Chambers_RFI_Final.pdf

Capability Assessment

Request for Information (RFI) Hypobaric Altitude Chambers

08 July 2019

Prepared By:

Air Force Program Executive Office Agile Combat Support (AFPEO/ACS)

Simulators Division 2300 D Street, Building 32

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433 javascript:ClickThumbnail(106)

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Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION

2. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

2.1 Program Description

2.2 Capability Required

3. BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Business Information

3.2 Capability Assessment/RFI Response

3.3 General Information

3.4 Capability Information

Hypobaric Altitude Chambers Training System Capability Information

1. INTRODUCTION

This is a Capability Assessment/RFI only in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.215-3 – Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (October 1997).

Responses to this notice are neither offers nor proposals and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Only United States companies will be considered for contract award.

Companies responding to this request are advised participation does not ensure involvement in future solicitations or contract awards. The Government will not reimburse any company or individual for any expenses associated with preparation or participation in this RFI/sources sought. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI/sources sought.

Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this RFI/sources sought, responses will be treated as information only.

The Government anticipates a FAR Part 15 acquisition for the Altitude Chambers Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) Contract follow-on program.

The Government is assessing the capability of companies, within both industry and the TSA III Small Business Pool that may possess the expertise to competently and competitively respond to a potential RFP.

The acquisition strategies have not yet been determined. Capability Assessment results will assist the Air Force in determining whether these requirements will be an 8a set-aside, unrestricted competition or a small business set-aside task order under TSA III.

2. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

2.1 Program Description

The Altitude Chambers are required to support physiological training for the following: all pilot and combat systems officer undergraduate flying training pipelines, U-2 full pressure suit (FTU and refresher) physiological training, Air Battle Manager, Career Enlisted Aviator, non-rated specialties with 9D Aviation Service Codes and Aeromedical Specialty formal courses such as those for flight surgeons, aeromedical evacuation team members, and aerospace physiology personnel.

This acquisition is a follow-on services acquisition to the current Altitude Chambers contract, which is managed by the Simulators Division (AFLCMC/WNS), Wright- Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

The requirement for the Altitude Chambers program consists of Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) and future Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs) of 12 Chambers. The training devices are located at Andrews AFB, MD; Beale AFB, CA; Columbus AFB, MS; Laughlin AFB, TX; Peterson AFB, CO; Randolph AFB, TX; Sheppard AFB, TX;

Tyndall AFB, FL; Vance AFB, OK; and Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. CLS operations include: unscheduled maintenance, scheduled maintenance, maintaining a help desk, Recompetition Support Package (RSP) management (consisting of government owned spares, support equipment, and technical documentation), configuration management, and management/recommendation of Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortage (DMSMS) issues. This effort will also include Program Management and Travel. All subsequent references to “CLS” refer to the total effort as described above.

Table 1 - Chamber Locations

Location Model # Andrews AFB, MD 20M331 (Guardite)

Beale AFB, CA 20M491 (Guardite) 6M331-B (Guardite)

Columbus, MS 10006 (CGS Scientific)

Laughlin AFB, TX 20M331 (Guardite)

Peterson AFB, CO 20M331 (Guardite)

Randolph AFB, TX 20M331 (Guardite)

Sheppard AFB, TX 20M331 (Guardite)

Tyndall AFB, FL 20M6321 (John Mohr & Sons)

Vance AFB, OK 20M331(Guardite)

Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 20M331 (Guardite) (2 ea.)

2.2 Capability Required

Hypobaric Altitude Chambers (Solicitation #FA8621-19-R-0002)

The Program Requirements can be summarized per the list below:

• CLS, Mods, Upgrades, Testing, and other support for 12 chambers at 10 sites.

• Moving the Tyndall altitude chamber to another permanent CONUS location.

• Restoring the Beale water-damaged altitude chamber to operational condition.

• Conducting a Safety and Structural Integrity Study of the Chamber Fleet

More detail for this list of requirements is provided below:

Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) As part of the Hypobaric Altitude Chambers Program, the contractor must possess the capability to provide operations, maintenance, and sustainment (OM&S) support capabilities including, Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) services, Help Desk services and the ability to evaluate, plan, develop, implement, install, and provide modifications/upgrades for the Chambers Program.

The contractor will be required to be current on all planned and actual changes to all Hypobaric Altitude Chamber devices and to develop and execute a plan detailing a cost effective and executable approach for maintaining the devices.

Sustainment of the training systems is essential to providing continued training capability. High rates of availability are required to meet the rapidly changing training needs of the weapons systems. The training systems must be updated, to account for diminishing manufacturing sources (DMS) and obsolescence.

Subordinate activities include, but are not limited to, operation of the devices, device security, facility security, and maintenance.

The contractor to provide logistics support (e.g., personnel and spare parts) to maintain and support the Altitude Chambers at ten (10) USAF sites as identified in the PWS. The contractor shall include but are not limited to the following CLS activities: inventory storage and control;

logistics analysis and supportability assessment updates; identification and management of supportability issues; acquisition of all replenishment or replacement assets and asset repairs;

disposition and disposal of obsolete and condemned support assets; execution of supportability quality audits; development and management of logistics data as a result of engineering sustainment of part obsolescence replacement; acquisition, validation and management of technical publications. Upon approval, non-stock listed parts and specialty tools will be purchased by the contractor and billed to the government. Installation will be performed by the contractor or government personnel. Parts will have the same fit and function as the part being replaced. Pending Program Office approval, and at benefit to the Government, the contractor shall have the ability to hire local trade experts to perform maintenance.

The following definitions will be used to assign priorities to Hypobaric Chamber discrepancies:

Discrepancy Category Timeline for Correction Description

Category 1 24 hours to provide plan, 2 weeks for resolution

If not corrected, the discrepancy may cause death, severe injury, occupational illness, major system damage, or loss.

The discrepancy must be corrected before training can resume.

Category 2 48 hours to provide plan, 2 weeks for resolution

The discrepancy prevents training from occurring. The discrepancy must be corrected before training can resume.

Category 3 Calendar Days determined by AETC and Program Office

All other discrepancies. The lead command, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and the Program Office will determine when these discrepancies will be corrected.

Modifications and Upgrades The contractor will be required to establish a process to integrate all technical disciplines (including engineering, configuration management, logistics, and test) to upgrade the training system, spares, and support equipment to ensure training is available to support these changes in the training system.

Testing

The contractor shall have the ability to develop and execute comprehensive Acceptance Test Procedures (ATP) for all Chamber devices and modification/sustainment efforts.

Tyndall Chamber CONUS Move Hurricane Michael’s destruction of the Tyndall altitude chamber facility has necessitated our requirement to move the Tyndall altitude chamber system to another permanent location within the CONUS. This should be done as soon as possible to mitigate continued aircrew training disruption.

Beale Chamber Water-Damage Restoration We require the water damaged chambers at Beale AFB be restored to operational condition. This should be done as soon as possible to mitigate continued aircrew training disruption.

Safety Study These systems are nearing 70 years old and are beginning to show signs of wear that have not previously been noted. The study requires an evaluation and comprehensive report of the structural integrity and safety of all 12 Hypobaric Altitude Chambers Training Systems, including both quantitative and qualitative reports concerning:

• Structural integrities of all components including, but not limited to:

o Walls, floors, ceilings, viewports, valves, pipes, and other fixtures o Doors, seals, and hinges o Electrical wiring and insulation o Intercom systems o Oxygen systems and supply lines o Compressed air systems o Rapid decompression systems o Manual override control systems o Emergency backup systems

• Accuracy, precision, and calibration qualities of all metrological components.

• Remaining expected life of each chamber, measured in years, and as measured in cycles—based on expected usage for structural items. Include the rationale used to arrive at this life assessment.

• Other structural or safety concerns that would be of interest to the USAF.

• Comparative analysis of features of the current chambers versus modern variants. i.e., in the older chambers, O2 levels must be vented manually, which causes them to lose altitude.

Contract Specifications The contract will commence on or about the 4th Quarter of CY20. The Government anticipates contract period of performance to be a 1-year base period with (4) 1-year option periods.

3. BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Business Information

In response to this RFI/sources sought, please provide the following business information for your company/institution and for any teaming or joint venture partners:

• Company/Institute Name:

• Address:

• Point of Contact:

• Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code:

• Phone Number:

• E-mail Address:

• Web Page URL:

Firms responding to this announcement should indicate whether they are an other than small business, small disadvantaged business (SDB), woman-owned small business (WOSB), economically disadvantaged women-owned small business (EDWOSB), 8(a)-certified business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), or Historically Underutilized Business Zone small business (HUBZone). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this action is 541330, size standard of $35M. All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a DoD contract.

3.2 Capability Assessment/RFI Response

The Government is assessing the small business industry to determine the Government’s ability to set this acquisition aside for the Small Business (primarily 8a companies). The results of this assessment will allow the Government to make a determination as to whether these efforts will be set aside for the Small Business Pool or issued under the Unrestricted Pool. It is advised that your company provide a sufficient response to all capability questions to allow the Government to appropriately assess your company’s capabilities.

If there is demonstrated interest and capability sufficiently identified among the small business prime contractors, then a Small Business Set-Aside will be considered. A key factor in determining if an acquisition will be a Small Business Set-Aside is that two or more potential small business prime contractors must be capable of performing at least 50% of the effort.

3.3 General Information

The Government is soliciting responses from both the small business industry, (primarily

8a companies) and TSAIII small business contractors. If you are a TSAIII contractor, only one response is necessary.

In your response, please provide the following general information for your company/institution and for any teaming partners:

1. If subcontracts or teaming are anticipated to be used, provide a reasonable expectation for both small and other than small business utilization as a percent of total task order value. Provide specific details on how your company will comply with FAR clause 52.219-14, Limitations to Subcontracting. Delineate the small business utilization percentage and provide rationale for the recommended percentage. Teaming and/or subcontracting arrangements should be clearly stated, and previous experience in teaming must be provided.

