JA_Other than Full and Open Competition_Redacted.pdf

DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY

8725 JOHN J. KINGM AN ROAD, STOP 6201

FORT BELVOIR, VA 22060-6201

Approved: 16 October 2008

Modified: 26 May 2023

April 4, 2024

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Amendment II

1. Nature and/or Description of Action

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) contracting activity proposes to procure, on a sole-source basis, a 1-month continuation of ongoing subject matter expertise currently being offered under contract ‘HDTRA1-23-C-0022’ to provide fully integrated advisory and assistance support services to the Strategic Integration Directorate (SI). These activities require dedicated and unbiased advisory and assistance services (A&AS) support provided by a performer with in-depth experience across a wide range of SI internal and external missions and organizations. This acquisition will obtain Advisory & Assistance Services (A&AS) for the SI Directorate in support of the DoD Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) mission. The SI Directorate requires fully integrated A&AS support for the daily performance and execution of the Agency’s CWMD mission; i.e. CWMD planning; strategic planning; requirements management; threat and opportunity analysis; regional engagement activities; training and exercise support; scientific and technical expertise to advise, support and conduct CWMD studies, projects, tabletops, and other community products and events; technical support for documents, reports, research and associated graphics or multimedia products; administrative support, etc. A&AS support for SI mandates the contractor fully institutionalize and execute SI's requirements and supporting coordination of actions with other Directorates within DTRA. The SI planners serve as the focal point to enhance DoD planning, coordination, collaboration and to facilitate information sharing of DTRA roles, missions, and functions and current CWMD Operations, Activities and Investments (OAIs) within the Department of Defense, across the United States Government Interagency, and internationally with key allies and partner nations.

This Amendment increases the value of the original Justification and Approval (J&A) for HDTRA1-23-C-0022 which was approved on 12 January 2023 and revised on 31 August 2023.

2. Description of the Supplies/Services Required

This effort will provide for continuity of A&AS services for an additional one month to avoid a disruption in services that will otherwise cease at the conclusion of the performance period of contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022 on 5 April 2024. The specified contract was awarded to Amentum on 16 February 2023, the original Period of Performance was to end on 17 August 2023;

however, as a result of a protest filed against the new Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract HDTRA1-23-D-0001, a no-cost modification was issued on 16 August 2023 to extend the PoP to 07 September 2023. When the no-cost modification ended a 6-month extension was awarded which continued support through 7 March 2024. On 26 February 2024 it was determined that this effort should be re-competed, due to issues resolving the protest, this resulted in a new no-cost modification which extended the PoP to 05 April 2024.

The Government requires the continued use of contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022 and requests to extend the PoP by one month for the continuation of A&AS Support pending the award of a new

12-month bridge contract. The original J&A was written in support of an award to CENTRA.

However, CENTRA was acquired by Amentum. The previous bridge awards were made to Amentum. The additional one month will also be performed by Amentum. The nature of the work to be performed is as follows:

1. SI Front Office Support: Provide technical, administrative, and logistical support for planning, implementing, and evaluation programs activities that shall include developing and coordinating the SI responses to internal and external tasking’s via the Enterprise Task Management Software Solution (ETMS2), using the Defense Travel System (DTS) to coordinate travel in support of the SI, editing documents, obtaining documentation and following-up on open action items, recording meeting notes and the production of meeting minutes. Provide other ancillary, within scope administrative duties coordinated in advance between contractor Project Manager (PM) and government Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Provide knowledge management services to include creating new SharePoint pages, managing access to, improving the design, organization and ease of use, and posting new or changed information to the Directorate’s SharePoint or other web-enabled sites. The anticipated period of performance is 1-month effective 6 April 2024.

2. SI-PL Support: Provide analytical, technical, and administrative support for day-to-day activities to include operational expertise, organizational policy and planning development and project/program support, and technical support specific to each of the CCMD’s respective regions, to include information, advice, alternative analysis, evaluations and recommendations. Provide support for training, doctrine, and exercise related activities. Provide support to the Agency process to identify, analyze, adjudicate, and document requirements. Provide subject matter expertise on Opportunity Analysis and Design Thinking processes (synthesis/designers), to deliver responsive, interdisciplinary and analytical capability involving broad, undefined complex issues of either a special or recurring nature. The anticipated period of performance is 1-month effective 6 April 2024.

