TOS II_RFI_3_Final.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) No. 3

FA9101-22-R-B001, Test Operations and Sustainment (TOS) II

26 October 2022

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT A NOTICE OF SOLICITATION ISSUANCE. THIS IS A

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY. This RFI is ISSUED for the purpose of developing a viable solicitation that will best communicate the Government’s requirements to industry. Response to this RFI is strictly voluntary and will not affect any firm’s ability to submit an offer if, or when, a solicitation is released. Foreign participation will not be authorized if, or when, a solicitation is released. The requested information is for planning purposes only and does NOT constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued. No entitlement to payment by the Government of direct or indirect costs or charges will arise as a result of the submission of information in response to this RFI. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any improperly identified proprietary information. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable Government regulations.

Formal notices will be posted on SAM.gov website, https://sam.gov/content/home.

GENERAL INFORMATION: On 26 January 2022, the Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) posted RFI No. 1 to inform industry of the recompetition of its Test Operations and Sustainment (TOS) operating contract. In addition, the RFI asked industry to respond to questions in order to gather information to begin an assessment of the capabilities and interests in work at AEDC. The responses also served to help AEDC begin to formulate an acquisition strategy for the follow-on contract. Responses to RFI No. 1 provided AEDC with broad information on interest in the effort to be contracted. On 8 June 2022, AEDC posted RFI No. 2 requesting industry feedback on various topics that included cross-teaming, reach back, quality system, contract length and contract type to name a few. If you have not responded to RFI No. 1 or No. 2, AEDC suggests you consider doing so. Having complete and accurate data will ensure we have the best industry feedback possible.

We also appreciate the inputs provided under RFI No. 2, as we have again utilized these inputs in the formulation of the TOS II acquisition strategy, and to brief AEDC, Air Force Test Center (AFTC), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), and Air Force leadership.

PURPOSE: The purpose of RFI No. 3 is to request industry feedback on additional topics.

AEDC intends to use the information gathered from this effort to continue formulating an acquisition strategy for the follow-on contract.

PROCESS: For RFI No. 3, the Government has attached an initial Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) for TOS II.

1. AEDC tentatively plans to host Industry Day #3 in early December 2022.

a. Would you prefer Industry Day #3 to be held as an in-person event or would you prefer a virtual event similar to Industry Day #1?

b. What topics would you like briefed at Industry Day #3?

c. Would you be interested in participating in one-on-one sessions with Government Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)? If so, what areas or topics would you like to discuss? If you would like to discuss the PWS, what sections of the PWS would you like to discuss? What would be a reasonable allotment of time for such one-on-one sessions?

In order to allow time to appropriately plan Industry Day #3, the Government requests that you email your response to Question 1 to the TOS II Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO), Ms.

Rebecca Gardner, at AEDC.SSO@us.af.mil, by close of business 2 November 2022.

2. Based on feedback previously received from industry and stakeholders and incorporated into the Clause, the Government requests review and feedback on Attachment 1 – Draft H115 Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI) Clause (DATE: TBD).

3. The Government requests review and feedback on Attachment 2 – Draft H050 Rights in Information and Data Clause (DATE: TBD).

4. The Government requests review and feedback on Attachment 3 – Draft TOS II PWS.

5. The Government is contemplating the recommendation to utilize the Highest Technically Rated Offeror (HTRO) source selection evaluation approach. This evaluation approach allows awards to the highest technically rated proposals that are also found to have a realistic and reasonable price without using trade-offs between cost or price and technical.

a. Do you have experience with contracts of similar size, scope, and complexity where the source selection evaluation utilized HTRO? If so, was a cost realism analyses performed and what methodology was used (if known)?

b. Please describe any benefits/drawbacks you see with using this method for TOS II.

c. Please submit any examples you might have where HTRO was used for evaluation as well as any lessons learned.

6. Based on the anticipated TOS II workload surge for capital improvements, the Government is contemplating which contract type would be best suited to meet these future needs. Please provide input on whether you would prefer a ‘C’ type contract or an indefinite delivery ‘D’ type contract and why.

7. Based on the contractor purchasing waiver process described in the Contracting TOS II Industry Day 2 presentation (slide 6) located in the TOS II Competition Library and in the attached Draft PWS (Section 3.17.6), the Government requests feedback on whether you would recommend the threshold to be $50K or increased to $100K. If so, please provide your rationale.

8. Submit any additional comments or suggestions that you would like to share with us regarding this acquisition.

9. Cost models will be forthcoming.

Email your responses to Questions 2 through 7 to the TOS II Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO), Ms. Rebecca Gardner, at AEDC.SSO@us.af.mil by noon CST 28 November 2022. Note that official information regarding this acquisition will be provided by the PCO. Any information received from other sources should not be relied upon as official. Any comments/responses received from industry pertaining to this RFI No. 3 will NOT be posted on public web sites.

Further information and descriptions of AEDC facilities may be found on our website at www.arnold.af.mil by following the link under About Us to the Test Capabilities Guide. Also, the TOS II Competition Library is located at www.arnold.af.mil/Home/TOSII. This website will be routinely updated with additional information as it becomes available.

Attachments

1. Draft H115 Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI) Clause

2. Draft H050 Rights in Information and Data Clause

3. Draft TOS II PWS