2. What data do you require of the Government in order to assemble a proposal for this effort?

Direct and concise responses are preferred. Marketing material is considered an insufficient response to this Capability Assessment/RFI. Please limit responses to electronic submissions no more than 10 8.5”x11” pages, using Microsoft Word or PDF format. This includes all graphs and charts. A point of contact that can represent your company should be identified to answer further Government inquiries and provide explanations that might be needed with regard to the information provided. Respondents should indicate which portions, if any, of their response are proprietary and should mark them accordingly.

Formal responses should be e-mailed to pamela.randall.1@us.af.mil, porscha.hicks@us.af.mil and laura.dazzio@us.af.mil. Responses are due NLT 3:00 PM EST 07 Aug 2019. The Government may converse with respondents regarding this RFI. Such conversations are intended to clarify potential capability to perform the requirements. Technical questions regarding this RFI should be submitted in writing to the following as appropriate:

Technical POC

Ms. L. Elaine Dazzio Chambers Program Manager laura.dazzio@us.af.mil 937-656-8076

Contractual questions may be addressed to Ms. Pamela K. Randall, Chambers

Contracting Officer, pamela.randall.1@us.af.mil, (937) 656-8055.

3.4 Capability Information

In response to this RFI, please provide the following specific information for your company. If a responding company is capable of some, but not all, please provide a response that explains the requirements for which you are capable.

mailto:pamela.randall.1@us.af.mil mailto:porscha.hicks@us.af.mil mailto:laura.dazzio@us.af.mil mailto:laura.dazzio@us.af.mil

Hypobaric Altitude Chambers Training System Capability Information In response to this Capability Assessment/RFI, please provide the following capability information specific to the Hypobaric Altitude Chambers requirements. Please note that any capabilities or experiences discussed in your answers that do not correlate to the Chambers Program devices may not be considered in our analysis.

1. Describe briefly the capabilities of your company and the nature of the goods and/or services you provide.

2. Describe your company’s technical competencies and experience in sustaining Hypobaric Altitude Chambers devices. Include contract numbers, a brief description of the work performed, the company’s role (whether prime or subcontractor), period of performance, agency/organization supported, and individual points of contact (Contracting Officers or Program Managers). Provide no more than 5 examples.

3. Describe your specific capabilities to sustain a Hypobaric Altitude Chamber systems. Be sure to include any information relevant to your experience with attaining system availability, identifying and resolving obsolescence issues, and maintaining a Recompetition Support Package.

4. Describe your document maintenance process and your modification development, test, distribution, and installation processes.

5. What experience do you have maintaining training device technical data and engineering drawings? What is your expertise in successfully obtaining and working with COTS items containing limited or restricted rights, and/or third-party proprietary data?

6. What experience do you have modifying and maintaining Hypobaric Altitude Chambers devices?

7. What experience, if any, do you have in:

• Moving altitude chambers to other CONUS locations.

• Restoring water-damaged Altitude Chambers to operational condition.

• Conducting safety and structural integrity studies of aging Altitude Chambers under the following requirements:

These systems are nearing 70 years old and are beginning to show signs of wear that have not previously been noted. The study requires an evaluation and comprehensive report of the structural integrity and safety of all 12 Hypobaric Altitude Chambers Training Systems, including both quantitative and qualitative reports concerning:

• Structural integrities of all components including, but not limited to:

o Walls, floors, ceilings, viewports, valves, pipes, and other fixtures o Doors, seals, and hinges o Electrical wiring and insulation o Intercom systems o Oxygen systems and supply lines o Compressed air systems o Rapid decompression systems o Manual override control systems o Emergency backup systems

• Accuracy, precision, and calibration qualities of all metrological components.

• Remaining expected life of each chamber, measured in years, and as measured in cycles—based on expected usage for structural items. Include the rationale used to arrive at this life assessment.

• Other structural or safety concerns that would be of interest to the USAF.

• Comparative analysis of features of the current chambers versus modern variants. i.e., in the older chambers, O2 levels must be vented manually, which causes them to lose altitude.

8. Assuming a contract award in first quarter fiscal year 2020, how soon could your company ramp up to support the Hypobaric Altitude Chamber program? What, if any, specialized personnel or outside resources need to be obtained before ramp up?

9. Describe the major risks you foresee in executing an effort of this scope. What steps will you likely take to mitigate these risks?

10. Offerors will be required to comply with 13 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 121.406, which requires offerors to either be the manufacturer or producer of ECP end items, or comply with an exception as a non-manufacturer, a kit assembler, or a supplier under Simplified Acquisition Procedures. For ECP Modifications and Upgrades, please describe in detail how you will either comply with 13 CFR 121.406(a)(1) or qualify under 13 CFR 121.406(a)(2) for one of the exceptions under 13 CFR 121.406(b), (c) or (d).

11. As the effort for this proposed set-aside is considered by the Government to be one for Services, offerors will be required to comply with subpara (c)(1) of FAR 52.219-14, which requires that "[a]t least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the concern." Please describe in detail how you will satisfy the requirements of FAR 52.219-14(c)(2) and for this effort.

12. If you intend to subcontract part of this requirement, explain how you will comply with 13 CFR. § 121.103, which has affiliation and ostensible subcontractor restrictions, requiring the prime contractor to perform primary and vital requirements of this contract.