3. SI-STED Planning Support: Assist in formulating and preparing briefings, reports, and other communications materials to present to senior officials in DTRA, DoD, and other agencies. Provide expert advice and analytical support for strategic planning, strategy development, performance management and measurement, and organizational assessment efforts. Support strategic planning efforts and conduct analyses of CWMD- related strategies, policies, doctrine, plans, capability gaps, and emerging trends to support decision making related to the current and potential future WMD threat environment.

Provide support in the development and maintenance of the DTRA Strategy (5-year) and annual Director’s Planning Guidance (DPG), to inform and guide the development of Agency CWMD strategies and programs, and Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) activities. Review and analyze selected publications on behalf of the USG to determine congruence capability to fulfill the current requirements of the agency without incurring a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through a competition for the services to be provided over the additional month predicated upon the following:

1. Historical experience dictates that there is a learning curve of a minimum of ~90 days to acquire and develop a working knowledge of DTRA SI CWMD mission space.

DoD CWMD planning activities require an approximately 30-day learning period for a contractor to become familiar with the interagency planning environment and other mission requirements. This timeframe represents one-half of the contemplated bridge period of performance, so any contractor other than the incumbent would not be fully functional for 50 percent of the effort.

2. Likewise, SI-ST requires specialized support services. A contractor's prior experience supporting other DoD CWMD agencies or even private-sector CWMD research institutions do not, independently, provide complete understanding of how to support SI-ST's mission to generate timely, credible, actionable insights into strategic threat trends and emerging S&T issues within the counter-WMD mission space to enable and guide warfighter understanding. Based on ongoing studies, international engagement activities, and research efforts, coupled with previous SI-ST A&AS support experience, an estimated minimum 30-day period is required for a contractor to develop a working knowledge of SI-ST’s mission support and over-the-horizon studies requirements. This timeframe represents one-half of the contemplated bridge period of performance, so any contractor other than the incumbent would not be fully functional for 50 percent of the effort.

3. There is insufficient time for other companies that meet the basic requirements to become proficient in current DTRA CWMD planning and OAIs and meet all requirements by 5 April 2024. Due to time constraints, there is no other viable alternative for acquiring these services.

4. Collectively, there is also insufficient time for otherwise potentially capable industry performers to become proficient in current SI-ST study structures and constructs, particularly unique and evolving against emerging threats.

5. In addition, it is impractical for other potential sources to achieve a state of operational readiness based upon a need to acquire the necessary physical facilities to fulfill the overall functional requirements of the bridge contract over a period of 1 month for the SI-PL and the SI-ST A&AS support without incurring a substantial duplication of costs that would be incurred a second time in connection with the aforementioned competitive follow-on procurement.

6. This short-term sole source acquisition ensures continuity of operations for the DTRA SI Directorate. It is anticipated that an additional 1-month period will be necessary to provide for continuity of operations inclusive of a ~30-day transition period and SI support until the award of a new A&AS bridge contract.

As a result, contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022 needs to be extended for one month to provide SI with continued A&AS support while working on awarding a new 12-month bridge contract. Failure to proceed with this action will result in an unavoidable and substantive interruption of agency critical component continuity of operations. The use of the current contract is necessary because the incumbent is the only source with the expertise and organizational experience, existing facilities and personnel to continue performance without interruption on 5 April 2024 considering that the new 12-month bridge contract will not be awarded by that time.

5. Effort to Solicit Potential Sources

The primary follow-on requirement that will provide DTRA SI with A&AS support for the long term is a five-year IDIQ contract which was procured competitively as full and open and terminated for convenience due to protest resolution issues. This short term non-competitive bridge contract PoP extension will provide for the necessary transition period for DTRA to award a new 12-month bridge contract.

In addition, DTRA published a sources sought notice specifically for the 12-month bridge effort on March 15, 2024, requesting capability statements from small and large business concerns. The announcement closed on March 25, 2024 and resulted in capability statements from the following two sources, which were assessed for capability by the SI Directorate as follows:

Denamita (SBA, 8A Certified) SI determined this contractor would not be capable of performing the requirement in accordance with DTRA’s needs. This contractor’s core area of service is facilities support services and commercial janitorial cleaning. Denamita does not possess a facility clearance and made no positive determination regarding the clearance status of its workforce. Moreover, the contractor does not have experience with advisory and assistance services. The contractor failed to convey that they possess the resources necessary to take on a contract of the scope and complexity as this bridge effort. The contractor also provided no information on the status of its accounting system to suggest it is qualified to accept a Cost Reimbursement contract type. Based on the contractor’s qualifications they would not be able provide fully integrated A&AS to SI from the first date of contract performance.

