Justification and Approval Redacted.pdf

Kunsan AB Giant Voice System Upgrade, Korea-JA21-105

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JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION (OTFAOC)

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6 Justification & Approval (J&A), Supporting Procurements under FAR Part 12, and FAR Part 15

Purchase Request Number: F3YCFA1098GW01 Contract Number: To be determined Task/Delivery Order Number: N/A Procurement Title: Kunsan Air Base Giant Voice System Upgrade Estimated Value:

Statutory Authority: Title 10 U.S.C. §2304(c)(1)

Justification for OTFAOC Number: JA21-105

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Procuring Activity Competition Advocate, hereby approve the use of other than full and open competition of the proposed contractual action pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C.2304(c)(1).

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING OFFICE:

Requesting Agency:

8th Communications Squadron Bldg. 930, Unit 2103

APO, AP 96264

Contracting Activity:

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) PL72 477 Essex Street, Building 77, Suite 129 Pearl Harbor, HI 96860-5815

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION(S): Approval is requested for a new Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract using FY21 3080 Procurement Funds. Period of Performance will be 12-months.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: Contractor to Engineer, Design, Furnish, Install, and Test (EDFI&T) a Giant Voice (GV) System at Kunsan AB, Korea. Kunsan currently has seven (7) existing Whelen Omni-directional siren speakers, one (1) directional speaker and Motorola XLT2500 radios (manufacturer discontinued). The current GV system communicates over the Very High Frequency (VHF) infrastructure, the components are degraded, it is at End of Life/End of Support (EOL/EOS), and the system cannot intelligibly and adequately announce important messages to the entire base populace. The upgrade will replace the existing VHF communication infrastructure and use the existing Indo-PACOM Partners Land Mobile Radio (IP2LMR) secured Astro 25 network communication system to provide real time intelligible voice coverage for the entire base. The Motorola APX6500 radio is the only manufacturer/model radio authorized to be used by the USAF with the GV system. The system must meet UFC 4-

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021-01 Design and O&M: Mass Notification Systems (9 Apr 2008, Change 1, January 2010), paragraph 6.3 that states “Some DOD installations are currently provided with a giant voice system for outdoor notification. Many of these systems were designed in the Cold War era and were intended to transmit tones signals, not voice signals. These systems may not adequately provide intelligible voice signals over much of the DOD installation. Closer spaced and less powerful speaker arrays are often required to achieve adequate intelligibility. Existing giant voice systems often have proved unsatisfactory in providing intelligible messages between multi-story buildings in high population density areas (such as industrial areas). Newer speaker technologies are available and should be considered for installation in these areas.” This is the condition of Kunsan’s existing Giant Voice as described in paragraph 3 above in which the current system cannot intelligibly and adequately announce important messages to the entire base populace and paragraph 5(a) below wherein the existing Giant Voice system is not designed for voice messages. The period of performance is for one year after award of the contract.

4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY:

(a) Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, 10 U.S.C.2304(c)(1). (FAR 6.302-1/DFARS 206.302-1)

5. DEMONSTRATION OF BRAND JUSTIFICATION UNIQUE QUALIFICATION: The Motorola APX6500 radio is currently the only radio approved by the government of Korea for USAF use on the Giant Voice System.

(a) Description of events. The Giant Voice system is a critical mass notification tool for providing emergency alert status updates to Kunsan AB personnel. The degraded system needs to be replaced and upgraded so there is no shortfall in this capability when the existing equipment fails. Over the past 12 months, the Giant Voice system had 7 amplifiers and 6 amplifier drivers fail. Replacement parts had to be sought from a similar decommissioned system at Kadena AB, Japan. The current Giant Voice system is not designed for voice messages, which may be a factor in the relatively large number of component failures.

(b) Justification.

(1) Minimum Government requirements. The radio to be used on the Giant Voice system must be the exact manufacturer and model number that the government of Korea has given approval to the USAF for use on the Giant Voice system.

(2) Proposed brand name. The required brand name radio is the Motorola APX6500 which is the only radio approved by the government of Korea for the USAF use on the Giant Voice system.

(3) Discussion regarding cause of the brand name situation. Kunsan AB’s Giant Voice system was installed over 10 years ago. The speaker hardware is visibly aged and deteriorated, while the activation centers continue to operate on platforms that cannot be securely patched or repaired due to obsolescence. In some areas, announcements

Page 3 of 5 Pages are inaudible or garbled at best. The existing radios on the Giant Voice system is the Motorola XTL2500 which is no longer manufactured. The entire system needs to be replaced and upgraded, to include the siren controllers and outdoor siren stacks.

