JOFOC for GSA AAS SOCOM CWMDS 47QFCA24R0048_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) Small Business (SB) Pool 1 Contracts:47QRAD20D1155,47QRAD20D1005, andGS00Q14OADS118

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency

1. BACKGROUND

The Office of Professional Services and Human Capital (PSHC) manages the multiple award, multi-agency, complex professional services program known as the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) contract program, including all contract administration and program oversight. The OASIS Small Business (SB) master contracts were competed as a 100% total small business set-asides in 2013 under competitive procedures, and the contracts’ ordering period expires on December 19, 2024. While the contracts have a set ordering and performance completion period, the contracts do not have a maximum ceiling value.1

The purpose of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) is to encourage competition for Government contracts with policy goals of increasing the number of competitors, reducing costs, and increasing small business opportunity. The OASIS contract program has been highly successful in achieving these goals. The customer agency procurement that is the subject of this justification and approval (J&A) achieved the competition the law seeks, but the ordering agency had taken longer to evaluate than anticipated. As such, the ordering period of the master contract will need to extend beyond the OASIS SB end date for the completion of award activities and to resolve any potential protests.

Allowing for an extension to the ordering period by utilizing a statutory exception to full and open competition, the General Services Administration (GSA) can:

● Ensure the Government carries out the statutory intent and policy objectives of CICA.

● Allow enough time for the competitive process to fully play out to include potential protests.

● Promote adequate competition since proposals have already been received amongst several small businesses.

On the other hand, if GSA does not allow for an extension, the ordering agency will be forced to:

● Award long sole source extensions, likely at higher prices.

● Waste the investments of small businesses who pursued this opportunity, making them less likely to compete in future Government contracts.

1 Two deviations were signed prior to the release of the OASIS solicitations. Both were class deviations signed 07/24/2013 by GSA’s Senior Procurement Executive (SPE), and allow the performance period to exceed five years, and to allow “no-maximum ceiling value” for the life of the contracts.

Docusign Envelope ID: F2EB53D9-B62E-451B-8CF1-011103F7BC28

CUI / SP-PROCURE

● Waste the investments the agency has made to procure this requirement.

This scenario leaves GSA with an unusual paradox. By invoking an exception to competition, the Government actually achieves competition and allows the totality of the acquisition process to play out (including any protests); but, if GSA doesn't invoke the exception to competition, it ends up forcing the procuring agency into a sole source environment, the very thing CICA was striving to limit.

Given the goal of CICA, and the fact pattern explained herein,GSA has determined individual contract extensions to support the completion of award activities is in the best interest of the Government. Competition is achieved, the agency’s mission can be met, and the time and money spent on task order acquisition planning, market research, coordination, approvals, solicitation development, evaluation and award, will not be lost.

The OASIS contract extensions contemplated herein will ensure that the GSA Office of Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) FEDSIM will have the time needed to complete their Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Support (CWMDS) task order procurement in support of the mission of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). The GSA AAS contracting officer and program manager have documented their efforts to complete the procurement prior to the end of the current OASIS SB (Pool 1) ordering period.

The ordering activity provided written documentation to support their request to extend the ordering period for the OASIS SB contracts listed in this justification. The documentation in this justification explains why the requested extension for those OASIS SB contracts is critical to the USSOCOMmission, which is to conduct global special operations and activities as part of the Joint Force, in concert with the U.S. Government Interagency, Allies, and Partners, to support persistent, networked, and distributed combat and command operations and campaigns against state and non-state actors to protect and advance U.S. policies and objectives. As such, failure to approve the contract extensions for the OASIS SB contractors who responded to the ordering activity’s task order request for proposal (TORFP), will result in significant negative mission impact in the form of (1) a lapse of procured services resulting in the inability of the requiring activity to fully support their national defense mission, and (2) financial loss to USSCOCOM.In summary, this justification documents the severe negative mission impacts that will be suffered by the Government if the extensions are not approved, forcing the work on the task order procurement to be abandoned.

To support this J&A document, the ordering office provided documentation explaining why they may not have been able to award their TO before the current OASIS SB Pool 1 ordering period end date, and this information was specifically relied on in preparing this justification document.

The action to extend individual OASIS master contractsdoes not allowcontractors impacted by this action to acceptany other OASIS SB ordersbeyondDecember 19, 2024, except the order that will result from the TORFP specifically identified in this document. As documented herein, the TORFP was competed among all 237 OASIS SB Pool 1 contractors who are in the applicable pool and the solicitation was issued during the original order period of the OASIS contracts, and closed prior to the end date of the OASIS SB original ordering period (December 19, 2024). All contractors who responded to the TORFP are subjects of the individual extensions documented herein.