Trendency Research LLC (EDSB) This contractor’s core services include marketing research and public opinion polling, data processing, hosting, qualitative research analysis and related services. This contractor’s response failed to convey any DTRA A&AS experience. The contractor did not address any of the requirements, qualifications, or experience identified in the sources sought. Trendency Research LLC., has a pending GSA MAS Schedule which primarily focuses on research and professional services. This contractor may be able to support some of SI’s administrative A&AS requirements. Based on the contractor’s response, they do not have the qualifications and experience that is required to support the short turnaround time needed for award of this bridge contract effort.

6. Fair and Reasonable Costs

The anticipated cost/price of this contract action to the Government is determined to be fair and reasonable based on current cost and pricing information analyzed in accordance with FAR 15.404-1.

7. Market Research

The program manager concluded that the existing bridge contract vehicle can be utilized and that a new standalone contract is not required based on the following findings:

The program manager researched the DTRA Market Research Repository and obtained a copy of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Directorate (CT) A&AS Market Research Report for their ongoing procurement. The program manager also researched various other DTRA contracts for A&AS support and concluded that there are some vendors in the market place with some of the requisite skills required to support the SI A&AS mission. However, different vendors have different specialties with respect to the lines of A&AS support they provide and none of the vendors reviewed had all of the skillsets and experience needed to support SI on short notice. Reviewed the Contract Directory.gov databases and determined that there are no current contracts that will fulfill SI’s unique A&AS requirements. Most A&AS contracts listed on Contract Directory.gov provide support to their agency only and do not allow other agencies to place orders off their contracts. Other Department of Defense A&AS contracts were reviewed by searching ContractDirectory.gov and www.google.com.

Contracts found include USAF, Agency for International Development, and HHS. The scope of these contracts was reviewed and it was determined that the SI requirements would not fit and therefore could not be utilized. GSA schedules for Professional Services, Technical & Engineering Services (non-IT), Technical Consultation Services (category 541690), Management and Financial Consulting, Acquisition and Grants Management Support, and Business Program and Project Management Services (category 541611), Training, Education Support Services (category 611710) were reviewed for availability of labor categories and contract vehicles. Aside from contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022, there are no other contract vehicles in place that could completely fulfill SI’s A&AS requirement.

8. Other Facts

A. The planned start date of the new A&AS IDIQ contract was suspended 3 weeks into the transition period due to the award protest. The new A&AS IDIQ contract will be terminated for convenience due to unresolved issues with the protest.

B. Due to the short timeframe of this requirement it is unrealistic to expect a new contractor to be able to fully provide this support within a one month period. It is estimated that a duplication of costs to the government in the amount of that would not be recovered through competition would be incurred in conjunction with the following:

A new contractor with 52 technically qualified personnel who already have the required TS/SCI security clearances, would require a minimum of 30 days training/transition to develop a working knowledge of DTRA CWMD planning, mission strategy, policy, doctrine, and OAIs.

An estimated 30-day learning period is required to develop a sufficient working knowledge of DTRA requirements and regulations, particularly those governing discussions and interactions with foreign nationals. The figure in paragraph B above represents the 30 days of support for which a new performer would have to be compensated but would not represent productive work towards the CWMD effort. DTRA is willing to incur this training/transition cost to support a new contractor who will be performing under the five- year follow-on IDIQ but it makes far less sense to incur such a substantial cost for a one- month bridge. Utilizing the incumbent to perform the bridge on a non-competitive basis allows DTRA to bypass this substantial ramp-up cost.

9. Interested Sources

All of the potential sources identified during the market research that was done for the follow- on contract (see paragraph 7) could be considered interested parties. However, they are not viable candidates to accomplish this action within the timeframe required.

The sources sought noticed published on March 15, 2024 satisfies the requirement to identify potential sources as required under DFARS PGI 206-302-1(d). This represents a separate sources sought notice created specifically to address the 12-month bridge requirement to be awarded when contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022 expires.

10. Subsequent Actions

This request to add one month to the bridge contract HDTRA1- 23-C-0022 serves as a means to avoid a break in continuity of operations and to provide a reasonable period of time for the new bridge contract to be awarded.

Technical Certification

I certify that the data and information forming the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Program Manager/Project Officer Date