The Giant Voice upgrade requires replacing the outdated XTL2500 radio with a host nation approved radio, which is the Motorola APX6500 radio. Since the APX6500 radio is a component of a system (Giant Voice) that will be operated or deployed outside the United States, it is Air Force policy per Department of the Air Force Instruction (DAFI) 17-220 Spectrum Operations that host nation coordination is required in accordance with Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 4650.01 Policy and Procedures for Management and Use of the Electromagnetic Spectrum. The APX6500 radio with its assigned frequencies was coordinated and is the only radio to receive approval from the government of Korea to be used by the USAF on the Giant Voice system. Korea approved the APX6500 radio in July 2021.

If another radio besides the APX6500 is used without coordination and approval from the Republic of Korea (ROK), it will be a violation of the US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), Article III Facilities and Areas – Security Measures.

Pursuing an alternative to the APX6500 radio will require going through the JF-12 certification with Korea to receive approval. This process can take months to over a year and there is no guarantee that the ROK will approve a different radio.

(4) Impact. If a brand name/model is not pursued, Kunsan’s Giant Voice system cannot be upgraded. If the current system is left as is, a partial or total failure of the Giant Voice system is imminent and may result in loss of life and equipment if the base populace can’t be alerted of impeding emergencies, natural disaster, contingencies, or conflict. Korea is technically still at war with North Korea so the Giant Voice system needs to be fully functional and operational at all times.

6. FEDBIZOPPS ANNOUNCEMENT/POTENTIAL SOURCES: The Request For Proposal (RFP) was initially posted on SAM.gov (formerly FEDBIZOPPS) on 2 July 2021. It was a set-aside for Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB). We received a few emails from Motorola notifying us that their small business partners cannot compete on this RFP due to the Non-Manufacturer Rule (NMR) in place and being that Motorola is a large business supplier. We sent an email to the mission partner asking if Motorola equipment was required or if “equivalent” will work, as stated in the PWS. After doing some research, the mission partner determined that Motorola equipment was the only brand that could satisfy their needs. The RFP is currently on hold while this justification is approved. DITCO-PAC has received interest from four SDVOSBs. Prior to lifting the hold on the RFP, DITCO-PAC intends to change the NAICS to a more appropriate code which will also remove the requirement for the NMR.

7. DETERMINATION OF FAIR AND REASONABLE COST: The Contracting Officer will determine that the price for this acquisition is fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 15.404-1 (a) and (b), Proposal analysis techniques.

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8. MARKET RESEARCH: Market research was conducted and there are small business vendors that are Motorola partners that are authorized to resell APX6500 radios with the original manufacturer’s warranty and capable of upgrading Kunsan’s Giant Voice system. Although the market research revealed that other vendors are able to provide a Giant Voice system, these vendors cannot meet the specific brand/model radio that the host nation Korea has approved for USAF use on the Giant Voice system.

9. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS: None.

10. LISTING OF INTERESTED SOURCES: As mentioned in Section 6 above, DITCO-PAC has received interest from four SDVOSBs.

11. ACTIONS THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME BARRIERS

THAT LED TO THE EXCEPTION TO FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION:

(a) Procurement History. The current Giant Voice system was installed by Tribalco, LLC under Contract No. HC1019-08-D-2000 Task Order 0074 dated 8 September 2009 in the amount of $982,584.15. This procurement was an 8(a) sole source award. Tribalco used Motorola equipment.

(b) Due to only one brand/model (Motorola APX6500) is able to satisfy the agency’s requirements based on market research (all components, and infrastructure based upon common vendor architecture), there is no feasible alternative to remove barriers to competition at this time. In the future, when compatibility, standardization, integration, inter-operability, warranties and host nation approval are not an issue if/when the items need to be replaced, a different brand/model of radio may be procured on a competitive basis. Until other radio vendors seek and obtain spectrum approval for their radios from the host nation, there will be no feasible alternative to remove barriers to competition.

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TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: TSgt Jacob Benner SIGNATURE: See separate signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Section Chief, Plans and Programs

PHONE: DSN 315.782.5580 DATE:

REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: Nestor Ventura SIGNATURE: See separate signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: PACAF E&I Program Manager/AFIMSC Det 2/CEO

PHONE: DSN/COM 315/808.448.4932 DATE:

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: Gwendolyn Rapoza SIGNATURE: See separate signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Contract Specialist / DITCO-PAC

PHONE: 808-786-9318 DATE:

PROCURING ACTIVITY COMPETITION ADVOCATE APPROVAL: I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Since this justification does not exceed $15M, this review serves as approval and my written determination that the aforementioned FAR circumstances apply.

NAME: Gay D. Arnold SIGNATURE: See separate signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: PACA/DISA

PHONE: 618-418-6517 DATE:

ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS JUSTIFICATION ARE TO BE REFERRED TO

Gwendolyn Rapoza, Contracting Officer, Gwendolyn.m.rapoza.civ@mail.mil, 808-786-9318.

mailto:Gwendolyn.m.rapoza.civ@mail.mil