IFIB 10-03 HQ SACT C-IED SPT QA4 1 Jul 10.pdf

Request for Proposal

Date:

The following questions were raised with respect to subject IFIB. Responses are to provide clarification.

Question Response

1 Reference: Statement of Work, page 11, Table 4.

Question: Must the MAT Programme Lead

(the fourth) position down in the table be a separate individual or could this position be combined with another position, for example, the Programme Manager?

1. The Programme Manager and MAT

Programme Lead are different positions which will require different individuals.

2. HQ SACT General Contract Terms and

Conditions, page 11, para 25, Travel.

Question: Are we correct in presuming that

HQ SACT will be considered the duty location or home base for purposes of conducting and computing travel to other NATO/NATO

Nation work locations?

2. No. Only the HQ SACT C-IED Advisors will have a duty location at HQ SACT. Travel costs are not part of the bid and will be addressed separately after contract award at the kickoff meeting in September.

3. Reference: Statement of Work, page 8, Table 3, and page 11, Table 4

Question: Table 3 states four instructors will be required for each training event.

Table 4 states that each MAT mission will consist of a C-IED Programme Lead and one

Technical and one Operational SME, and that T3 requires 2 persons for 2 days, and all other courses – 1 person for 1 day.

These statements in these two tables seem to be contradictory. Can you please clarify?

3. The SOW is comprehensive and requires careful reading.

Table 3 shows 4 instructors per course except for SOAC which requires 3.

Correct

As stated in SOW this information refers to preparation time only which is already included in the annual hours.

See clarification above

4. Question: Table 3 speaks of annual course frequency (a total of 30 course events per year for developed courses). Table 4 speaks of 12

MAT missions per year. Are we correct in presuming that the 30 annual course events

4. Yes.

1 July 2010

IFIB 10-03 Q&A 4

will be conducted during the 12 annual MAT missions? Are we correct in presuming that the Annual Hours stated in Table 4 reflect total anticipated hours to conduct both all training courses in Table 3 and any other MAT activities?

5. Reference: Statement of Work.

Question: Will/can training course and/or

MAT materials be classified? If this material will/can be classified, how will it be transmitted to work locations outside of HQ

SACT?

5. Training materials can be classified up to and including NATO SECRET [REL ISAF].

- NATO UNCLASSIFIED material can be transmitted via Internet e-mail, national postal service or commercial courier service (FedEx, UPS, etc)l.

- NATO RESTRICTED material can be transmitted via the NATO SECRET

Wide Area Network (in the Norfolk area, only available HQ SACT), or via national postal service or commercial courier service mail to all NATO member nations except Belgium (not authorized by Belgian law).

- NATO CONFIDENTIAL material can only be transmitted via the NATO

SECRET Wide Area Network (in the

Norfolk area, only available HQ

SACT).

- NATO SECRET material can only be transmitted via the NATO SECRET

Wide Area Network (in the Norfolk area, only available HQ SACT).

If NATO RESTRICTED (to Belgium only), NATO CONFIDENTIAL and/or NATO

SECRET material need to be sent from HQ

SACT in hardcopy, they must be transmitted by Military Courier (via SHAPE).

It is strictly prohibited to send NATO

RESTRICTED, NATO CONFIDENTIAL

and/or NATO SECRET material via national postal service or commercial courier service

(FedEx, UPS, etc)

The ACT Office of Security must be consulted if NATO RESTRICTED NATO

CONFIDENTIAL and/or NATO SECRET material must be transmitted to non-NATO member nations.

6. IFIB-10-03 Part 1 Bidding Instructions paragraph 19 states “”Contractor companies in accordance with paragraph 13 of Enclosure

“G” to NATO Security Policy (C-

M(2002)49), the contractor must provide proof a Facility Security Clearance (FSC) issued by their National Security Authority

(NSA)/Designated Security Authority (DSA), at the NATO Secret level. The FSC must be provided to HQ SACT before a bid can be reviewed.””

Can this FSC be provided within the Technical volume or do you require to see it prior to opening our bid. Clarification of the wording “The FSC must be provided to HQ SACT before a bid can be reviewed”” Is required

(our emphasis on the word before)

6. As stated in the SOW in accordance NATO directives the FSC must be provided before a bid can be opened and reviewed. If we do not have a FSC on file we will not per NATO security directive open the proposal to see if it is included.

