Fair Opportunity Exception_Redacted.pdf

Justification For An Exception To Fair Opportunity

Identification (ID) Number:

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity

Agency – Air Force Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) Integration Directorate located at Hanscom Air Force Base

Contracting Activity – GSA Region 1 Federal Acquisition Service (FAS)

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved

The purpose of this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity is to award a sole source task order for Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) for the Air Force Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) Integration Directorate to to prevent a disruption of service when the on-going task order for these services expires on July 31, 2020.

A solicitation for follow-on services was competed on GSA OASIS contract Pool 1 and awarded on July 1, 2020.

However, due to , performance will not occur to prevent a break in service when the on-going task order expires on July 31, 2020. The purpose of this short-term sole source procurement is to ensure vital government services are not interrupted, .

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value)

NC3 has an immediate need for a broad range of professional acquisition, engineering, logistics, and cost analysis support services to support integrated program management of constituent systems of Air Force NC3 weapon systems in their lifecycle acquisition and sustainment activities.

Services to be provided include a variety of products and analysis services in support of NC3 activities. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications Integration Directorate (AFNWC/NC) mission is to deliver integrated NC3 capabilities that warfighters use every day to deter and assure. The Directorate ensures ongoing NC3 programs, legacy systems and new capabilities are fully integrated as part of the Air Force’s overall effort to sustain, modernize, and recapitalize the nuclear enterprise. The Directorate serves as an integrator ensuring that current and future NC3 capabilities across the spectrum are being evaluated and considered in concert.

The places of performances include Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB), MA, and Kirtland AFB, New Mexico (NM).

The total estimated value for this short-term bridge effort will be . The period of performance will be for a four-month base period and three one-month option periods. The base period performance will begin on August 1, 2020, the day after the on-going task order expires.

4. An identification of the authority permitting an Exception to Fair Opportunity FAR16.505(b) (2)(i) (A)

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A)

The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

5. A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the exception to fair opportunity

The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center’s Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3) Integration Directorate, AFNWC/NC, requires uninterrupted advisory and administrative services (A&AS) to support its day-to-day operations in support of the nation’s nuclear deterrent operations. The requested short-term bridge task order is the only way to provide continuous, critically needed services to the directorate. The directorate executes a portfolio of . An interruption of services could place

. Additionally, the directorate is responsible for technical, logistical, and programmatic integration of the

The directorate ensures that these activities come together in a cohesive and synchronized manner to enable resilient and secure communications across the nation’s nuclear enterprise. The directorate regularly supports

. A&AS support to the directorate is inextricably intertwined with all other directorate contributors to ensure mission execution. Any interruption in A&AS support poses an unacceptable risk to this no-fail mission area. Additional specific details on these unacceptable impacts are classified and, therefore, not contained in this document.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized

Request for Proposal (RFP) 47QFNA20R0001 was issued to all vendors listed under OASIS Pool 1 Small Business using FAR Part 16 procedures. The OASIS website indicated 134 contractors in this pool. The RFP was issued on March 23, 2020, and closed on April 29, 2020. proposals were received and evaluated prior to award to .

This short-term sole source action will be processed non-competitively in accordance with OASIS contract ordering procedures and FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) exceptions to the fair opportunity process. This sole source effort is being awarded for the shortest period of time possible to ensure that there will be no break in service between when the current effort ends and when the neweffort may resume performance, which will be upon completion of a protest to the new award. The agency need for services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays. A notice for this action including this justification will be publicized and posted within 30 days of task order award as required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D).

7. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable

A Time and Materials (T&M) type task order is planned for this short-term task order. Price analysis of the contractor’s proposed T&M labor rates will be conducted to ensure fair and reasonable pricing. The proposed fully burdened labor rates will be compared to the fully burdened T&M rates competitively proposed and accepted under the on-going task order and possibly also to current market research rates for the same or similar categories and services.

The proposed labor rates and total task order price will also be compared to the IGCE. Lastly, if still necessary to determine reasonableness, a cost element analysis of the fully burdened T&M rates may be examined against the costs recently proposed for the follow-on task order.

The estimate for travel costs was developed by the Air Force NC3 COR and will be included in the RFP. The contractor will be required to include this travel estimate in its proposal. During performance, anticipated travel costs will be evaluated for reasonableness and approved by the COR prior to the performance of the travel. Actual travel costs incurred will be reviewed by the COR and the GSA PM for reasonableness and compliance with the JTR prior to approval for payment.

The total Level of Effort (LOE) required to be proposed for this effort was also estimated by the COR and provided to the contractor in the RFP. . Actual hours incurred by the contractor during performance will be reviewed and determined reasonable by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) based on a review of monthly status reports, deliverables received, and feedback from task order customers prior to payment.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted

Market research was conducted in two phases to process the follow-on task order. After consideration of mandatory sources, two Requests for Information (RFIs) were posted to OASIS to identify capable sources and to assist with acquisition planning. The first RFI was issued on June 28, 2019 to July 10, 2019 to OASIS Small Business Pools 1 and 3 and also to OASIS Unrestricted Pools 1 and 3. potential sources responded to this first RFI. OASIS Small Business Pool 1 was determined the best technical fit with adequate viable sources. Due to a delay in release of the solicitation and changes in the composition of contractors contained in the OASIS pools, a second RFI was published from February 28, 2020 to March 4, 2020 to the same OASIS pools to confirm or update the prior market research results. potential sources responded to the second RFI. Analysis of the results confirmed the original acquisition strategy. Based on a review of the responses and input from the technical customer, OASIS Small Business Pool 1 was determined to offer a sufficient number of interested and capable small business vendors to ensure adequate competition from qualified contractors. The results of the market research are documented in the Market Research Report contained in the Electronic Contract File (ECF), tab 3.

Additional market research for this short-term action to prevent a disruption of service after the predecessor task order expires on July 31, 2020 was not conducted because awarding to another contractor is not a viable alternative given the unusual and compelling urgency described in paragraph 5 above. Award to any other contractor will result in a disruption of service, unacceptable delays, and unacceptable impact to the Air Force NC3 mission.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition

This sole-source action is being used to ensure a gap in service does not impede critical on-going mission support services that the contractor is currently providing to the government. This contractor is successfully providing services and has already worked through recruitment, staffing, on-boarding, training, and has been providing exceptional service to support the mission.

Changing contractors could require a complete change in current staff, adding the costs and time associated with reviewing new credentialing packages and transition-in during which time no or severely impacted services would be provided. Any lapse in coverage would cause considerable continuity of operations issues for the Air Force NC3 mission.

10. A listing of any sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition

None. This Justification and Approval will be posted within 30-days of task order award in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D). Any interest or challenges to this action will be brought to the attention of the Contracting Officer and the Competition Advocate.

11. A statement of any actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to Fair Opportunity, if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated

There are no known barriers to Fair Opportunity for subsequent actions. The on-going predecessor task order which is set to expire on July 31, 2020 was competitively awarded and the follow-on task order was also processed using competitive procedures. It is anticipated that any subsequent actions for these services will also be competitively procured.