Compiled SS QnA_MRSG SIGINT_ao 22Dec21.pdf

Compiled Questions – H92257-22-U-0004

MRSG SIGINT Training

Sources Sought Questions

As of 22DEC21

# Questions/Comments

1 Q: For each of the training events the POI min and max length are listed, as well as the field training exercise(s) of varying length. Is the lodging/housing requirements for these exercises necessary only for those periods of RMT with the classroom POI taking place at the

MRTC classroom? Or is the lodging/building requirements there for instruction AND the RMT? In other words, are we teaching the students at Stone Bay/CLNC and then they’re ‘deploying’ to a team house for the exercise, or are we doing everything from TD 1 ->

ENDEX in a Contractor provided building?

A: All training (classroom, exercise, etc.) will take place in the contractor-provided location/facility. The government will not provide any facility support for any of the SIGINT courses.

2 Q: In the Advanced SIGINT/EW Tactics course (para 3.6.2) the minimum number of students is “three (2)”. Request clarification on that bullet please.

A: The minimum number of students for the Advanced SIGInT/EW

Tactics course is three (3). The final SOW will correct this error.

3 Q: How far in advance will the courses be scheduled?

A: Courses shall be scheduled at least 60 days in advance but no less than 30 to allow for required timelines of POI discussion to occur.

Amendment 2 (SOW) updated to reflect these details.

4 Q: Will courses run consecutively or with time in between? Is there a change that courses could be executed concurrently?

A: It would be expected that HFRAT, DPTCAT, ASECOD, and

AWAT would be run consecutively with minimal days off between scheduling. TBTSFMP and ASEWTT are team based courses that would be individually utilized by units from within the organization under different timelines.

5 Q: Will equipment that the contractor is responsible for furnishing be specified by the government, or is that equipment specified at the discretion of the contractor?

A: Equipment specifications can be done at the discretion of the contractor but may have input from government to address gaps in capability.

6 Q:

• Regarding the FMP course, is 25km of mountainous terrain a hard number?

• Is the requirement 25 square kilometers of mountainous terrain or a 25km straight line distance of mountainous terrain?

• Does the 25km of land need to be privately owned/leased or can known government venues be utilized?

A: The 25km area is not a hard requirement but close to the expected movement requirements to meet objectives. This would be measured in straight line distance and should not be a government venue unless off military training installations to reduce overhead requirements.

7 Q: Are active Mode certifications required for instructors?

A: Yes, as specified the primary instructor must have an active certification.

8 Q: Is co-located lodging a hard requirement? Is off-site lodging an option (i.e. hotel or off-side house)?

A: Due to security requirements and expected after-hours development this is the preferred method. Consideration for separation can be made depending on layout or distance to classroom.

9 Q: Are you able to share the anticipated type of contract?

A: Each course will be assigned its own FFP CLIN.

10 Q: Is the Contractor required to have a house or commercial property

(owned/leased) in both Onslow and New Hanover counties?

A: No, SOW specified Onslow “or” New Hanover counties.

11 Q: Would the government consider utilizing a fully functional secure training center which included classroom space, student housing and secure storage at the contractor’s existing training center outside of

Onslow and New Hanover counties, yet still within the State of North

Carolina?

A: Yes, please provide in any future capabilities statement.

12 Q: Will any of the six courses run simultaneously or overlapped?

scheduling. TBTSFMP and ASEWTT are team based courses that would be individually utilized by units from within the organization under different timelines. Amendment 2 (SOW) updated to reflect the possibility of running consecutive courses.

13 Q: What are the specific storage requirements and what level of storage?

A: Facility Security Clearance (FCL) is not tied to specific storage requirements but eligibility for a contract to be evaluated for storage or access to classified information. Storage requirements by course will be facilitated through the government TSCIF process.

(https://www.state.gov/facility-security-clearances-faq/)

14 Q: Does the contractor select the software suites/programs that will be used with the SDR or does the government have specific requirements?

If so, what those requirements?

A: GOTS will have specified requirements, COTS can be developed or chosen by contractor. Emerging requirements may shift as access to specific software becomes available by the government. (Amendment

2 (SOW)).

15 Q: Does the contractor pick the SDR system or does the government have specific requirements? If so, what are those requirements?

A: GOTS will have specified requirements, COTS can be developed or chosen by contractor. Emerging requirements may shift as access to specific software becomes available by the government. (Amendment

2 (SOW)).

16 Q: Does the contractor pick the laptop type and manufacturer or does the government have specific requirements? If so, what are those requirements?

A: Contractor chosen but must meet system requirements to run software and hardware sufficiently to not hinder end state.

(Amendment 2 (SOW)).

17 Q: Does the government want or desire the POI’s for each course to be

ACE Credit recommended for college credits?

A: No

18 Q: How many students do you expect?

A: Number of students vary based on course. The SOW describes the minimum and maximum number of students per class, as well as the student-instructor ratio requirements.

19 Q: How many courses per year do you project?

A: The SOW describes the minimum number of courses MARSOC anticipates requesting per fiscal year, based on historical data, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

20 Q: What equipment are the students to be trained on? GFE or contractor equipment? I understand computer/laptops, etc are contractor furnished, I am referring specifically to the SIGINT specific equipment.

A: GOTS equipment will follow the JWTS catalog.

21 Q: If the Incumbent (Vector Solutions) has purchase kits do they belong to the USG? If so, can those kits be utilized to execute the training? That will save on cost and only require the incoming contractor the ability to upgrade, the necessary components such as

Laptops, SDRs, Cables, Antennas, Connectors etc.?

A: Future iterations will not follow the past model and be built upon the kit through the core courses. See (Para. 3.1.5)

22 Q: Will we have access immediately upon award to inventory and make recommendations to purchase/repair worn out equipment like but not limited to Laptops, SDRs, Cables, Antennas, Connectors etc.

A: Future iterations will not follow the past model and be built upon the kit through the core courses. See (Para. 3.1.5)

23 Q: Is the 25KM of land mentioned is that meant to state “25

SQKM”? Why couldn’t Camp Lejeune be utilized to reduce cost of leasing the land? We will request to get range safety certified and the contractor is responsible for their own insurance. If that is not feasible, what location is being utilized by the incumbent so we can request to lease the land?

A: Utilization of CLNC also comes with the additional range requirements that are not supportable/sustainable. The incumbent utilizes land that is currently owned by the contractor.

24 Q: Are the training courses going to be executed sequential or simultaneously?

scheduling. TBTSFMP and ASEWTT are team based courses that would be individually utilized by units from within the organization under different timelines.

25 Q: You mention the POI but not the Training Support Packages? Will we have access to all prior to start and will there be any major curriculum development required?

A: The contractor is responsible for developing POI and Support packages, utilizing best practices, lessons learned, current industry standards, etc.

26 Q: Can you clarify that the students will be responsible for attaining their vehicles for training? We will not be required to lease any vehicles for them.

A: See vehicle requirements in SOW (Para 3.0.1.2)

27 Q: Will we be provided the geographic training area going to include the no go zones for student safety or will be required to work with

LEA? Is the training going to take place vic Hanover, Pender, Onslow and Carteret similar to other training courses conducted?

A: LEA support will be developed from the government to support the training location. Training and notifications are standard for all events coordinated by government.

28 Q: Paragraph 1.4 of this SOW outlines acceptable training locations, is this a typo?

A: 1.4 Places of Performance: Due to security requirements, the government anticipates most training will occur in Onslow or New

Hanover counties in North Carolina or other agreed upon training locations that meet the specific POI requirements. The contractor may choose to utilize a house or commercial property rented or owned by the contractor but should maintain a consistent location throughout the performance of the contract. Government will delineate specific locations in each task order. The government will not provide any facility support and Camp Lejeune ranges/land may not be utilized for training.

