IB08 Justification FAR Part 16 (JEFO) (JUNE 2025) approved_Redacted 14APR26.pdf

Control Number: KNOX-2026-16

Justification Review Document FAR Part 16 Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity

Program/Equipment: The U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) requests a firm-fixed price contract to renew Red Hat software licenses and maintenance support to the RSN networks and systems.

Authority: Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) FAR 16.507-7 – Items peculiar to one manufacturer (e.g., a particular brand-name, product, or a feature of a product that is peculiar to one manufacturer).

Amount:

Prepared by:

Contracting Officer:

Technical:

Requirements:

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support an exception to fair opportunity.

Requiring Activity’s Senior Reviewer:

MICC Office of Counsel:

FAR Part 16 Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity

1. Requiring Activity: U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) 1600 Spearhead Division Rd Fort Knox, KY 40122.

2. Contracting Activity: Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) - Fort Knox, 199 6th Avenue, Suite 250, Fort Knox, Kentucky 40121-7520

3. Description of Action: USAREC requests approval to award a Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) contract for the renewal of maintenance for brand name-only Red Hat software.

The Government projects award for July 2026 and fiscal year 2026, Operations and Maintenance, Army funds will be used for this effort.

4. Description of Supplies/Services: This procurement consists of the following software and quantities, including software maintenance support for Red Hat:

RN26-222 Red Hat Software Renewal Item Part # Description Estimated

Unit Price

QTY

1 MW0186831 Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform, 64-Core Standard

2 MW2162525 Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform ELS Program, 64-Core Standard

3 RH00006 Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Virtual Datacenters with Satellite, Premium

4 RH00271 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extended Life Cycle Support (Unlimited Guests)

5 RH00008 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server with Satellite, Premium (Physical or Virtual Nodes)

6 RH00270 Red Hat OpenShift Platform (Bare Metal Node)

7 MW05544 Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus (Bare Metal Node), Standard (1-2 Sockets)

Total Value:

Period of Performance: 8 July 2026 through 7 July 2027

5. Authority Cited: RFO FAR 16.507-7 – The contracting officer must justify 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).

6. Reason for Authority Cited: Due to Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (AFARS) 5139, Digital Marketplace (formerly CHESS) was given first consideration for software products. Of the software available through Digital Market, Red Hat software provides a product that meets the salient characteristics that will provide a robust suite of datacenter software that delivers reliable and effective computer operations.

a. Background: USAREC’s mission is to recruit America’s best and brightest volunteers that are able to deploy, fight, and win. It provides support for the Army’s officer and enlisted accessioning mission that must operate primarily in the public and educational environment to prospect, inform, contract, and access individuals into the Army.

1) USAREC mission is to provide the human resources mission IT systems infrastructure, program and project management, information assurance, resourcing, and architectural support enabling a more efficient Army personnel community.

2) The USAREC infrastructure supporting these missions consists of one data center, located at Fort Knox. This data center provides over 500 servers, which support over 5000 local customers. The data center hosts over 100 HR applications and provides direct access to the RSN. Essential to the effective operations of this infrastructure are the operating systems and the storage systems provided by the Red Hat software listed in paragraph three. Since 2020, USAREC has invested approximately $5 million in Red Hat operation systems, files systems, and development platforms.

3) USAREC’s extensive investment in Red Hat software provides the command with a robust suite of datacenter software that provides users with reliable and effective computer operations. The current maintenance contract ensures the ability to maintain current versions of the products employed and provides for continued technical support (both operational and analytical). The renewal of this contract enables USAREC to continue to use its existing software without further investment in new software and extensive training for its workforce. Of the software available through Digital Market, only Red Hat software provides a product that meets the salient characteristics required.

b. Alternatives: There are no alternatives on Digital Market for software that can provide the same capabilities and functionality as the Red Hat software solution. Red Hat is the only manufacturer of the software listed in the table of section 4 of this document and is the only source of patches and updates for the software. Red Hat provides both the software and maintenance support through multiple approved resellers on the Digital Market Software-2 (SW2) contract and through the Department of Defense (DoD)-Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) Blanket Purchase Agreement

(BPA).

c. Impact if not approved: Without this support USAREC will not be able to maintain the operating environments within the Fort Knox data center. This could result in mission failure for the Army USAREC’s mission to provide HR support for Soldiers worldwide.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The items requested fall within scope of Digital Market through the DoD-ESI BPA vehicle. Per AFARS 5139, all in scope items must be procured through Digital Market unless a statement of non-availability and ITAS waiver exists for the product or services. Subcontracting plan is not required, due to there are no opportunities to subcontract within this platform in accordance with FAR 19.705-2(c).

8. Market Research: In accordance with Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (AFARS) 5139.101-90, Digital Market is the mandatory source for commercial Information Technology IT hardware and software. Market research quotes and vendor verified availability through Army Digital Market ITES-SW2 suite of contracts and the DoD-ESI BPA support this request. Market research was limited to searching mandatory sources for availability of the product. USAREC issued a Request for Quote (RFQ) for market research purposes on Digital Market 11 February 2026. RFQ #556891 received twelve (12) responses from seven (7) large and five (5) small businesses. For this acquisition, vendors under the DoW-ESI BPA will be used to obtain quotes.

9. Other Facts:

a. Procurement history.

Contract Number Contractor Competitive Status Amount Period of Performance

W9124D25FA154 Blazar Technology Solutions LLC

100% Set-Aside for Small Business

$2.4M 8 Jul 2025 through 7 Jul 2026

W9124D24F0280 Blazar Technology Solutions LLC

100% Set Aside for Small Business

$2.2M 8 Jul 2024 through 7 Jul 2025

W9124D23F0371 Carahsoft Technology Corp.

Unrestricted $1.8M 8 Jul 2023 through 7 Jul 2024

W9124D22F0221 Carahsoft Technology Corp.

Unrestricted $2.4M 8 Jul 2022 through 7 Jul 2023

W9124D21F0388 Carahsoft Technology Corp.

Unrestricted $2.4M 8 Jul 2021 through 7 Jul 2022

b. Other facts: The current estimated total investment in Red Hat software products is and will grow as new hardware with Red Hat software is purchased.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price/cost to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. This determination will be made using price analysis. In accordance with FAR 15.403-1(e) and FAR 15.403-1(f), certified cost or pricing data will not be required and the following exceptions apply: prices that will be agreed upon are based on adequate price competition, a commercial item is being acquired and the estimated cost of the contract action is less than the threshold for certified cost or pricing data.

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

Barbara J. Jeffries Contracting Officer