The specific action being supported in this justification will be to extend the ordering period on individual contracts held by contractors that responded to TORFP, which closed prior to the end

CUI / SP-PROCURE

date of the original ordering period. This action will only allow an order to be placed after December 19, 2024 under the specific TORFP issued by the agency identified herein.

This action extends the individual contracts for those OASIS SB Pool 1 master contract holders, who responded to the TORFP and are still under consideration for award of the TO. The GSA OASIS SB Pool 1 master contracts were competed as a 100% total small business set-aside, and posted on Sam.gov (FedBizOps), in 2013 under competitive procedures.

The TO identified in this justification was competed under the applicable pool of contracts, and all 237 contractors in the OASIS SB Pool 1 were given fair opportunity to respond to the TORFP.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

On an individual basis, this justification supports the extension of certain OASIS Pool 1 SB master Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts (listed below). The Contracting Activity for the extensions of the OASIS SB Pool 1 master contracts is the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA’) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) PSHC Contracting Office, Division C, while GSA AAS FEDSIM is the contracting activity for the subject task order on behalf ofUSSOCOM. Note the master contracts do nothave a dollar value ceiling maximum, and the total guaranteed minimum is $2500.00 per contract.

The following are the OASIS SB Pool 1 master contract holders that responded to the fair opportunity TORFP solicitation issued by GSA’s AAS office on behalf of the USSOCOM customer by the solicitation closing date ofOctober7, 2024, and therefore these are the only interest parties/contracts/contractors whose masters contracts are impacted by the individual extensions supported by this justification and approval:

Contract Number Contractor Name UEI Code

These contractors submitted proposals on TORFP number47QFCA24R0048in support of GSA AAS, Acquisition Office for Defense/SOCOM.

This document serves as a justification for other than full and open competition in accordance with FAR 6.302-2, “Unusual and Compelling Urgency”;justified and approved in accordance with FAR 6.303 and 6.304.

3. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

This action extends the OASIS SB contracts listed in Section 2 by 30 days from their current ordering period, which expires on December 19, 2024, to a new ordering period end date of January 18, 2025. This extension will allow for the completion of award activities, including the resolution of potential protests for the task order identified in this justification. An additional 180-day ordering period “contingency option” will be included in the extension to accommodate protest resolution should a protest be filed against the task order. If a protest is filed and the outcome requires the issuance of a new solicitation (not an amended TORFP), the ordering

CUI / SP-PROCURE

contracting officer will not be able to utilize OASIS SB for the recompete. The 180-day contingency option period may be exercised, if needed, only to allow ample time for the protest and any corrective action to be resolved. The following is the GSA AAS CO’s plan of execution that will allow the following planned schedule to be carried out within the ordering period, if the ordering period is extended:

12/19/2024 - Award andUnsuccessful Notification Letterand Evaluation Statement (NLES) at the time of award

12/23/2024 - Deadline to Receive Oral Feedback Meeting Request from Offerors (three Business Days)

12/29/2024 - Conduct Oral Feedback (within five days of receipt of the request)

12/31/2024 - Offeror Must Submit Additional Questions within Two Business Days from the Oral Feedback Meeting

01/04/2025 - Obtain Legal Review and Concurrence of Responses

01/06/2025 - Provide Written Responses to Follow Up Questions After an Oral Feedback Meeting, if Required, FAR Debriefing and Explanation Process has Concluded.

01/16/2025 - 10 Days After Debriefing Date (Timely Protest Period)

By January 16, 2025,GSA AAS will know if a timely protest has been filed and if the contingency option period is needed or not. At that time, the OASIS CO will be able to either exercise the option period modification to extend the ordering period, or the ordering period will end as of January 18, 2025.

The date for completing performance of any resultant task order is December 19, 2029, which comports with the master contracts’ terms and conditions and authorized period of performance.

Prior to the award of the OASIS contracts, the GSA Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) approved a deviation to FAR 16.505 authorizing no maximum ceiling value for the contract and, therefore, there is adequate ceiling value to support any resultant task order award.

Furthermore, an unlimited number of task orders may be placed during the term of the master contracts

GSA AAS, issued a TORFP in support of the work to be accomplished for the USSOCOM customer agency on August 30, 2024 with a closing date of October 4, 2024. The ordering activity made the award on December 19, 2024. Over the last several months, the GSA AAS acquisition team has taken preventative measures to mitigate schedule risks to the maximum extent practicable; however, they are requesting an extension to the ordering period of the aforementioned contracts to facilitate award activities, and resolution of protests, if applicable.

While the GSA AAS office successfully awarded their TO within the current ordering period, it is important to note that any potential protest will likely be filed after no new orders can be placed against the OASIS SB Pool 1 contracts.

The risk of protest is heightened due to the dollar value and high visibility of the requirement

CUI / SP-PROCURE

and therefore, the GSA AAS team is anticipating the order will be protested.2

4. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIREDTO MEET THE AGENCY’S

NEEDS

USSOCOM develops and employs the world’s finest Special Operations Forces (SOF) to conduct global special operations and activities as part of the Joint Force in concert with the United States (U.S.) Government interagency, allies, and partners to support persistent, networked, and distributed combatant command operations and campaigns against state and non-state actors all to protect and advance U.S. policies and objectives. USSOCOM J10 is the proponent that provides expertise and support in CWMD operations, including information management, planning, training, exercises, readiness, and resource management, along with global coordination support for the CWMD. USSOCOM provides the Department of Defense (DoD) with Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) coordinating authority and mission advocacy through its J10 Directorate. USSOCOM J10 provides department-wide situational awareness of CWMD issues; provides recommendations to shape priorities, inform policy, enhance activities, and identify gaps and seams for capability/resource allocation to further campaign objectivities for DoD; facilitates coordination between DoD and interagency and intelligence community partners through Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the Joint Staff; and integrates international allies and partners into CWMD planning efforts with and through the Geographic Combatant Commanders (GCCs).

The purpose of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Support (CWMDS) TO is to provide subject matter expertise in the areas of CWMD operations; information management;

administration and planning; training, exercises, readiness, personnel management, and intelligence across all warfare domains (e.g., seabed to space); and CWMD global synchronization coordination support for USSOCOM J10. This expertise will be used to conduct strategic studies and assessments for the analysis, assessment, and synchronization of USSOCOM’s Unified Command Plan (UCP) CWMD mission with the global DoD CWMD mission more effectively. Furthermore, this effort will provide support in the conduct of CWMD mission and intelligence analysis, as well as CWMD and intelligence planning. Lastly, the CWMDS TO will provide planning and analysis of DoD’s CWMD mission, oversee the development of required memorandums of agreement, and support agreements as well as manage resource transfer associated with USSOCOM assuming the CWMD mission synchronization.

The OASIS SB Pool 1 master contract scope includes North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541690 – Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services. After careful consideration of the client’s requirements and review of the marketplace, GSA AAS selected the GSA OASIS Multiple Award-Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (MA-IDIQ) as the best alternative to meet the Government’s needs.

The goal of this TO is to enhance department-wide situational awareness of CWMD issues, offering recommendations to shape priorities, inform policy, and identify gaps in capabilities and resources for DoD. It aims to facilitate coordination between the DoD, interagency, and intelligence community partners through OSD and the Joint Staff, while also integrating international allies and partners into CWMD planning efforts through GCCs. CWMDS is to

2 An order of this magnitude (est. $53 million) presentsa significant opportunity for the competing OASIS SB contractors, increasing the likelihood award protests.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

having personnel with the proper clearances to support various levels of classified programs and work at CONUS locations.

The Government estimate for the procurement is approximately $53M. This dollar value is applicable to the TO only. This dollar value does not impact the review and approval requirements of this justification and approval document. This action covered under this justification is applicable to the master contract level only.

5. IDENTIFICATION OF THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTINGOTHER THAN FULL

AND OPEN COMPETITION

The statutory exception to full and open competition is issued under 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2) as implemented by FAR 6.302-2, “Unusual and Compelling Urgency”.

6. DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’SUNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF

AUTHORITY CITED

6.a.Market research efforts signified OASIS SB wasthe best method for satisfying this requirement.

GSA AAS performed market research to determine the most suitable pool of potential sources available to provide the full range of services in the specialized fields needed by USSOCOM, to establish an acquisition approach for the CWMDS requirements, and to find the most experienced pool of potential sources.

The Government also conducted market research activities to determine whether Small Business(SB) contractors have the capabilities to successfully perform the CWMDS requirements.

Information from the following sources was reviewed:

● General Services Administration (GSA) Discovery Tool.

● Small Business Administration (SBA) Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS)

● Veterans Affairs (VA) VetBiz Portal.

● Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG)

● Integrated Contractor Directory.

● GSA’s Category Management Tool.

● GSA’s Acquisition Gateway.

A variety of alternatives were considered, including the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), an open market approach, Small Business (SB) set-asides, Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), and the GSA One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) contract vehicles. GSA MAS is not feasible because the type of work required by the CWMDS TO is non-commercial and therefore cannot be acquired on GSA Schedules. Additionally, the contract type that was selected for this acquisition is a cost reimbursable contract. GSA MAS does not support cost reimbursement contract types. The CWMDS TO requirement is a complex requirement that involves Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Operations, information management, planning, exercises, readiness, and CWMD global synchronization coordination support for USSOCOM J10. ALLIANT2 and ASTRO were also reviewed, but since this acquisition is for non IT professional services and supplies, they were found to be

CUI / SP-PROCURE

infeasible.

The OASIS program office recommended OASIS SB Pool 1,North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541690 – Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services. After careful consideration of the client’s requirements and review of the marketplace, GSA AAS selected the GSA OASIS Multiple Award-Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (MA-IDIQ) as the best contract vehicle to meet the Government’s needs. A detailed discussion of the alternatives is provided in the Sources section of the Acquisition Plan.

6.b. Three contractors submitted proposals for this highly specialized and complex services requirement.

Three contractors listed in paragraph 2 of this document submitted proposals in response to the CWMDS TORFP 47QFCA24R0048 and remain the only contractors eligible for the task order award. This extension of the master contract ordering period is necessary to provide sufficient time for the completion of award activities and the protest resolution process (if needed) after task order award.

6.c. Impact of not extending, and forcing user agencies to recompete the services.

The unusual and compelling urgency to extend the OASIS SB Pool 1 contracts named in this document stems from the ordering period of the OASIS SB contracts ending on December 19, 2024. The GSA AAS team needs additional time to complete the procurement, and move through the “In-depth Feedback through Open Reporting Methods” (INFORM) process, and clear the protest period. Failing to process the extensions and requiring cancellation and resolicitation of the CWMDS procurement will result in substantial waste of Government resources as well as contractor bid and proposal investments.

This action is justified because it will severely harm the Government to lose the work that the agency started more than six months ago, which involved extensive market research, acquisition planning, and evaluation and award of their task order under OASIS SB Pool 1. This document thoroughly demonstrates that cancellation and re-solicitation are not in the best interest of the Government or the OASIS SB contractors participating in this TORFP.

Furthermore, this action is justified due to the critical nature of the services within the TO, which provide operational readiness and prepare USSOCOM to respond to threats against the U.S.

and its allies from WMDs, and the national security vulnerabilities caused by further delaying, or cancelling the procurement rather than allowing additional time for completion of award activities and resolving potential protests.

The agency’s documented fact pattern for this procurement includes the original milestone plan and a description of the procurement activities which demonstrate that the agency’s need to extend the OASIS contract(s) is not due to a lack of planning, but due to delays caused by an unanticipated limit to resources needed by USSOCOM for early requirements gathering. This delay was passed on to GSA AAS as the contracting activity. GSA AAS received the agency’s procurement requirements in June 2024.Once USSOCOMapproved the initiative and released the requirements to GSA AAS, the Integrated Project Team (IPT) promptly began market research and collaborated closely with stakeholders to draft comprehensive requirement documents. The IPT utilized a SmartSheets milestone tracker to carefully monitor each phase of the procurement process, which was essential in adhering to the tight schedule. Under the guidance of the FLEX and FEDSIM Service Delivery Models (SDM), the IPT adhered to a structured timeline covering the acquisition planning, pre-solicitation, and pre-award phases.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

Each phase underwent rigorous review by the Contract Review Board, including the Acquisition Division Director, Legal Counsel, and Sector Director, to ensure compliance with acquisition policies. This diligence enabled the solicitation to be released on schedule on August 30, 2024.

As described in Paragraph 7, the procurement also experienced further unanticipated delays from the impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which necessitated adjustments to the acquisition timeline.

Failure to provide an extension to GSA OASIS contract ordering period and requiring re-solicitation under a different contract vehicle at this time, after GSA AAS has spent six months being paid to work with the customer agency to conduct market research, develop the requirement and TORFP, issue that TORFP, receive proposals and evaluate the proposals to make an award is unacceptable. Abandoning the procurement will also be damaging to the CWMDS program because their requirements encompass services necessary to fully support their mission, and our Nation’s defense systems will be severely compromised, the full extent of which cannot be monetized.

If the current procurement were abandoned and had to be re-solicited, it would severely hinder the delivery of critical capabilities intended through the CWMD Task Order including providing strategic studies, assessments, and expertise in CWMD operations, planning, training, intelligence, and readiness across all warfare domains. The CWMD support order is designed to enhance situational awareness, advise on priorities, address policy and resource gaps, and enable coordinated efforts across the DoD, interagency, and international allies through Geographic Combatant Commanders (GCCs).