29 Q: Are we going to need DMR Repeaters? If so, how much time will we have to put this in place as there are a lot of moving parts to get this established within the time constraints provided in the SOW?

A: Specific requirement is not identified for specific repeaters and can be executed in varying ways depending on how the POI is approached.

30 Q: Will we be provided a copy of the RTT prior executing the training to ensure we stay within the required spectrum to mitigate a RF violation?

A: Yes

31 Q: Is the SCS the only way to go? As I assume a lot of companies like myself are not on the SCS vehicle or are not on the GSA schedule. The number of companies that constantly ask me to partner up for opportunities like this because though they are on the SCS they cannot execute to the level required to train and educate our servicemembers with a result to increase their combat capabilities.

A: The original Source Sought notice had an error and was corrected on Dec. 9 to reflect that this effort will be solicited open market, not via the SCS vehicle.

32 Q: Is this an FFP or T&M? If an FFP, Will we the COTs equipment be specified as to reduce the ODC pricing and save the client funds. Or you will it be a T&M to manage cost and only procure what is approved/required. Example: The comment about owning the

HF equipment after purchase tells me you either know the gear you want due to the incumbent ODCs purchases and or just want to own the kits after its procured. Will that list of COTs be provided so we can price it correctly during proposal?

A: COTS list can be developed but also looking for updated commercial means to meet the requirements. Expected the student and kit requirement will be provide prior to the task order quote.

33 Q: Is this a LPTA?

A: Due to the fact the awardee will be responsible for course development, course evaluation and training site(s), and because of the technical specificity of the required training, we anticipate performing a tradeoff acquisition strategy. This decision will be annotated in the formal RFP instructions.

34 Q: I recommend that companies are ISO: 9001 and 27001 certified along with an adequate accounting system that will demonstrate to the client that the risk is extremely low because the contractor has resources, processes, and standards in place to be successful.

A: Recommendation will be taken under consideration. Interested offerors should list all certifications they currently hold.

35 Q: Why is the term contracts manager vice program manager to reduce cost or are they synonymous? There is a lot of ambiguity which could lead to risk of bad performance and or management of the contract so it can be properly executed. As a former COR I need to make sure my contractors are accountable for the execution via a Program Manager and by using the term Contracts Manager seems like the USG is absorbing the risk for the program/project. In the industry Contracts

Manager is different from a PM. Nonetheless, I do have a dedicated

Contracts Manager that works in conjunction with the PM.

A: Recommendation will be taken under consideration and final decision to be made during formal RFP process.

36 Q: We have provided this same training for similar clients many times. We have always found there was extraordinary value in conducting training and exercises in settings that reflected likely mission areas and that were unfamiliar to the students. The lack of familiarity drove a far more realistic mission planning challenge.

What is the Government’s willingness and criteria for considering other CONUS locations?

A: Considerations will be made but weighed against timelines for personnel and equipment movement.

36 Q: “The training facility will be of suitable size to accommodate living, working, class, and temporary storage space for the students in the class.”

Does the Government envision or require the training facility as a single structure or building? Are multiple buildings, optimized for each of the desired capabilities, acceptable? If multiple buildings are acceptable, what would be the maximum dispersion acceptable to the

Government?

After a cursory review of the New Hanover County Use and Zoning

Ordinances, it seems difficult, though not impossible, to design a single facility that would receive a special use permit to combine the functions of lodging and government services and be fully compliant with local law.

A: Multiple buildings are acceptable, however, factors such as distance, logistics, as well as any impact to training, will be taking into consideration.

37 Q: In order to determine an approximate amount of FTEs for the overall effort, will we get a tentative annual schedule or frequency of training for the six courses when the RFP is issued?

A: The SOW does discuss the anticipated frequency of each course.

However, the government can provide an approximation of what it anticipates for annual scheduling.