IRT Bridge LSJ Redaction 08OCT2020_Redacted.pdf

AQ Control No. 20-012 Contractor: RMA Associates

Program: Incentive Review Team

FOUO

4. Authority Cited/ Supporting Rationale: FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: RMA Associates is capable of providing the services required at the level of quality required. These services are unique, and experienced personnel are required to maintain continuous productivity without retraining or onboarding new support personnel.

A non-competitive award is necessary to provide continuity of service to consolidate the Incentive Support Team (IST) and (IRT) support services contracts in fiscal year 2021. It

-term requirement as there are costs savings associated with consolidating these two actions.

ARNG-HRM-I searched the 54 States and Territories for Air Guard Reserve Technicians and Active Duty Occupational Services (ADOS) RC T-10 individuals with the level of expertise, understanding and ability to perform the required services. The search did not yield any qualified candidates. The current contractor, RMA Associates, is the only contractor that can successfully execute the ARNG requirements without a disruptive break in service, and duplication in cost to the government.

Contractor personnel use the Guard Incentive Management System which provides an electronic web-based means of submission, receipt, storage, processing and tracking of incentive payment and Exception to Policy (ETP) requests for all 54 States, Territories and District of Columbia. The Guard Incentive Management System provides user roles and workflows that are intricate and detailed, thus demanding a lengthy course of instruction. Transitioning to a new contractor would require a minimum training period of 30 days, creating a significant backlog of incentive payments and ETP requests not being processed. After training is completed, the new contractor would need continued government oversight for an additional 30 days to determine proficiency.

The advantage gained from the bridge extension would be completely negated by the time required to compete an 18-month contract. The Government would not realize any cost savings in competing this extension due to the short timeline of this requirement and the Government labor hours required to execute a new contract.

This requirement necessitates the award of this contract on a sole source basis because the current vendor is the only contractor that can meet the ARNG requirements without a lengthy and expensive interruption to this critical program. The current vendor has been conducting these in-depth reviews and has the reputable experience with the process and incentive management system for the past four years. Although the Government recognizes that there may be other potential contractors who can perform the same services, the time and effort needed to acquire trained contractors with the ability to perform at the current work rate would be too costly and lengthy of a process. Awarding to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost that is not expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling ANG requirements.

AQ Control No. 20-012 Contractor: RMA Associates

Program: Incentive Review Team

FOUO

The effort needed to acquire and train new contractor personnel would be too costly, time consuming and result in a break in service. This break could lead to improper adjudication and result in Congressional and/ or Inspector General complaints for delay in payments. Payment delays could affect ARNG Soldier morale and potentially create financial hardships. It could also further hinder recruiting and retention efforts due to poor reputation for payouts or missed assurances to pay Soldiers by a certain date. News outlets have covered poor execution of payments. Furthermore, the delay in payments could result in Absent without Leave (AWOL), chronic AWOLs and desertion of Soldiers due to failed written agreements.

Lastly, holding a Source Selection Evaluation Board can require anywhere from 200 to 400 total participation hours for a minimum five Source Selection Team members.

Competing this requirement would not be advantageous to the Government from a cost perspective. The purpose of the bridge is to provide continuity of service to synchronize IST and IRT in fiscal year 2021. It is not in the Government best interest to compete this short-term requirement, as there are costs savings associated with consolidating these two actions.

6. Actions to Increase Competition: NGB issued two Request for Information (RFI) on 30 April 2020 to supplement market research, generate interest within industry and select a contract vehicle and acquisition strategy. A competitive consolidated procurement encompassing both IST and IRT is tentatively planned to be solicited in the 3rd quarter of FY 21. The follow-on will be competed on General Services Administration Smart Human Capital Solutions (HCATS) as a Small Business Set-Aside. NGB-AQ-C will also issue a Draft RFP approximately 6-8 weeks prior to final RFP approval and release. ARNG HRM-I and NGB-AQ-C are currently working on the consolidated IST and IRT requirement for FY 21.

7. Market Research: As stated above, a RFI on the System for Award Management (SAM) notice ID W9113L-20-F-00XX_IRT and on General Services Administration (GSA eBuy) reference # W9133L-20-F-00XX IRTR were issued on 30 April 2020 with a close date of 13 May 2020 and 15 May 2020, respectively. The objective of the RFIs were:

generate interest, select a contract vehicle and acquisition strategy. A review of vendor capability statements showed that there were at least two small businesses who were deemed capable of performing IRT services under GSA HCATs.

8. Any Other Facts:

a. Procurement History

Current IRT Contract Current IST Contract Contract: W9133L-16-F-0041 Contractor: RMA Associates PoP: 30 Sept 2016 - 29 Sept 2020 Competitive Status: Yes, 100% Small Business Authority: FAR part 8

Contract: W9133L-17-F-0014 Contractor: IIF Data Solutions, Inc.

PoP: 30 Sept 2017 - 29 Sept 2021 Competitive Status: Yes, 100% Small Business Authority: FAR part 8