and not in a contractor facility.

There is no indication throughout the PWS that would indicate the contractor handling TS material in their facility, only in a Gov’t controlled and supervised facility, further adding to the QUESTION as to why there would be a TS Facility Clearance requirement levied on the contractor.

ANSWER: The DD Form 254 is required to identify the highest facility clearance required by the contractor for performance of the contract. However, Block 1a and b go together with Block 11a through d and the Block 11a additional comments provided in the DD 254 Continuation Sheet. When 11a is marked "YES," safeguarding is not required; Block 1b also indicates safeguarding as not applicable.

Furthermore, the Block 11a continuation sheet entry identifies where the contract performance associated with classified information will occur. There is no requirement in the resulting contract for the contractor to have his/her facility cleared for any security level of classified information.

QUESTION (Statement) 7. I am still unable to access the subject solicitation.

ANSWER (Response):

1. Ensure your company is registered in System for Award Management (SAM) in order to access posted documents.

2. Consult the FedBizOpps “Frequently Asked Question” section on “why can’t I open the open files? (Link to document viewers).” Included on the solicitation announcement is the list of document viewers.

QUESTION 8. When I opened this solicitation in the FBO, what I found this is a (RFP) but in the synopsis its says “This synpopsis-FA8555-13-R-0001 is a notice of intent and does not constitute a Request for Proposal nor obligate the Government to award a contract”, could you please confirm for me, do we need to submit response for this requirement or not?

ANSWER: Interested offerors should submit a proposal by the proposal due date of 25 MAR 13, 3:30PM

EST.

QUESTION 9. For clarification purposes for the above referenced solicitation, the only documents required to be submitted in response to the solicitation by the due date March 25th are Volume I Compensation Plan and VPPI; Volume II Past Performance Fact Sheets and Volume III Pricing information? When does the government want the offeror to submit The Management Plan (including recruiting and retention plan) A002? I understand the Safety Plan and Quality Control Plan are required after award. If travel anticipated to Korea and Germany and therefore the SOFA agreements for Korea and Germany were included as attachments.

ANSWER: Documents required to be submitted in response to this RFP are identified in section L-900, Proposal Requirements. All Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) items would be submitted after contract award based on the submission requirements contained within each specific CDRL.

QUESTION 10. In Section L.D (page 109-110) it states that “A critical subcontractor is defined as an entity…that will perform at least 30% of the total price…” and that “For each critical subcontractor…a FACTS Sheet for three (3) of their most recent and relevant contracts shall also be included.” Does this preclude inclusion of any past performance information for any teammate or subcontractor that is less than 30% of the total price? Would the Government consider evaluating past performance for subcontractors that are less than 30% equally in accordance with Section M evaluation criteria?

ANSWER: The only past performance to be evaluated for subcontractors will be that which is submitted for critical subcontractors, as defined in L-900, D., Volume II – Past Performance Factor.

QUESTION 11. How are the staffing needs that are expected to be in the upcoming solicitation, being met now? If not by the Gov, then what company?

ANSWER: The requirement is currently being fulfilled under Contract No. FA8529-11-C-0002 by Advance Core Concepts.

QUESTION 12. What is the estimated value of this contract will be? Also, is there an Industry Day planned for this?

ANSWER: In response to the first question, the estimated value of this acquisition is in the range of $35M to $36M. In response to the second question, no Industry Day is planned for this acquisition.

QUESTION 13. What is the expected FTEs for this contract?

ANSWER: See RFP Attachment 1, FACT SHEET, Paragraph F Table.

QUESTION 14. Is there an incumbent? If so who? What's the current contract number?

ANSWER: See response to QUESTION 11 above.

QUESTION 15. Will this contract require any TS clearances?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION 16. The synopsis states that at a minimum a Secret Clearance is required. Does this mean we, as a company, need a facility clearance or our employees need a Secret clearance?

ANSWER: Secret Clearance is for the employees, not the company’s facility clearance.

QUESTION 17. Do we need to submit Resumes?

ANSWER: Resumes do not need to be submitted.

QUESTION 18. Is foreign contractors in this case solely a reference to individuals who are not U.S.

citizens? Is foreign contractors in this case a reference to companies which are solely based outside the U.S? Are U.S. corporations which have any degree of foreign ownership of any type, including basic stock ownership, excluded from the definition of foreign contractors?

ANSWER: See definition of “Foreign Contractor” in FAR Part 25.

QUESTION 19.Do you have to have a facility security clearance to compete for this contract?

ANSWER: No, the solicitation is unclassified.

QUESTION 20. Will this be a single award IDIQ or multiple?

ANSWER: This will be a Single Award IDIQ.

QUESTION 21. Would you be willing to share the newly anticipated solicitation release and award time frame for FA852912R0005: Advisory and Assistant Services?

ANSWER: FA8529-12-R-0005 was changed to FA8555-13-R-0001.

QUESTION 22. With regard to Solicitation Number: FA8555-13-R-0001, Advisory and Assistance Services, what constitutes "responsible sources"? Are there written criteria? Is there a prequalification step?

ANSWER: In response to the first question, see FAR 9.104. In response to the second and third questions, there are no written criteria or prequalification steps.

QUESTION 23. Will Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) be allowed to use affiliate ANC past performances for the solicitation?

ANSWER: No

QUESTION 24. Also, is a DoD facility clearance required for this work? Our company has a DOE Q facility clearance, which is reciprocal to a DoD TS clearance.

ANSWER: See response to QUESTION 6 above.

QUESTION 25. Are you entertaining visits from industry at this time?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION 26. Will this Solicitation be released as an 8(a) Set-Aside or will other Small Businesses be considered.

ANSWER: See front page of solicitation.

QUESTION 27. FedBiz Ops shows a second release of the subject solicitation but at first glance I don’t see any changes – is this a duplicate or are there changes?

ANSWER: The second release of the solicitation posted on 26 Feb 13 is the same as the original solicitation posted on 22 Feb 13, with the exception of being in different formats. A NOTE accompanying the 26 Feb 13 release has been revised to read as follows: “If you are having difficulty opening the documents posted on 22 Feb 13 suggest accessing the documents posted on 26 Feb 13 instead.”

QUESTION 28. The Man Months in Attachment 6 do not correspond to the Man Months in Section B of the RFP. There are several CLINs in Attachment 6 that do not equal the CLINs in Section B and the resultant Man Month total in Attachment 6 is 5 FTE greater than Section B. Will the Government please clarify the apparent discrepancy between Attachment 6 and Section B?

ANSWER: Amendment 0002 is being released to correct these discrepancies.

QUESTION 29: With this type of highly technical, classified requirement, would the Government adjust the NAICS code from 541611 to 541330?

ANSWER: No - NAICS code 541611 is more applicable to this requirement than NAICS code 541330.

QUESTION 30. With the exception of the solicitation document and the Attachment 5 Labor Category Table, all RFP attachments were provided as pdf files. To facilitate the preparation of the proposal, would the Government consider providing MS Word versions of Attachments 2, 3, 4, and 5? A Word version of Attachment 5 is particularly desirable to ease the burden on our customers that must complete a Past Performance questionnaire.

ANSWER: Attachments 2, 3, 4, and 5 (in Word format) are being issued as replacements with Amendment 0002.

QUESTION 31. RFP Section L-900, paragraph A, requires submission of three copies of each of the three proposal volumes. The instructions for Volume II and III state that the three copies of these volumes are to be submitted as one hard copy and two electronic copies on CD-R or DVD-R. No more specific instructions are provided for Volume I. How many hard copies and electronic copies are required for this volume?

ANSWER: Two hard copies and one electronic copy should be submitted for Volume I.

QUESTION 32. RFP Section L-900, paragraph A, states “Print should be no smaller that a font size of 12 …” Would the Government consider permitting a font size of 10, or something other than 12 point font size, for tables, charts, and figures?

QUESTION 33. RFP Section M-900, paragraph 2.B.(iii)b., states “the evaluated price for the short option period shall be calculated as 50 percent (50%) of the evaluated price for Option IV.” RFP Attachment 6, Labor Category Table, also refers to “Opt IV” in this context. Please confirm that for this RFP, Option IV is “Order Period 5” in Attachment 6.

ANSWER: Option IV is Order Period 5.

QUESTION 34. RFP Attachment 1, FACTS Sheet, paragraph G.2., which addresses Period of Performance, requires Offerors to provide “Estimate @ completion.” Does this item refer to the estimated completion date for on-going contracts? Please clarify what is intended for this response.

ANSWER: Amendment 0002 revises FACT Sheet, paragraph G.2, to delete “Estimate @ completion”.

QUESTION 35. RFP Attachment 1, FACTS Sheet, paragraph H. requires contact information. Should Offerors include an e-mail address as well as phone and fax numbers for each individual?

ANSWER: Offerors may include e-mail addresses as part of their submitted contact information; however, this information is not required.

QUESTION 36. PWS Section 4.15.3 Employee Clearances states, “The highest security classification required by this contract is up to and including Top Secret (TS) and some position will require access to sensitive compartmented information (SCI). All positions must have at a minimum a secret clearance, unless the position requires TS/SCI.” What is the security level required to bid on this work?

ANSWER: There is no clearance requirement to bid on this work.

QUESTION 37. RFP Section L clause 5352.209-9001, Potential Organizational Conflict of Interest, states that there is a potential conflict due to personnel for competing offeror working in building 350, and indicates “appropriate measures” will be taken to mitigate the potential conflict. Is the Government implementing these appropriate mitigation efforts or is this a requirement of the contractors with personnel in the area? If it is a contractor requirement, please provide the guidelines for “appropriate measures”.

ANSWER: The government will be implementing the appropriate mitigation measures.

QUESTION 38. Can an incumbent’s related performance information (such as the content of monthly status reports) be used to develop past performance information for this proposal?

ANSWER: Refer to L-900, Proposal Requirements, Paragraph Volume II - Past Performance Factor for submission requirements.

QUESTION 39. Are headers and footers (i.e., the proprietary data markings, page numbers, etc) exempt from the font size requirement? May they be smaller than 12 point?

QUESTION 40. In section L-900, subsection D, the Government has established the definition of a critical subcontractor as one "that will perform at least 30% of the total price as proposed in Schedule B." We consider one of our teammates critical due to the nature of the expertise they bring to the work, though they do not quite meet the "30% of total price" definition. May we submit and have considered past performance for that teammate/subcontractor as well, despite the slightly lesser work percentage allocated in terms of dollars?

ANSWER: See response to QUESTION 10 above.

QUESTION 41. Does the Service Contract Act apply to the contract?

QUESTION 42. In reference to Page 86, FAR 5352.209-9000, ALTERNATE I, paragraph (a)(2)(i), Can you please define specifically what “SYSTEMS SUPPORTED BY C2ISR DIVISION” is referring to?

ANSWER: Systems supported include, but are not limited to, U-2 aircraft, Distributed Common Ground Systems, Integrated Broadcasting Service, Forward Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination, and Remotely Piloted Aircraft- Squadron Operation Center.

QUESTION 43. Sol, Page 111, Item 2), states: "FACTS Sheet may be expanded so that the filled-in FACTS Sheet for each relevant contract covers no more than both sides of three (3) 8 ½ x 11 inch pages". Can Offeror's submit their proposals single-sided? Is it acceptable to submit 6 single-sided pages?

ANSWER: Regarding FACTS Sheet submissions, these can be six single-sided pages.

QUESTION 44: Page 109, Section l, Paragraph C Volume 1 States “The total compensation plan required by FAR 52.222-46 shall be submitted as part of Volume I and shall be no more than five (5) pages…… Note: The compensation plan pertains to the offeror only. However, if a populated joint venture is formed (a joint venture in which the employees are employed by the joint venture itself and not by any individual joint venture partner), the joint venture must submit the total compensation plan for the joint venture. If an unpopulated joint venture is formed, each individual joint venture partner must submit its own total compensation plan.” If the offeror intends to use a significant Subcontractor (who will perform at least 30% of the effort) to assist in the performance of this effort, is the Subcontractor required to submit a compensation plan? If so, will another 5 pages be authorized for the Subcontractors Compensation Plan?

ANSWER: In response to the first question above, the answer is no.

QUESTION 45. Attachment 1 Present/Past Performance "Fact Sheet", page 2 has number 2c. Technical Functions followed by number 4, Performance Location. Has the number 3 been skipped or has a required item been deleted/not included?

ANSWER: Corrected in Amendment 0002.

QUESTION 46. Will there be a separate past performance confidence assessment assigned to the prime and the critical subcontractors, or a single assessment applied to the entire team? If a single assessment for the entire team, will the score be based on the aggregation of all the past performances, or some sort of weighted combination?

ANSWER: In response to the first question, the answer is no. In response to the second question, see

M-900, Paragraph 2A(iv).