FAR-Part16-EFOJ_Final_Redacted.pdf

FAR Part 16 Exception to Fair Opportunity Justification

Control No: JA-19-C-521 Contractor: QED

Program/Equipment: DCGS-A

DSN:

Signature:

Under Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Contracts

For Actions Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)

1. Contracting Activity: Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-

APG)

2. Description of Action: Program Manager Distributed Common Ground System-Army (PM DCGS-A) requests a bridge task order with Firm-Fixed Price (FFP), Cost Plus Fixed Fee Term (CPFF) and Cost Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) to contract number W15P7T-17-D-0125 with QED Systems LLC (hereinafter referred to as QED), 6165 Guardian Gateway Ste T, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 21005. The Government projects award for 20 August 2019 and fiscal year 2019 Other Procurement Army funds will be used.

An Acquisition Plan for the base contract, W15P7T-17-D-0125, was approved by the Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting (PARC) in accordance with DFARS 207.103(d)(i)(B) on 10 February 2015, at the base level of the Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) multiple award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract vehicle. An AP update is not required at the task order level.

3. Description of Services: The DCGS-A Program Office has a requirement for System Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) services in the following areas:

acquisition management, administrative support, operations, graphics, human system integration, engineering, technical and logistics.

The DCGS-A provides for a common set of hardware and software functionality to support interoperability with Army, Joint Service and Allied forces intelligence missions. It connects Soldiers to Joint Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Platforms and Sensors, the Intelligence Community, other Services and Army Mission Command Systems. DCGS-A enhances Soldier situational awareness, provides analysts with all-source intelligence and improves Commander’s ability to destroy the enemy and protect the force. It is the intelligence program that enables Mission Command’s battle visualization, situational awareness, current and future operations. It consists of laptops, transit case servers and transport vehicles with mounted shelter units, enclosed hardware, software, crew support equipment, and external support equipment. Each DCGS-A client laptop workstation is capable of performing All Source and single source intelligence discipline (SIGINT, MASINT, GEOINT, HUMINT and CI) processing, exploitation, dissemination, tasking and reporting operational missions.

DCGS-A delivers intelligence analysis, processing, exploitation and dissemination capabilities to 30,000+ Army Intelligence soldiers and provides critical linkages between the Army and DOD and Intelligence Community systems. This capability is crucial to delivering intelligence information to warfighting Commanders on the disposition, actions and intentions of the enemy.

The support provided under this requirement includes staff that: directly works with Army units to enable fielding and training of DCGS-A systems, addresses issues with and designs hardware configurations for fielding, provides support necessary to allow the PM to field identified hardware and software baselines, identify and support procurement of licenses needed for DCGS-A systems to operate in accordance with Commercial license agreements, addresses issues with fielded systems identified by deployed and deploying units, develop materials required to train fielded units, support accreditation and certification of DCGS-A systems required for these systems to operate when deployed, and provide logistics support required to allow deployment of DCGS-A systems.

In order to avoid a break in support, the Government requires a bridge task order to QED to include the remaining 41-days (21 August 2019-30 September 2019) of phase-in period , performance of 65.5 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs)

, and travel and material required through 30 January 2020.

4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C. 2304c(b)(1) as implemented by 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. Reason for Authority Cited: The services provided on this contract are critical to the ability of PM DCGS-A to deliver DCGS-A capabilities to Army warfighting units, including units deployed in support of ongoing combat operations, and to the development and procurement of next-generation Intelligence capabilities in support of Army Modernization Priorities. DCGS-A is the Army Intelligence analysts’ primary warfighting tool, without it their ability to understand the battlefield environment and convey that information to Commanders and troops in combat is severely degraded. Any break in support to PM DCGS-A would be detrimental to the ability to deliver these capabilities to the warfighter on the schedule and in accordance with priorities established by the Army.

As described in Paragraph 3, the support provided is critical to the ability to develop, deploy and operate DCGS-A capabilities. Without this mission critical support, PM DCGS-A is at substantial risk of being unable to deploy systems to Army units to support ongoing combat operations which would result in mission failure and possible loss of life.

On 31 July 2019, ACC-APG awarded task order W56KGY-19-F0096 for the services described above to QED. The awarded task order allowed for a two month Phase-In Period from 31 July 2019-30 September 2019, a 10-month Base Period (1 October 2019-31 July 2020), and four 12-month Option Periods (1 Aug 2020-31 July 2024).

