ID08200022 - J A for Bridge Final 3.17.pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

FOR BRIDGE CONTRACT TO SUPPORT COMPETTIVE EFFORT

PROJECT ID08200022

1) Identification of Agency :

Agency:

General Services Administration (GSA) Region 08, Federal Acquisition Service Acting in support of: United States Marine Corp (USMC) New River MCAS

2) Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved:

GSA FAS requests approval to award a bridge contract for Contractor Maintenance Support (CMS). The USMC’s current contract for the MV-22 Contractor Maintenance Support (CMS) services at New River, NC expires April 1, 2020. Due to time constraints that could not be overcome, GSA is unable to responsibly award a competitive action at this time. A bridge contract needs to be awarded in order to prevent a lapse in service.

The bridge contract will be a sole source, open market, direct award to a Service- Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). It will be a firm fixed price contract with a line item for time and materials covering overtime.

3) A Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet Agency’s Need:

The USMC itself does not have enough trained airframe mechanics, flight-line mechanics, electrical/avionics mechanics, system support specialists, supply technicians, and logs and records technicians to support O-Level scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on aircraft. The government needs this CMS support to perform troubleshooting, inspections, corrosion prevention/treatment, servicing, lubricating, adjusting and the removal and replacement of aeronautical components. Because the Government does not have enough personnel of its own the government needs CMS personnel to augment USMC maintenance personnel at the squadron in order to keep maintenance activities going at satisfactory performance levels. If the operation does have a lapse there will be unacceptable delays in the pilot training program causing pilot training quotas to be missed. This leaves the customer with an insufficient number of mission trained pilots.

The period of performance for the bridge contract will consist of a 30 day base period commencing April 2, 2020, followed by two optional 30 day periods should the government experience unexpected events. This performance term is the minimal amount of time needed in order to prevent a lapse in service and allow for the responsible completion of a competitive contract action.

The estimated price for each 30 day period is $754,127. for a total estimated price of $2,262,381.

4) An Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition:

The procedures at FAR subpart 13.5 are used in accordance with 41 U.S.C 1901 and the authority at 41 U.S.C 3304(e).

5) A Demonstration that the Proposed Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or the Nature of the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited:

The incumbent is the only contractor that has the ability to immediately continue maintaining the aircraft that are necessary for training missions at the quality levels required. There are severe mission consequences when training mission objectives are not met, including but not limited to:

- Reduced maintenance capability will reduce flight events by 60 each week which is half of required production.

- New personnel must go through the required training per the 4790.2C. This training period is approximately three weeks. Without a responsible transition no contractor other than the incumbent can keep maintenance operations going. Because the incumbent has already accomplished the training they are uniquely situated to keep maintenance operations going. -A lapse in service as little as two weeks will result in three less pilots trained for the fiscal year. This pilot training issue compounds after any initial two week lapse because each additional week lapse will result in three less pilots trained for the fiscal year.

- A potential five week lapse will impact the squadron so heavily that the number of trained pilot required in the fiscal year will be reduced by 50% or 12 pilots. The results of these impacts are unacceptable.

The incumbent immediately has the qualified staff and has been successfully performing the organizational maintenance operation at MCAS New River as the incumbent. They immediately have all the certifications, qualification and security clearances necessary to continue operations without a break in service. Because the incumbent can provide the qualified staff with the proper certifications, qualifications, and security clearances immediately on April 2, 2020, they are uniquely situated and are the only contractor that can provide continuity of necessary operations until a new contract is awarded.

6) A Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited From as Many Potential Sources as Practicable:

This bridge contract will maintain continuity of operations until the new award is made.

Based on Market Research, no source other than the incumbent will be able to meet the Government’s requirement for performance of these services beginning on April 2, 2020.

As stated in paragraph 3 above, this bridge contract is being put in place only for the shortest amount of time necessary in order for the government to responsibly compete and award a competitive contract action. The acquisition team has taken steps to ensure competition for the follow on contract. These steps included an initial Request For Information (RFI) which received seven responses from small businesses. Therefore, two or more quotes are anticipated for the following competitive action. The Request for Quotation (RFQ) for the competitive action is anticipated to be released approximately March 13, 2020 via the GSA LOGWORLD schedule and will be out for at least seven business days. Anticipated award for the new contract is April 16, 2020, with Period of Performance to begin on May 1 after the base period of the bridge contract expires.

7) A Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable:

Based on the data gathered, the Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. The anticipated cost is an estimate based on the current contract’s Service Contract Act (SCA) labor rates and historical prices paid. The Contracting Officer will negotiate for the same monthly fixed-price rate currently applicable to the incumbent’s current contract. The prices of the current contract have been found to be fair and reasonable. Additionally, the government has historical pricing on multiple other contracts for similar services that it will use if necessary to determine the price fair and reasonable.

8) A Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results or a Statement of the Reason Market Research was not Conducted:

For this bridge effort, limited market research has been conducted. Based on the acquisition team’s experience with previously awarded contracts for aircraft maintenance in support of the USMC, they are aware that even a fully qualified company could not hire staff and obtain base access before April 2, 2020. Also, as the New River area has numerous military units with aircraft maintenance contracts, creating a challenging hiring environment, it is unlikely that qualified employees would accept a position on a 30-90 day contract and have the security clearances and access needed to successfully perform.

Market research has been conducted for the follow-on contract. Market research has shown aircraft maintenance services are a commercial service. Seven vendors replied to a Request for Information with two having MV22 related experience. Based on the market research none of these companies would be able to responsibly perform on April 2, 2020 which would cause unacceptable delays in meeting the Government’s requirement.

9) Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Compeition:

The incumbent, is determined to be the only responsible source that is able to maintain organizational maintenance responsibilities within the required timeframe, preventing a lapse in service. The incumbent has all expertise, installation access and current staffing capability to continue operation until the follow on award is made.

10) A Listing of the Sources, if any, That Expressed, In Writing, An Interest in the Acquisition:

To date, the Contracting Officer has not received any statements of interest regarding the proposed Sole Source effort.

11) A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for the Supplies or Services Required:

The Government is putting in place a bridge contract to a competitive contract. There is a current effort to award a base plus two one-year option period contract for the same services that will be a competitive small business set aside under the LOGWORLD Professional Services Schedule. This award would be aligned with the end of the bridge period of performance.

12) Contracting Officer Certification that the Justification is Accurate and Complete to the Best of the Contracting Officer’s Knowledge and Belief:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I determine on the basis of the findings above that asole source approach is in accordance with the requirements and is in the best interest of the Government.

David Shamburger Date Contracting Officer

GSA/FAS/R8

13) Certification by the technical requirements personnel that supporting data and rationale which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Captain Gary Boggs Date Assistant Aircraft Maintenance Officer

USMC VMMT-204

Final Approval

Sarah Hoffman Date Competition Advocate

GSA/FAS/R8

3/18/2020