TSA IV Whats New - 29 Oct 20.docx

TSA IV What’s New???

This file will provide a running log of what is placed on betaSAM concerning the Training Systems Acquisition (TSA) IV acquisition (Solicitation #FA8621-21-R-0030). We’ll not only identify the item(s) posted but also what has changed, as applicable. All questions/thoughts/concerns should be addressed to our Contract Specialist, Marcia Hall at 937-656-8265 (alternate phone 937-238-9224 [cell]), marcia.hall@us.af.mil.

29 Oct 2020: The TSA IV Industry Day will be held Monday, 16 November 2020 at 0900. This industry day will be held virtually through Microsoft Teams at the following link: Click here to join the meeting or call +1 571-388-3904,,645645827#. The link works best through Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Briefing slides will be posted to betaSAM by 12 November 2020.

Following the industry day, we will hold 1-on-1 sessions with interested companies. The 1-on-1s will be held virtually through Microsoft Teams and run from Monday, 16 November 2020 through Friday, 20 November 2020.

The following are rules of engagement for the virtual 1-on-1s:

1. Each session is limited to 30 minutes. There must be strict adherence to this allotted time to ensure all registrants have the same availability to meet with the Government.

2. The primary purpose of these sessions is to allow industry to ask specific questions to Government personnel that remain after the industry brief.

3. To ensure meaningful dialogue between industry and the Government, please do not plan to provide a capabilities brief.

The available time slots are noted below. Please send an email to Marcia Hall, marcia.hall@us.af.mil to reserve a spot. The time slots will be assigned based on the order of email receipt and a reply email will be sent with confirmation of your assigned date and time. Phone call requests will not be accepted. Several days before your scheduled time, you will receive a meeting invitation with the meeting and Microsoft Teams connection information.

9 Oct 2020: This update is to release the TSA IV draft Sections L and M and Statement of Objectives (SOO) for industry review. Please provide your questions/comments to Marcia Hall by Monday, 26 October 2020. We will post the consolidated Q&As and comments as soon as we can.

24 Sep 2020: This update is to inform industry that the Government intends to release draft TSA IV Sections L and M and Statement of Objectives (SOO) the week of 12 October for industry review/comment. In addition, since I/ITSEC has been cancelled for 2020, we intend to hold a virtual industry day and industry 1-on-1s the week of 16 November. More information will be posted for registering for 1-on-1s in early November.

29 July 2020: As the Government continues to work the acquisition strategy for TSA IV, we’d like to gather industry feedback on some possible approaches. Our intent is not to make TSA IV a “logical” follow-on to TSA III, but to ensure we are acquiring and modernizing our training systems to support the warfighter with the new technologies and innovation needed to meet the ever-changing warfighting environment. The following options are being considered:

1. Evaluate the prime offeror only to ensure all awardees can meet TSA IV SOO as a whole. Offerors would be evaluated for technical acceptability for all subfactors. Past performance (PP) would be evaluated and rated at the subfactor level (there would not be an overall PP factor rating). The subfactors would have an order of importance for the PP evaluation and award would be made via tradeoff based on the PP subfactor ratings.

2. Evaluate the prime offeror only. As part of the source selection methodology, to be eligible for award, offerors must be technically acceptable and demonstrate past performance in the Program Management subfactor, as well as at least two other subfactors. Offerors will not be required to “perform” all of the SOO paragraphs. The SOO provides a top level scope of TSA IV and what task orders may encompass. The offerors for the TSA IV ID/IQ would provide their processes/approaches at a corporate level for each subfactor and then provide past performance that demonstrates their ability to perform in those areas.

The following are the subfactors that will be used for both the Technical and PP evaluations. These are top-level subfactor descriptions and will be fleshed out as we proceed with the acquisition strategy.

Subfactor 1: Program Management

· Program Management and control

· Quality Assurance, including Quality Control Plan (QCP) Master Plan

· Risk management, including Risk Management Plan (RMP) Master Plan

· Cybersecurity and obtaining and maintaining an Authority to Operate (ATO) Subfactor 2: Engineering and Innovation

· Systems engineering, including a Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) Master Plan. the SEMP shall address the offeror's adoption and application of emerging Systems Engineering initiatives and practices, such as Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA), across their enterprise

· Configuration Management including Configuration Management Plan (CMP) Master Plan

· Concurrency modifications (e.g., ECPs), including change management process. This would also include the opportunity for the offeror to provide “innovation” concepts

· Integrating new technologies into the AF Simulator environment, generally across 2 or more “families” of simulators i.e., “innovation” Subfactor 3: Sustainment

· Contractor Logistics Support (CLS)

· Distributed Mission Operations (DMO)

· Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Materiel Shortages (DMS/MS)

· Operate Aircrew/Maintenance Training Systems, Training System Support Center (TSSC) Subfactor 4: Courseware Development/Instruction

· Training System Requirements Analysis (TSRA)

· Courseware development process

· Training management approach, which may include flexibility of providing instruction and student; adaptive types of training; Pilot Training NEXT; virtual instruction, etc.

Please direct any questions/comments/concerns to Steve Godby, steven.godby@us.af.mil and Marcia Hall, marcia.hall@us.af.mil. To assist in strategy development, request feedback be received by 6 August 2020.

9 July 2020: This is the introduction of the What’s New document to keep industry abreast of what’s happening on the TSA IV acquisition. AFLCMC/WNS (Simulators Division) has established a dedicated team to work TSA IV. This team includes:

Ms. Andrea Heeley – Program Manager, 937-656-8199, andrea.heely@us.af.mil Mr. Steve Godby – Contracting Officer, 937-713-2731, steven.godby@us.af.mil Ms. Marcia Hall – Contract Specialist, 937-656-8265, marcia.hall@us.af.mil Note: The team has changed since the program announcement in September 2019 and I/ITSEC Industry Day in December 2019.

We are progressing with the acquisition strategy process and anticipate releasing a draft Statement of Objectives (SOO), Section L, and Section M in November 2020. In addition, we intend to hold an Industry Day and one-on-one meetings with industry during the 2020 I/ITSEC.