ID07200004 Final Draft Sole Source FBO Posting.pdf

ID07200004 – J&A for Exception to Fair Opportunity May 7, 2020, Page 2 client to end its current support as soon as possible in order to avoid exceeding the current TO’s value ceiling and losing service while simultaneously continuing the project work without interruption. By not having a BTO award in place as soon as possible before the CS-TAT IDIQ reaches its ceiling, the AF will be unable to support the AFRL/RV requirements and the client risks incurring a break in critical time-sensitive Research and Development (R&D) support activities. This break in service has the possibility of affecting the availability of and commitment of cleared and knowledgeable personnel to this requirement and creating uncertainty that can impact the fulfillment of mission objectives. Any loss of personnel or diminished productivity would result in real costs that would later need to be absorbed by the client agency and by the warfighter that depend on the products that result from the R&D efforts of the Contractor personnel that support the mission objectives of the AFRL/RV client.

GSA Region 7 AAS has begun actions to solicit the long-term task order; however, the aggressive pre-award milestones require approximately five (5) months for acquisition planning, solicitation, proposal evaluation and award. Initially, the AFRL/RV client believed the funds allocated for the option year would cover the final year of their current IDIQ TO. This would have allowed enough time to award the long term effort. But due to a surge in labor, funding has rapidly decreased to a point there will be a break in service. Given the nature of the TO and the critical services needed, the Government will pursue a BTO solution. This timeline, though aggressive, will not result in an award before the CS-TAT IDIQ contract reaches its ceiling and ceases to be able to support this requirement, which in turn would cause a protracted loss of critical cyber support to this requirement, requiring a timely, costly and resource-intensive endeavor to maintain services until such time as the follow-on order is awarded.

To be able to continue to provide this critical cyber support, a sole source BTO will be placed as a logical follow-on TO to the incumbent contractor. Currently, the Contractor personnel have incumbent knowledge of processes and procedures, as well as Top Secret – Secret Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) security clearances in place, which is necessary to maintain project momentum and prevent any breaks in the service provided.

Circumstances justifying limiting the source:

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C): The agency need for the supplies or services is a logical follow-on TO that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

The original IDIQ TO solicitation was published in 2017 under a Multiple Award Contract, and competed amongst sixteen (16) eligible Contractors. Although this was a full and open solicitation, CS-TAT received only one (1) response from ASTC. After evaluation, ASTC was selected to offer the best value and is the incumbent Contractor. This BTO is a logical follow-on and will allow for the services to continue until a new TO is competed and awarded.

ASTC, under its current TO (FA807517F1344), has workers who are currently in place supporting this requirement, with knowledge of cyber processes and procedures and appropriate clearances (listed below in paragraph 3) who can continue to support the project requirements to the AFRL/RV client without any transition time, personnel changes, or unique AFRL/RV systems training requirements. As such, the AFRL/RV client agency requests that these services continue to be provided by ASTC to prevent any degradation in project support.

It is not anticipated that the longer-term award can be solicited, competed, evaluated, and awarded before the CS-TAT IDIQ contract reaches its ceiling and ceases to be able to support this requirement. That would cause a protracted loss of critical cyber support to this requirement, requiring a timely, costly and resource-intensive endeavor to maintain services until such time as

May 7, 2020, Page 3 the follow-on order is awarded. By continuing, under a BTO with the incumbent, the AF is able to maintain its mission support personnel currently on task, as the personnel who have incumbent knowledge of processes and procedures, TS/SCI security clearances, which is necessary to maintain project momentum and prevent any breaks in the service provided.

Without a BTO awarded as soon as possible, all of the current Contractor staff risk their work ending with little to no prior notice, which has the possibility of affecting the commitment of cleared and knowledgeable personnel to this requirement and creating uncertainty that can impact the fulfillment of mission objectives. Any loss of personnel or diminished productivity would result in real costs that would later need to be absorbed by the client agency and by the warfighter that depends on the products that result from the R&D efforts of Contractor personnel that support the mission objectives of the AFRL/RV client.

3. Description of Supplies or Services Required to meet the Agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

The AFRL/RV’s mission is to serve as the AF’s "Center of Excellence" for space technology research and development. The directorate develops and transitions space technologies to provide space-based capabilities. The primary mission area thrusts include space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, space situational awareness, space communications, position navigation and timing, and defensive space control (protecting space assets from man-made and natural effects). The directorate also leverages commercial, civil and other Government resources to stay one step ahead in space and to ensure America's advantage.

The primary purpose is to provide Contractor Support Services to study, analyze, research, and develop technologies to advance cybersecurity related scientific and technical information. This includes modeling, simulation, and assessments include the use of thermophysical computer-aided design, cost, functional, military utility analyses, optical, radiometric, and mission folder development; ground- and space-based experiments include test bed development and flight experiments that anchor and support all modeling, simulation and assessment activities; software development includes that which is necessary to support any of the previous elements. The Contractor will support related areas including testbeds, ground-support systems, spacecraft, payload integration, subsystem/component design, and analyses throughout the research and development system engineering process, design optimization and review, testing and evaluation, deployment of experimental and proto-operational assets, and transition. The Contractor will provide information system support may also be required to fully integrate and execute spacecraft, ground, experiment integration, test, and mission development. The estimated cost is

4. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting a Fair Opportunity Exception:

FAR 16.505(b)(1)(i) requires the Contracting Officer to provide each awardee under a multiple award contract, a fair opportunity to be considered for each order exceeding $3,000 unless a statutory exception applies. The specific exceptions set forth in 16.505(b)(2) that preclude the fair opportunity process are listed below. The authority pertaining to this specific acquisition is marked accordingly.

16.505(b)(2)(i)A) The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

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16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

16.505(b)(2)(i)(D) It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee.

16.505(b)(2)(i)(E) For orders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source.

16.505(b)(2)(i)(F) In accordance with section 1331 of Public Law 111-240 (15 U.S.C. 644(r)), contracting officers may, at their discretion, set aside orders for any of the small business concerns identified in 19.000(a)(3). When setting aside orders for small business concerns, the specific small business program eligibility requirements identified in part 19 apply

5. Supporting Rationale (for the Authority Cited in 4) above) including a Demonstration that the Proposed Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or the Nature of the Acquisition Requires use of the Exception Cited. If the Contracting Officer uses the Logical Follow-on Exception, the Rationale shall describe why the Relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value).:

ASTC has unique baseline security accesses that can take more than twenty-four (24) months to be put into place. Once these baseline accesses are granted, additional accesses specific to classified customers must be processed and granted on an individual basis. These take additional time and are granted to individuals with specific known contributing abilities and cannot be readily assigned to individuals outside of certain classified communities.

GSA Region 7 AAS received this requirement with the expectation that a long-term award will be put into place as soon as possible, but not later than six (6) months from receipt of the requirement. In the interest of economy and efficiency because it is the logical follow-on to the existing TO, implementation of a BTO on a sole-source basis would be in the best interests of the Government. The current TO (FA807517F1344) is supported by the CS-TAT IDIQ, which is reaching its ceiling and will be soon unable to support the client AFRL/RV requirement. The current IDIQ TO is in the last option year and expires on March 30, 2021; however, the surge in labor has increased significantly. The increase in labor was unexpected and will cause services to be interrupted.

The original CS-TAT IDIQ TO, issued in March 2017, included unknown and undefined requirements and was awarded as a Cost Plus Fixed Fee for a total overall value of .

As the work progressed, it was determined that due to the undefined requirements, the initial value of the TO was greatly underestimated to the detriment of the TO itself. By June 2018, the CS-TAT IDIQ TO had reached the total overall ceiling amount and required an increase to prevent work stoppage. Due to the requirement being undefined and the underestimation of the amounts needed, the CS-TAT IDIQ TO has abruptly exhausted the ceiling capacity within months of exercising the final option. This BTO can offer relief to the AFRL/RV client for continuation of services. Simultaneously, there was a surge in labor required to address the changing working environment due to office closures and other activities as a result of COVID- 19 issues. The change in the working environment led to the further rapid depletion of funding for

May 7, 2020, Page 5 the CS-TAT IDIQ TO. The lack of a defined requirement and a change in labor circumstances, unexpectedly increased labor costs and depleted the existing funding more rapidly than initially anticipated, which has required the need for the BTO to be executed to prevent work stoppage, while the long term effort is established. As a result of all these unforeseen circumstances, the need for the BTO follow-on acquisition will be in the best interests of the Government.

Further, the AFRL/RV client requested that a BTO be put into place as soon as possible in order to allow the project work to end its support on the CS-TAT IDIQ before that contract reaches its vehicle’s ceiling because they are unable to continue to support the requirement. There is insufficient time to compete the long-term requirement, allowing for competition and Contractor selection, without incurring significant support costs due to the unknown date upon which the CS-TAT IDIQ contract will be unable to support the requirement. Solicitation of this requirement without putting in place a BTO during procurement would result in the possible loss of service and the assumption of unacceptable delays that will snowball and cost the AFRL/RV client agency its dedicated support of time-sensitive ongoing projects throughout its portfolio.

This compounded effect would create a backlog in the filling of positions upon award of the follow-on TO as no other Contractor has a ready pool of in-place, cleared employees with knowledge of the AFRL/RV systems and processes, as well as ongoing Research and Development efforts. It is unreasonable to believe that a new TO could be awarded and a Contractor brought on in enough time to successfully accomplish this requirement without causing a delay to the client AFRL/RV. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the Government to sole-source this follow-on BTO requirement to the current incumbent Contractor, ASTC (FA807517F1344) while the long term TO is conducted in order to prevent any degradation in support.

The decision to award this follow-on sole source BTO to ASTC takes into account the Government's need for continuity of operations and the potential costs of disrupting operations.

The Government determined that executing a BTO to keep in place the previous TO Contractor with its support personnel would be the most advantageous and cost effective option available to the Government, price and other factors considered. As the CS-TAT IDIQ contract is not available for the BTO, the GSA has chosen to utilize the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) IDIQ contract, which is a GSA contract with no program ceiling, ample life-span, and which lists ASTC as a Contractor (GS00Q14OADU401 – OASIS UR Pool 4 NAICS 541715).

In order to maintain continuity of support for the client until the follow-on TO is awarded, the need to issue a BTO is found to be the most logical and cost effective alternative to the Government.

6. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government is

Fair, Reasonable and Represents the Best Value:

A quote will be requested from ASTC for the BTO, consisting of a five-month base period of performance and four (4) one-month option periods. The pricing will be determined to be fair and reasonable by the Contracting Officer (CO) before any award is made. ASTC will be requested to provide similar types and levels of services required in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) for the current TO FA807517F1344. The current TO rates were previously approved and found to be fair and reasonable and in accordance with ASTC’s Air Force Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) multiple-award IDIQ. The GSA CO awarding the BTO will review pricing and make the determination of fair and reasonable in a written Award Decision Document. The total estimated value of this BTO if all options are exercised is

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The current TO FA807517F1344 was awarded to ASTC under its AF DTIC Contract FA807516D0001, utilizing fair opportunity ordering procedures for IDIQ Contracts, as identified under FAR 16.505.

The CO has determined that, under the circumstances described herein, an offer from ASTC for the five-month base period of performance and four (4) one-month option periods bridge (ID07200004) represents the best option for maintaining Evaluation of Integrated Technology CDO Space Environment program support and keeping in-place existing personnel with program and process knowledge and clearances, as well as representing the overall best value (including the level of effort and pricing) for the accomplishment of this BTO. This BTO shall be prepared and fully executed by the GSA CO upon approval of this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity. The Justification, in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), shall be posted on beta.SAM.gov (previously FBO.gov) within fourteen (14) days of the award of the BTO and shall remain posted for a period of at least thirty (30) days.

7. Any Other Facts Supporting the Justification:

In order to ensure that this BTO is only for a limited and defined period of time described above, GSA is concurrently approving the pre-solicitation documents for the long term effort TO. This means that the GSA has, at the time of issuance of this BTO, all documents (PWS, Independent Government Cost Estimate and funding documents). Having these documents in hand reduces the risk of delays and provides assurance that the BTO is truly a temporary measure and that a Long term TO will be issued in the very near future.

8. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency may take to Remove or Overcome any

Barriers that led to the Exception to Fair Opportunity before any Subsequent Acquisition for the Supplies or Services is made:

The Government (Department of the Air Force Offutt Air Force Base (FA8075 AFICA/KD)) utilized the Air Force Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) multiple-award IDIQ contract fair opportunity process in the award of the current TO, FA807517F1344. However, as a result of the sure and impending loss of ceiling value and the necessary and time-sensitive re-solicitation of this requirement that now exist, the need to award a follow-on sole-source BTO.

ATST is the only responsible source that can satisfy the agencies requirements without the loss of service. The BTO has four (4) one-month option periods after the initial five-month base period, which will allow for a limitation on the length of time and size of the TO the minimum amount necessary in order to continue services until the follow-on TO can be solicited and awarded.

ASTC has the experience, expertise, personnel, security clearances, and in-place capabilities to provide support for the short-term, immediate BTO to prevent a break in service during the time that a longer-term TO is being established.

Even though this bridge effort has been determined to be in the best interest of the Government to obtain as a sole source action, the long-term acquisition has already begun, including market research to identify competition. The Request for Information/Sources Sought conducted for the longer-term acquisition resulted in positive responses from ten OASIS Contractors within the Small Business and Unrestricted Pools (Pool 4).

9. The Contracting Officer’s Certification that the Justification is Accurate and Complete to the Best of the Contracting Officer’s Knowledge and Belief.

The Contracting Officer’s signature on the Signature/Approval page evidences that he/she has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge and

May 7, 2020, Page 7 belief.

10. Evidence that any Supporting Data that is the Responsibility of Technical or Requirements Personnel (e.g., Verifying the Government’s Minimum Needs or Requirements or Other Rationale for an Exception to Fair Opportunity) and which Form a Basis for the Justification have been Certified as Complete and Accurate by the Technical or Requirements Personnel.

See Technical Representative’s signature on Signature/Approval page.

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SIGNATURE/APPROVAL ROUTING

Task ID# ID07200004

* Technical Representative’s Certification: By signatory below, I state that I have read, understand, and agree with the technical information/representation made herein. I have provided the Agency and site specific technical information expressed herein, which is current and accurate to the best of my knowledge.

(Technical Representative)

Prepared by:

GSA Contract Specialist

By signatory(s) below, I state that I determine the statutory authority as cited herein and expressed in FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A)and (B) apply to this justification, and the justification is hereby approved on its merits as noted. Technical information was presented as being accurate and complete as received from the client, and was fully relied upon to document the request for “exception to fair opportunity,” described herein.

Contracting Officer’s Certification/Approval:

GSA Contracting Officer

Branch Chief, Assisted Acquisition Services Coordination/Review/Approval:

GSA, Branch Chief, Assisted Acquisition Services

Legal Counsel Review/Approval:

GSA, Legal Counsel

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Director, Assisted Acquisition Services Coordination Review/Approval:

GSA Director, Assisted Acquisition Services, Region 7

Acting Competition Advocate Coordination Review/Approval:

GSA Acquisition Policy and Program Coordinator