On 13 August 2019, a protest was received from Engineering Solutions & Products on this award and a stop work order modification was issued to QED’s task order on 13 August 2019. The current incumbent contract is being performed under contract

W56KGY-16-D-0008 0002 by Millennium Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Millennium), 1400 Crystal Drive, Suite 400, Arlington, VA 22202 and expires 30 September 2019.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will not issue a decision until 21 November 2019. PM DCGS-A cannot have a break in services while the protest is resolved. ACC- APG is seeking a bridge task order to QED while the protest decision is made.

This value is based on the competitive proposal received in response to RS3 solicitation RS3-18-0065 and includes the remaining 41-days (21 August 2019-30 September 2019) of phase-in period costs

, performance of 65.5 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) , and travel and material required through 30 January 2020.

If GAO dismisses the protest on or before 21 November 2019, the Government will issue a termination for convenience to this bridge task order and QED will resume performance under the originally awarded task order. No associated costs are expected for this termination because QED would continue work without break in service.

GAO will require 100-days to adjudicate this protest. The Government cannot wait 100-days for this work to begin due to the criticality of the systems described in paragraph 3 above. This capability must be maintained in order for mission continuity. Any delay in this mission critical capability is unacceptable.

There is insufficient time to provide all awardees with a fair opportunity to compete for the bridge task order under the RS3 MA IDIQ. The protest was not filed until 14 August 2019 and it is not possible to compete and award a new requirement within 45 days. On average, awards executed under the RS3 IDIQ require 90-days from requirements package receipt to award. Based on historical experience working on this contract and the previous iteration, Rapid Response Third Generation (R2-3G), this timeline is accurate for the type of services required for this action and the dollar threshold. PM DCGS-A would need to develop a requirements package for the 4-month task order (est. 10 days), receipt of proposal (est. 30 days), evaluation of proposals (est.

30 days based on number of proposals received), discussions (est. 10 days), award decision (est. 10 days). Accordingly, providing a fair opportunity to all RS3 awardees would result in break in services of approximately six (6) weeks.

Awarding this bridge task order to QED is in the best interest of the Government. QED has demonstrated the ability to peform the services required under this bridge contract, as it is for the same services that were solicited under the RS3-18-0065. QED’s proposal met all requirements of solicitation RS3-18-0065 and was determined to provide the best value to the Government. It received an outstanding rating for its Management Plan. Of the eligible offerors, no proposals provided additional benefits or distinguishing factors that outweighed the Management Plan of QED. QED will have the required workforce in place to successfully perform this requirement with no break in services to DCGS-A, by the expiration of Millenniums’ contract on 30 September 2019.

In addition, the alternative of extending the PoP of the incumbent task order from 30 September-30 January 2020 is not in the best interest of the Government. Specifically, a 4-month extension based on Millennium’s current burn rate will cost the Government approximately . In contrast, awarding a bridge task order to QED will cost the Government . Therefore, the Government will benefit from an savings if a 4.5-month bridge task order is awarded to QED rather than extending the current incumbent task order for 4 months.

6. Actions to Increase Competition: Based on the urgency of this action it is not feasible to break-up any portion of this requirement due to the criticality of this mission.

7. Market Research: Market research was conducted for the initial requirement. This bridge is identical to the initial requirement which was issued competitively. Market research was not conducted for this particular bridge effort.

8. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History:

1. Contract: W56KGY-19-F-0096 Contractor: QED Systems, LLC Award Date: 31 July 2019 Competitive Status: 100% Small Business Set-Aside Authority: FAR Part 16 Procurement Status: Protested

2. Contract number: W56KGY-16-D-0008/0002 Contractor: Millennium Corp Description of requirement: PM DCGS-A SETA Support Method of procurement: SBSA on B2S2 IDIQ Contract type: CPFF Period of performance: 08 Sep 2016 – 30 Sep 2019 Total awarded amount:

Number of option periods: two (2) twelve (12) month option periods Number of Offerors: unknown Source Selection Method: Best Value Trade-Off Basis for fair and reasonable pricing: Competition and Cost Realism Analysis

9. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Typed Name: Date: 21 August 2019 Title: Signature:

10. Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Title: Signature:

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on the cost realism and price analysis conducted on the competitive proposals received in response to solicitation RS3-18-0065.

Title: Contracting Officer

12. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Title: Contracting Officer

Approval Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of DCGS-A SETA Support in the amount of using an exception to fair opportunity pursuant to the authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A), Urgency, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

TYPED NAME: Date: 21 August 2019

Signature: