Control No.: KNOX-SAT-2027-0006

6. Reason for Authority Cited: During market research, the Wonderlic tests were the only available assessments on the market that meet the requirements for the mission assigned to the Office of the Command Psychologist.

a. Background: The Office of the Command Psychologist (OCP) is tasked with executing evaluations of personnel across the force generation enterprise, including assessing candidates for goodness of fit with high-consequence roles such as the 42T (Talent Acquisition Specialist) and 420T (Talent Acquisition Technician) MOS. All assessment tools used for hiring or selection must meet the minimum psychometric criteria mandated by state licensing boards and the American Psychological Association (APA), including established validity, reliability, and utility for the specific population. To satisfy these mandates in a scalable and efficient manner, OCP has utilized the Wonderlic Select platform for the past three years. This tool has demonstrated the required construct validity and objective utility to evaluate readiness for the unique occupational demands of the 42T and 420T specialties. This allows OCP to identify candidates, with or without prior recruiting experience, who possess the optimal behavioral and mental attributes required by talent acquisition specialists in a synthesized, unified predictive fit profile. Furthermore, the platform allows OCP to capture baseline data on currently assigned personnel that can be scaled to meet future command requirements for identifying highly skilled mission-essential staff.

b. Alternatives. Other “broadband” tests of cognitive ability, personality, and motivation that could have been considered for this mission include those that are commonly used in corporate selection and in other similar assessment programs in military psychology. A broadband psychological measure is typically one that includes multiple subscale measurements that correspond to different cognitive dimensions, personality attributes, or vocational interests. During market research, the Office of the Command Psychologist (OCP) conducted a thorough evaluation of several alternative commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) assessment suites, with specific focus on Hogan Assessment Systems (HPI, HDS, MVPI), Criteria Corp (CCAT), and The Predictive Index (PI). While these industry-standard platforms are widely-used, they were ultimately determined to be unacceptable for the USARD recruiting enterprise due to critical operational deficiencies regarding psychological construct coverage, prohibitive costs, and scalability. Specifically, Hogan Assessment Systems lacks an integrated cognitive aptitude measure, Criteria Corp’s CCAT lacks a built-in occupational motivation index, and the Predictive Index lacks the psychometric depth required for high-stress military roles, meaning none of these alternatives can deliver the unified, three-dimensional fit score natively provided by Wonderlic Select. Utilizing these other alternative measures would result in a fragmented assessment process, an operational burden on OCP psychologists resulting in higher costs. Wonderlic Select remains the only platform that integrates cognitive, personality, and motivational measures into a rapid assessment specifically optimized for the USARD recruiting enterprise.

c. Impact if justification not approved: If not approved, OCP will not have the necessary psychological testing supply to conduct its personnel assessment and selection missions. It will also lack its comprehensive and holistic tools to conduct objective assessments in those missions. There will be increases to unmitigated mental health risk in the USARD formation, as well as decreased ability to evaluate all candidates for conversion to 42T.

7. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The Contracting Officer shall publish the notices required by FAR 5.101.

a. Effective competition: No other effective competition is expected, as Wonderlic

Inc. is a single source, sole supplier that has been granted copyright or exclusive rights to the supply items. Required supply items are not available from any other source by lawful means.

8. Actions to Increase Competition: There are no reasonable actions to be taken by the government to increase competition. There are no other viable candidates or authorized resellers of the Wonderlic Select, as the tests sought for use are proprietary.

The government does have an entity that researches and develops psychological testing, known as the Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI). ARI is working to develop testing intended to help Select soldiers for Recruiting duty. However, the testing currently in the development will not adequately replace Wonderlic Select nor are they intended to do so.

9. Market Research: During market research conducted by technical specialists, the Small Business Administration’s Dynamic Small Business Search (SBA’s DSBS) search engine was used on 07 October 2026 with the following criteria: NAICS Code 541612 and ‘wonderlic’ resulting in 2 nationwide, small business profiles. Of the business listed, only Wonderlic Inc. provided the supply item.

10. Interested Sources: Not applicable. To date, no other sources have expressed interest in the acquisition.

11. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History

12. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Adrian J. Atkinson Contracting Officer

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, Pursuant to the authority of Title 41 U.S.C. 1901, as implemented by FAR 12.102(a) and DFARS CD 2026-O0028 (Simplified Acquisition Procedures for Commercial Products and Commercial Services), I hereby approve the sole-source procurement of personnel assessment testing services from Wonderlic, Inc.

This approval is valued at an estimated total of encompassing a one-year base period and three (3) one-year option periods, spanning from approximately November 2026 through November 2030. This action is subject to the availability of funds and contingent upon the services described herein being otherwise authorized for acquisition.

Adrian J. Atkinson Contracting Officer