IA08 EFOJ W9124D20F0751 Redacted.pdf

Control No: KNOX-2020-61 Program/Equipment: USACC 7BDE JROTC Surface Pro 7

Version – September 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

FAR Part 16 Exception to Fair Opportunity Justification Under Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Contracts

For Actions Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)

1. Contracting Activity: U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) – Fort Knox, 199 6th Avenue, Fort Knox KY 40121-7520

2. Description of Action: United State Army Cadet Command (USACC) G6 requests a firm-fixed-price an approved Microsoft Vendor. The Government projects award for September 2020 and fiscal year 2020 using Operations and Maintenance, Army (OMA) funds. An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i)(B).

3. Description of Supplies/Services: Requesting 25 Surface Pro 7 Devices (12.3”, core i7 1065G7-16GB Ram – 512 GB SSD, 520 Kensington Blackbelt Rugged Case with Integrated Common Access Card (CAC) Reader- Protective case, Microsoft Surface Pro Type Cover (m1725) Keyboard with trackpad, Microsoft Complete Accident Protection-extended service agreement (5 years).

Total Value: The total value of this requirement is ; however, the value of the items that are name brand is .

4. Authority Cited: FAR 16.505(a)(4) – Restricting consideration to an item peculiar to one manufacturer (e.g., a particular brand-name, product, or a feature of a product that is peculiar to one manufacturer.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

a. The request for 25 Surface Pro 7 devices is necessary to properly plan and develop projects and programs within the United States Army Cadet Command footprint.

USACC G6, Specialty Recruiting Missions, Public Affairs, Junior School of Cadet Command (JSOCC), School of Cadet Command (SOCC) and Headquarters Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (HQ JROTC) all have potential requirements on and off the military networks that may require certain requirements of mobility that the Surface Pro allows. The current requests allow maintained consistency and compatibility with the teaching and instructional practices at high schools throughout the area of operations for

HQ JROTC.

The Surface Pro platform is highly mobile, Wi-Fi compliant, and fully compatible with other educational tools used at our colleges and high schools such as SMART Boards™, monitors, TVs and other interactive displays.

Maintaining compatibility with the educational tools purchased by both Cadet Command and local colleges is important for many reasons. One of the most significant reasons is the necessity to have full cross-platform compatibility. Previously purchased government laptops often cannot connect to these systems and platforms without the addition of expensive repeaters, cables and/or the need for IT personnel to make extensive reconfiguration. CAC enabled systems will give current and future access to military cloud resources. The Surface Pro offers the ability to load soft certs and compatibility allows instructors to use their CAC cards to seamlessly access hosted cloud-based applications. With a large variation of applications and architectures in use by government and Army agencies, smartcard enabled Windows compatibility is necessary.

Educational Technology for HQ JROTC: Changes in educational technology have limited our current government laptops and, in turn, negatively impacted our JROTC Instructors’ ability to teach and grade their students as required in the curriculum.

Therefore, nothing less than the Surface Pro will permit our JROTC Instructors the ability to accurately grade, score, and meet other administrative requirements within the JROTC curriculum

The new Curriculum Manager (CM) Version 3 was designed to give instructors easier access to Army JROTC and third party curriculum resources. Accordingly, CM Version 3 should enable instructors to have all of their teaching materials located in one centralized location—a feature that is not fully supported by our current laptops.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2-in-1 laptops support the CM Version 3 capability requirements, meet the standards used by our school districts, and are more cost effective overall.

Another compelling reason to support the purchase of Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 laptops is the need to operate in field conditions. The Surface Pro is ideal for off-campus training events such as the JROTC Cadet Joint Leadership Challenge (JCLC). JCLC training is conducted in a field environment, which is prohibitive to our current government laptops. In contrast to the current laptop, the Surface Pro is lighter, less bulky, and more versatile. The Surface Pro also has a significant longer battery life than other laptops and tablets in its class.

b. Alternatives: There is no alternative to purchasing the Microsoft Surface Pro 7s.

These particular devices are necessary because they are currently being used within the high schools, colleges, and specialty staff settings. Procuring these devices at the Division level will give us the capability to test programs in advance to see if they will work before sending them out in the field since the testing will be performed on the same type of system.

c. Impact if not approved: USACC HQ-G6 will not be able to properly prepare and test at the division level potentially very effective and useful tools for their units and the JROTC and Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. (SROTC) levels. Specific systems are absolutely necessary while in an evolving school environment. The overall impact if not approved would result in the potential inoperability of programs at the high schools and colleges as well as USACC specialty staff sections.

6. Actions to Increase Competition: Fair opportunity will be given to all authorized Microsoft distributors and business partners within the CHESS community.

7. Market Research: Market research was conducted by the Acquisitions Chief on 11 September 2020 on CHESS IT E-mart and found that the devices can be procured through the CHESS consolidated buy platform. Additionally, USACC has tested and purchased similar devices for other mission requirements and found the Surface Pro 7 models are within fair market equipment prices.

8. Other Facts: None.

9. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: See Digital Signature

10. Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: See Digital Signature

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. The techniques identified in FAR 15.404-1(b) and FAR 15.404-1(c)(2)(iii) will be used to ensure the award is fair and reasonably priced. The contracting officer will use a comparison of industry cost for similar work and a price analysis. As part of this basis, certified cost or pricing date will not be required because the item and/or services being acquired are considered commercial.

Barbara J. Mattingly Date: See Digital Signature Contracting Officer

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

Barbara J. Mattingly Date: See Digital Signature Contracting Officer