Attachment_L-12_TEAMS_OCI_Memorandum.pdf

MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY TECHNICAL, ENGINEERING, ADVISORY, AND

MANAGEMENT SUPPORT MEMORANDUM REGARDING ORGANIZATIONAL

CONFLICT OF INTEREST (May 6, 2015)

This memorandum outlines the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA’s or Agency’s) Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) position for the Technical, Engineering, Advisory, and Management Support (TEAMS) acquisition. The TEAMS OCI memorandum is guided by the principles contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 9.5, Department of Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS) 209.571, and Government Accountability Office decisions.

The Agency prefers that offerors competing for the TEAMS effort have no OCIs. While mitigation plans will be considered, they create considerable work for the Agency and each offeror to ensure that OCIs are adequately mitigated at the time of contract award. Consequently, industry is encouraged to avoid OCI issues to the maximum extent practicable prior to submitting proposals by prudent teaming in connection with the TEAMS effort.

TEAMS contractors will, in many instances, provide advisory and assistance services (A&AS) regarding the performance of Agency development contractors. Therefore, establishing acceptable OCI mitigation plans that would permit performance in both contractual domains will be challenging, if not impossible. Consequently, as a general position, contractors providing A&AS to the Agency, particularly systems engineering and technical assistance (See Table 1.0), will not be permitted to develop, or support development of, the Agency’s research and development efforts. This separation of contractual responsibilities is critical to ensuring the Agency obtains the independent, objective advice it requires. With respect to subcontractors, the prime offeror will be required to demonstrate that the involvement of its subcontractors will not constitute an OCI.

Due to the oversight role provided by quality, mission assurance and safety contractors, they cannot also provide A&AS for other TEAMS contracts. Likewise, contractors providing A&AS to the safety area will likely be prevented from also providing quality and mission assurance support.

Finally, contractors providing A&AS to the Ballistic Missile Defense System cyber security management/computer network defense area will likely be unable to also support the IT cyber security and IT management and analysis areas.

MDA does not intend on a routine basis to grant waivers of OCIs for biased ground rules or impaired objectivity as part of the TEAMS procurement process, but reserves the right to do so in very limited instances. When it is in the government’s best interest, the Agency may also consider approving temporary OCI waivers on a case-by-case basis for no more than six months to permit contractors to divest themselves of existing contracts or business units after contract award.

Individual contractors and contractor teams are encouraged to contact the TEAMS contracting officer prior to issuance of the final solicitation to obtain an informal written assessment of whether their OCI mitigation efforts will be adequate. The informal assessment will not be binding upon the Agency, but is intended to better inform industry of the Agency’s probable response to its OCI mitigation efforts.

DFARS 209.571-7(b) requires that a contract for SETA for a major defense acquisition

HQ0147-18-R-0007

Attachment L-13 TEAMS OCI Memorandum program or pre-major acquisition program shall prohibit the contractor or any affiliate of the contractor from participating as a contractor or major subcontractor in the development or production of a weapon system. To implement, the DFARS clause 252.209-7009 will be included in the TEAMS RFP and subsequent contracts. For MDA, the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) is considered a major defense acquisition program. A list of TEAMS solicitations containing SETA work follows.

TEAMS Effort

Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance

Yes or No

Quality and Mission Assurance Yes Safety Yes Predictive BMDS Engineering Yes International Engineering Yes Specialty Engineering Yes BMDS Systems Engineering Yes Weapons and Missile Engineering Yes C3BM Engineering Yes Test Provisioning Yes Test Exercise and Wargames Yes Information Technology Management & Analysis Yes IT Cybersecurity and Risk Management Yes BMDS Cybersecurity Management/Computer Network Defense Yes Acquisition Yes Business Operations Yes Cyber Engineering Yes Intelligence No Counter Intelligence No Security and Program Protection/Declassification Yes Human Resources No Office Administration No Strategic Planning No Visual Information Production Center No Protocol and Public Affairs No Facilities, Logistics, and Space Management No Environmental Management Yes Facilities Life Cycle Management No Warfighter Integration Yes Logistics Yes International Affairs Yes Agency Advisory and Assistance Support Yes

Table 1.0 TEAMS Efforts which include Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance