JA No. 22046 Signed 22Jun22 REDACTED.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC SYSTEMS PROGRAMS

1250 10TH STREET SE, SUITE 3600

WASHINGTON NAVY YARD, DC 20374-5127

J&A No 22,046 Code: SPN10

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity. Department of Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) located at the Washington Navy Yard, 1250 10th Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20374.

2. Description of the Action Being Approved. This J&A is for award of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 through FY27 contract associated with the procurement of technical engineering services for the Strategic Weapons Systems, Attack Weapons Systems, Nuclear Weapons Security (SWS, AWS, NWS), and COLUMBIA Class Instructional System Design (ISD), Courseware Development (CD), and management support services to develop Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) conformant and Integrated Learning Environment (ILE) compliant training content support on a sole source basis to Logistics Services International, Inc. (LSI).

The contractor is LSI, 6111 Technology Court, Jacksonville, FL, 32221-8104.

3. Description of Supplies/Services. The contractor shall provide ISD and CD for SCORM conformant, ILE compliant Level II/III interactive SWS, AWS, NWS, and COLUMBIA courseware. Additionally, the contractor shall provide training materials design and direction to the Material Preparing Activities (MPAs) during storyboard development. This shall also include direct support to the SSP Training Program Manager. Furthermore, the contractor shall provide integration tools for Authoring Instructional Material (AIM) Content Planning Module (CPM) / Learning Object Module (LOM), Seaware Learning Management System (LMS), Virtual Instructor Project (VIPr), Learning Analysis and Design (LEAD), and an Interactive Multimedia Instruction (IMI) development tool. The estimated dollar value of this procurement is shown in the table below. The J&A total value is lower than the net estimated values of funding cited from the aggregate amounts in the applicable Acquisition Plan as a result of the omission of an effort that is outside of the scope of this justification.

T

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition. 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1.

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above

a. SWS, AWS, NWS and COLUMBIA class training content developed by SP205 must be delivered in accordance with Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) requirements.

NETC requires that all Navy training content must be developed using the Navy's Authoring AIM application. AIM is a NAVAIR managed GOTS application used by multiple Navy Training Agencies to design and develop technical training content. Department of Defense (DoD) and OPNAV direction further requires that new training programs be developed to support distributive learning which demands a blended learning approach including the use of computer based self-paced instruction (CBT) or IMI. The ILE is the Navy's means of meeting the distributive learning approach.

b. Considering the foregoing requirement, LSI is the only known source qualified to provide the services required. As a leader in U.S. DoD training content development and Instructional System Design for more than 25 years, LSI has proactively developed the experience, technical knowledge and insight in collaborative blended learning content design, development, and maintenance with the AIM toolset that uniquely qualify it to provide the highest quality, AIM-compatible training content in support of SWS and COLUMBIA Class training materials. LSI has performed these services for SP205 for the past 12 years developing specifically tailored software toolsets for SP205 to prepare SCORM packages in a format compatible with the Seaware LMS ashore and the Maintenance Information Network (MIN) afloat, for testing and delivery in the classroom and at-sea.

c. In current year dollars, the cost to educate and qualify a new contractor would be at least $1M. This figure was calculated based on data provided by NAVAIR for a new standard Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema and bi-directional translation that would need to be developed to meet contract requirements. Additionally, unacceptable schedule delays would also result if another contractor were selected. The time it would take to perform the above-mentioned activities, is estimated at two to three years to equip and qualify a new source, based on SSP analysis of current industry capabilities documented in the market research report. This delay is unacceptable, in that it would cause disruption in meeting SSP commitments to provide MT Continuum training content in support of SWS and COLUMBIA Class training materials deployment, and would result in technically inaccurate training materials in the fleet. This presents an unacceptable risk to the safe and secure operation of the SWS onboard US SSBNs.

d. A failure to contract with LSI would necessitate the total education and qualification of an alternative source, which would involve great duplication of cost and unacceptable schedule delays. The cost and risk associated with obtaining competition through qualification of an alternative source, with respect to the MT Continuum aspects of this procurement, far outweigh any price, quality, or schedule benefits that can be reasonably anticipated from a competition.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable. As part of its market research, SSP posted a sources sought notice to the SAM.GOV website in January 2022 and 22 responses were received. After a thorough review of the responses, updates to the description of requirements were required to better determine industry capability and another sources sought notice was posted 03 March 2022 and closed on 18 March 2022. Total of 10 vendors including LSI replied and each response was evaluated on its merits by SP205 federal employees experienced and trained in acquisition processes that are subject matter experts in military training and workforce education. A summary of evaluation results was generated to assess program impact should another source be selected, resulting in a determination that LSI is the only source available to meet contract requirements. The distinguishing capability is the existing direct interfacing/bi-directional ability LSI has developed between the authoring tool (AIM/LEAD) and the blended training content package that is delivered, as well as the five highly specialized tools built to unique SP2056 needs (IMI Ingestion Tool, Test Generator, Reference Validator, Content Packaging Tool, GAP Test Designer). Further, SP2056 regularly interfaces with other Training System Program Offices (TSPOs), specifically NAVAIR, NAVSEA, PMS 397, and PMS 450, to assess current market conditions and exchange information on available capabilities in meeting shared/similar training development requirements, and no other vendors have been identified to meet current contract requirements.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost. A determination of fair and reasonable cost will be based on a technical evaluation of the proposal, a detailed cost and price analysis utilizing audit and field recommendations, and previous cost history and actuals, where appropriate. This is considered sufficient to allow the Contracting Officer to determine a fair and reasonable cost for this acquisition.

8. Actions Taken to Remove Barriers to Future Competition. For the reasons set forth in Paragraph 5, SSP has no plans at this time to compete future contracts for the types of supplies/services covered by this document. If another potential source emerges, SSP will assess whether competition for future requirements is feasible. Due to the fact that this is a follow-on for services previously awarded on a non-competitive basis, in accordance with DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(i), the prior J&A was provided to the approval authority for review. Approval of this J&A signifies the approval authority has made the determination required by DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(ii).

APPROVAL OF THE PROCURING ACTIVITY’S COMPETITION ADVOCATE

Upon the basis of the above justification, I hereby approve, as the procuring activity’s Competition Advocate, the solicitation of the proposed procurement described herein using other than full and open competition, pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

Competition Advocate, Strategic Systems Programs

Matthew Birmingham

SPNT00

BIRMINGHAM.MATTHE

W.JAMES.1140307676

Digitally signed by

BIRMINGHAM.MATTHEW.JAMES.114030

Date: 2022.06.22 15:02:54 -04'00'