7. IFIB-10-03 Part 1 Bidding Instructions

(Page 6) Paragraph 11. For clarity please confirm the enclosure numbers in this paragraph: We contend that:

a. 11a Enclosure 3 should read enclosure 4

b. 11e Enclosure 5 should read enclosure 6

c. 11f Enclosure 4 should read enclosure 5

7. Enclosures for para 11 are incorrect and should read as follows:

a. Table of Content, Enclosure # 2

b. Bidders Information, Enclosure # 3

c. Compliance Statement, Enclosure # 4

d. Provisional Volumes, Annex A. properly completed

e. Past Performance, Enclosure # 6

f. Price Proposal, Enclosure # 5

8. SOW Section 5 Paragraph 34 states

“”Contractor personnel shall submit a monthly report to the COTR and the Contracting

Officer...”” Confirm that this is the task of the

Programme Manager, not each individual contract staff member.

8. That decision is determined by the winning company and the COTR. Either method is acceptable.

9. Please confirm that this contract manager actually requires, as listed in the qualifications section and accepting the requirement is to meet only 3 of the 8 requirements., the following:

9. Yes, That is our intent as stated in Annex 5 to Annex E: The PM must have

At least one year of NATO military assignment or three years of multinational

a. “”Five years of professional experience managing and applying knowledge of and application of experimentation theory There are no such tasks in the duties list for this appointment.

b. “”developing standards and guidelines for experimentation and diverse supporting activities to include applications of intelligence models and simulations””:

There are no such tasks in the duties list for this appointment

We observe that a candidate complying with the following 3 out of 8 requirements:

Three or more years demonstrated experience with joint and service doctrine, to include combat, combat support and/or combat service support operations.

Demonstrated experience with Joint services organizations, operations, and exercises at Brigade, Air Wing or

Battlegroup levels.

Extensive knowledge of and at least five years experience of service and joint/combined staffs organization, functions and procedures.

none of which is necessarily connected with Project Management, which is the key activity of this appointment, will result in compliance. Please confirm that this is your intent.

military experience.

A proven track record in Project

Management in governmental or military environments, including multinational partnering and at least three of the following ( not listed here)

-Experience with experimentation is one of the acceptable third tier qualifications for a

Programme Manager. In its broadest sense experimentation is taking requirements moving to concepts and doctrine and validating them via experimentation and exercises. If C-IED is integrated across the spectrum of NATO responsibilities such as CIMIC there may be a need for a PM with that expertise.

10. Reference: Request for Proposal IFIB 10-

03 Q&A 3, dated 18 June 2010, Annex D, Counter Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED)

Courses, paragraph 3.

Question: Prior to contract award, will you permit a bidder access to the HQ SACT C-IED

IPT website to review details of the course and

10. No. The IPT information is contained on the classified internal NATO website and is not available to bidders. The SOW provides the information needed for a bid proposal.

an up-to-date training calendar?

11. References: IFIB Part I, page 6, Paragraph

11, Content of Proposal; Part I, page 7, Paragraph 12, Proposal Submission; and

Annex A to the SOW.

Question. Which of the seven paper documents cited in paragraph 11 go into the Technical

Volume and which go into the Price Volume?

11. The only the information to be placed in the Price volume are a completed enclosure # 5 and any supporting information to provide necessary cost clarification. All other required documents must be placed in the Technical

Volume. As indicated in Bidding Instructions

Para 15, unless a bidder is determined to be compliant the price volume will not be opened.

12. Question. What exactly is meant by the descriptors below which were extracted from paragraph 11? With regard to subparagraph

(d), nothing appears in Annex A regarding administrative and financial information. With regard to subparagraph (h), what technical information is required in addition to the

Technical Volume, and what financial information is required beyond the Price

Volume?

“(d) Provision of administrative, financial and technical volumes including scoring criteria, (See Annex A to Statement of work).”

“(h) Appropriate technical and financial information to determine whether proposed services, terms and conditions comply with all the requirements of this FIB.”

12. This is a complex proposal and the documentation must be read carefully.

Para 11 d. Annex A information does in fact cover administrative and financial information such as papers submitted, personnel certification, past performance contract cost information etc.

Para 11h. ( Technical Volume) The required technical information is outlined in the Bidding

Instructions, SOW and Annex A. Specifically the proposal checklist, SOW contractor responses, candidate qualifications requirements , bidding instructions and Annex

A provide required documents for a compliant bid.

Para 11 h. (Price Volume). Submitting a signed compliance statement without exception indicates the bidder accepts the IFIB terms and conditions. Specifically see question 11 above for the price volume requirements.