JandA_SI AS Bridge Amend_8-31-2023 R.pdf

DDEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION

AGENCY

8725 JOHN J. KINGMAN ROAD, STOP

6201 FORT BELVOIR, VA 22060-6201

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Amendment I

1. Nature and/or Description of Action

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) contracting activity proposes to procure, on a sole-source basis, a 6-month continuation of ongoing subject matter expertise currently being offered under contract ‘HDTRA1-23-C-0022’ to provide fully integrated advisory and assistance support services to the Strategic Integration Directorate (SI). These activities require dedicated and unbiased advisory and assistance services (A&AS) support provided by a performer with in-depth experience across a wide range of SI internal and external missions and organizations. This acquisition will obtain Advisory & Assistance Services (A&AS) for the SI Directorate in support of the DoD Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) mission. The SI Directorate requires fully integrated A&AS support for the daily performance and execution of the Agency’s CWMD mission; i.e. CWMD planning; strategic planning;

requirements management; threat and opportunity analysis; regional engagement activities;

training and exercise support; scientific and technical expertise to advise, support and conduct CWMD studies, projects, tabletops, and other community products and events; technical support for documents, reports, research and associated graphics or multimedia products;

administrative support, etc. A&AS support for SI mandates the contractor fully institutionalize and execute SI's requirements and supporting coordination of actions with other Directorates within DTRA. The SI planners serve as the focal point to enhance DoD planning, coordination, collaboration and to facilitate information sharing of DTRA roles, missions, and functions and current CWMD Operations, Activities and Investments (OAIs) within the Department of Defense, across the United States Government Interagency, and internationally with key allies and partner nations.

This Amendment is to increase the value of the original Justification and Approval (J&A) for HDTRA1-23-C-0022 which was approved on 12 January 2023.

2. Description of the Supplies/Services Required

This effort will provide for continuity of A&AS services for an additional six months to avoid a disruption in services that will otherwise cease at the conclusion of the performance period of contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022 on 7 September 2023. The specified contract was awarded to Amentum on 16 February 2023, the original Period of Performance was to end on 17 August 2023; however, as a result of a protest filed against the new Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract HDTRA1-23-D-0001, a no-cost modification was issued on 16 August 2023 to extend the PoP to 07 September 2023. As the A&AS services required are currently being provided through bridge contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022, the Government requires the continued use of this contract to extend the PoP by six months for the continuation of A&AS Support pending protest resolution. The original J&A was written in support of an award to CENTRA. However, CENTRA was acquired by Amentum. The first six-month bridge award was made to Amentum. The additional six months will also be performed by Amentum. The nature of the work to be performed is as follows:

1. SI Front Office Support: Provide technical, administrative, and logistical support for planning, implementing, and evaluation programs activities that shall include developing and coordinating the SI responses to internal and external tasking’s via the Enterprise Task Management Software Solution (ETMS2), using the Defense Travel System (DTS) to coordinate travel in support of the SI, editing documents, obtaining documentation and following-up on open action items, recording meeting notes and the production of meeting minutes. Provide other ancillary, within scope administrative duties coordinated in advance between contractor Project Manager (PM) and government Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Provide knowledge management services to include creating new SharePoint pages, managing access to, improving the design, organization and ease of use, and posting new or changed information to the Directorate’s SharePoint or other web-enabled sites. The anticipated period of performance is 6 months effective 8 September 2023.

2. SI-PL Support: Provide analytical, technical, and administrative support for day-to-day activities to include operational expertise, organizational policy and planning development and project/program support, and technical support specific to each of the CCMD’s respective regions, to include information, advice, alternative analysis, evaluations and recommendations. Provide support for training, doctrine, and exercise related activities. Provide support to the Agency process to identify, analyze, adjudicate, and document requirements. Provide subject matter expertise on Opportunity Analysis and Design Thinking processes (synthesis/designers), to deliver responsive, interdisciplinary and analytical capability involving broad, undefined complex issues of either a special or recurring nature. The anticipated period of performance is 6 months effective 8 September 2023.

3. SI-STED Planning Support: Assist in formulating and preparing briefings, reports, and other communications materials to present to senior officials in DTRA, DoD, and other agencies. Provide expert advice and analytical support for strategic planning, strategy development, performance management and measurement, and organizational assessment efforts. Support strategic planning efforts and conduct analyses of CWMD-related strategies, policies, doctrine, plans, capability gaps, and emerging trends to support decision making related to the current and potential future WMD threat environment. Provide support in the development and maintenance of the DTRA Strategy (5-year) and annual Director’s Planning Guidance (DPG), in order to inform and guide the development of Agency CWMD strategies and programs, and Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) activities. Review and analyze selected publications on behalf of the USG to determine congruence with existing policy and doctrine and technical accuracy, or other criteria directed by the Government. Provide support for the program and capability assessments that DTRA develops against Agency plans and guidance, and the subsequent application of resources.

CWMD planning activities require an approximately 30-day learning period for a contractor to become familiar with the interagency planning environment and other mission requirements. This timeframe represents one-half of the contemplated bridge period of performance, so any contractor other than the incumbent would not be fully functional for 50 percent of the effort.

2. Likewise, SI-ST requires specialized support services. A contractor's prior experience supporting other DoD CWMD agencies or even private-sector CWMD research institutions do not, independently, provide complete understanding of how to support SI-ST's mission to generate timely, credible, actionable insights into strategic threat trends and emerging S&T issues within the counter-WMD mission space to enable and guide warfighter understanding. Based on ongoing studies, international engagement activities, and research efforts, coupled with previous SI-ST A&AS support experience, an estimated minimum 30-day period is required for a contractor to develop a working knowledge of SI-ST’s mission support and over-the-horizon studies requirements. This timeframe represents one-half of the contemplated bridge period of performance, so any contractor other than the incumbent would not be fully functional for 50 percent of the effort.

3. There is insufficient time for other companies that meet the basic requirements to become proficient in current DTRA CWMD planning and OAIs and meet all requirements by 8 September 2023. The next best alternative for acquiring another potentially qualified company to provide these services is awarded contract HDTRA1- 23-D-0001 referenced in Paragraph 2 of this Justification. However, based on the protest of this contract award and the timeline needed to resolve the protest, DTRA considers having a protest resolution in place by 8 September 2023 to be impossible.

4. Collectively, there is also insufficient time for otherwise potentially capable industry performers to become proficient in current SI-ST study structures and constructs, particularly unique and evolving against emerging threats.

5. In addition, it is impractical for other potential sources to achieve a state of operational readiness based upon a need to acquire the necessary physical facilities to fulfill the overall functional requirements of the bridge contract over a period of 12 months for the SI-PL and the SI-ST A&AS support without incurring a substantial duplication of costs that would be incurred a second time in connection with the aforementioned competitive follow-on procurement.

6. This short-term sole source acquisition ensures continuity of operations for the DTRA

SI Directorate. It is anticipated that an additional 6-month period will be necessary to provide for continuity of operations inclusive of a ~30-day transition period and SI support until the resolution of the award protest.”

As a result, contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022 needs to be extended six months to provide SI with continued A&AS support while the protest is being resolved. Failure to proceed with this action will result in an unavoidable and substantive interruption of agency critical component continuity of operations, notwithstanding the need to have a reasonable period of 30 days for transition of services to the follow on contract. The use of the current contract is necessary because the incumbent is the only source with the expertise and organizational experience, existing facilities and personnel to continue performance without interruption on 8 September 2023 considering that the protest will not be resolved by that time. Use of a 6 month extension will also help with the transition to the new contractor.

5. Effort to Solicit Potential Sources

The primary follow-on requirement that will provide DTRA SI with A&AS support for the long term is a five-year IDIQ contract which was procured competitively as full and open.

This short term non-competitive bridge contract PoP extension will provide for the necessary transition period while the protest is being resolved.

In addition, DTRA published a sources sought notice specifically for the bridge effort on December 23rd 2022, requesting capability statements from small and large business concerns. The announcement closed on January 3rd 2023 and resulted in capability statements from the following three sources, which were assessed for capability by the SI Directorate as follows:

•ARSERVICES LIMITED (Small Business)

• CENTRA (Large Business / Incumbent Contractor, now Amentum)

• E.L. Hamm (Woman-Owned Small Business ~ WOSB Application Pending)

6. Fair and Reasonable Costs

The anticipated cost/price of this contract action to the Government is determined to be fair and reasonable based on current cost and pricing information analyzed in accordance with

FAR 15.404-1.

7. Market Research

The program manager concluded that the existing bridge contract vehicle can be utilized and that a new standalone contract is not required based on the following findings:

The program manager researched the DTRA Market Research Repository and obtained a copy of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Directorate (CT) A&AS Market Research Report for their ongoing procurement. The program manager also researched various other DTRA contracts for A&AS support and concluded that there are some vendors in the market place with some of the requisite skills required to support the SI A&AS mission. However, different vendors have different specialties with respect to the lines of A&AS support they provide and none of the vendors reviewed had all of the skillsets and experience needed to support SI on short notice. Reviewed the Contract Directory.gov databases and determined that there are no current contracts that will fulfill SI’s unique A&AS requirements. The majority of A&AS contracts listed on Contract Directory.gov provide support to their agency only and do not allow other agencies to place orders off their contracts. Other Department of Defense A&AS contracts were reviewed by searching ContractDirectory.gov and www.google.com. Contracts found include: Army, DHS, and HHS. The scope of these contracts was reviewed and it was determined that the SI requirements would not fit and therefore could not be utilized. GSA schedules for Professional Services, Technical & Engineering Services (non IT), Technical Consultation Services (category 541690), Management and Financial Consulting, Acquisition and Grants Management Support, and Business Program and Project Management Services (category 541611), Training, Education Support Services (category 611710) were reviewed for availability of labor categories and contract vehicles. Aside from contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022, there are no other contract vehicles in place that could completely fulfill SI’s A&AS requirement.

In support of the awarded IDIQ contract, the DTRA SI Directorate sponsored a virtual Industry Day on 2 March 2022 via Zoom.gov. The Industry Day was announced on SAM.gov and one hundred thirty-seven (137) contractors responded by registering for the event. Of the one hundred thirty-seven (137) contractors that registered eighty-four (84) actually attended the virtual event, including fifty-eight (58) small businesses. Questions and Answers (Q&A's) were posted on SAM.gov on March 30, 2022. Key issues raised included the organizational conflict of interest (OCI), potential conflicts of interests, small business participation, facility security, and the fifteen (15) day transition period.

A Request for Information (RFI)/Capability Statements from Industry was posted on SAM.gov on February 10, 2022, requesting white paper capability statements from interested vendors detailing their capability to provide professional, advisory, management, and operational services. Responses were due back on February 26, 2022 and twenty three (23) responses were received. Of the twenty three (23) responses received, fourteen (14) were small businesses and the remaining nine (9) were large businesses. Five vendors were deemed fully qualified to perform the scope of effort.

Market research and the competitive process used to award the new contract demonstrates there is competition. Due to a protest, the need for a transition and the pending PoP end date, there is not sufficient time to acquire A&AS support from other means. Accordingly, the incumbent and current bridge contract HDTRA1-23-C-0022 is the only viable source capable of providing the needed support until the protest is resolved.

8. Other Facts

A. The planned start date of the new A&AS IDIQ contract was suspended 3 weeks into the transition period due to the award protest.

B. It is estimated that a duplication of costs to the government in the amount of $1,794,559 that would not be recovered through competition would be incurred in conjunction with the following:

A new contractor with 52 technically qualified personnel who already have the required TS/SCI security clearances, would require a minimum of 30 days training/transition to develop a working knowledge of DTRA CWMD planning, mission strategy, policy, doctrine, and OAIs. An estimated 30-day learning period is required to develop a sufficient working knowledge of DTRA requirements and regulations, particularly those governing discussions and interactions with foreign nationals. The figure in paragraph B above represents the 30 days of support for which a new performer would have to be compensated but would not