The consequences of cancelling the award of the current TO-award would not merely delay acquisition timelines but would also compromise operational readiness, hinder innovation, and weaken defense capabilities, thereby disrupting situational awareness and effectiveness in a rapidly evolving threat environment. The strategic urgency of this award is critical—it is essential for maintaining operational readiness and preparing USSOCOM with the advanced resources required for success against persistent threats from weapons of mass destruction.

Furthermore if the program were to have to stop the acquisition at this point in time, with the award already being made, it will have the following negative impacts:

● Revising the acquisition strategy could take up to approximately six months, which will involve:

○ an estimated $318K in work hours will be lost3 (this is inclusive of the requiring agency activities, as well as the direct labor charged by GSA’s AAS team, as described later in this document);

○ developing a new budget package for approval (because the funding that has been approved will have been lost/expired due to non-execution of funding, which is highly unacceptable in the DoD – programs are to execute funds given to them timely, and for the approved requirement), and revise the market research conducted in support of the requirements as described herein;

○ obtaining senior official approval of the new acquisition strategy;

3 Based on GSA’s Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) office, which is an office that charges a fee for conducting acquisition services on behalf of other Government agencies, estimates that it costs 3% of the total value of a task order to execute the full lifecycle of an order. In this case, the formula is 3% x 53M (TO estimated value) / 5 year total lifecycle = over $318K. Using this calculation, at this time the agency has spent over $318K to bring the procurement to the current stage in the life cycle.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

○ issuing a new solicitation and keep it open for 30 or more days;

○ evaluating offers, which will take approximately 6 to 12 weeks to complete;

○ obtaining final approvals for the award.

The above timeline demonstrates the impact of abandoning the current path forward. What is in the very best interest of the Government, in the interest of time, money and ensuring the warfighter is supported as required by the USSOCOM mission, is to extend the OASIS contracts so that the ordering period will remain open.

7. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE SOLICITED

FROM AS MANY SOURCES AS PRACTICABLE INCLUDING WHETHER A NOTICE WAS

OR WILL BE PUBLICIZED AS REQUIRED BY SUBPART 5.2 AND, IF NOT, WHICH

EXCEPTION UNDER 5.202 APPLIES.

The individual OASIS SB contracts were synopsized in accordance with FAR Part 5.2, competed in accordance with FAR Part 15, and resulted in two hundred thirty seven (237) Pool 1 multiple award IDIQ contracts. This justification does not circumvent competition. There have been two levels of competition: the first, competition when the original OASIS SB contracts were awarded; and the second, based on market research by the GSA AAS contracting officer4, when the TORFP was issued to all 237 OASIS SB Pool 1 contractors.. These two levels of competition ensured adequate fair opportunity competition.

TORFP number47QFCA24R0048was issued onAugust 30,2024.Three (3) OASIS SB Pool 1 contractors (identified in Paragraph 2 of this document) submitted proposals.

NOTE: Following the TORFP release on August 30, 2024, a TORFP response date extension was granted until October 7, 2024 due to Hurricane Helen's impact, which disrupted industry partners based in Tampa, FL. Further schedule delays arose when Hurricane Milton struck Florida's westcoast on October 9, 2024 preventingthe IPT and Technical Evaluation Board (TEB) members from convening in Tampa as scheduled. Originally set to begin evaluations on October 7, 2024, the team was unable to assemble until October 21, 2024 due to the disruption from both hurricanes.

8. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO

THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE

There is no additional direct cost to the government associated with the 30-day master contract extension, or the contingency option for the affected OASIS contracts. Pricing at the master contract level is restricted to sole source labor hour and time and materials type task orders, and is therefore not applicable to the TORFP because the order is competitive. Additionally, 4 GSA AAS performed market research dating back to June 2024 which explored acquisition alternatives, including socio-economic set aside vehicles, GSA MAS, open market contracts, GSA GWACs, OASIS and GSA Astro and GSA Alliant2. Based on the initial market research conducted and the analysis of available contract approaches and vehicles, the Government determined that the OASIS SB Pool 1 is the most appropriate vehicle to fulfil the CWMDS requirements. The Government sent a scope review to the OASIS Office on June 18, 2024. On June 20, 2024, the OASIS Program Office concluded that the CWMDS requirement was compatible with OASIS Pool 1. The Government released an RFI to all 237 OASIS SB Pool 1 contract holders on June 26, 2024, to assess the pool of small business vendors for capability. The RFI included requested acquisition-specific information and a corporate overview questionnaire. The Government received five responses to the RFI. An Advanced Notice was issued to all OASIS SB Pool 1 contract holders on July 24, 2024, to generate additional market research, garner information about performance and technical risks, generate interest in the requirement, and promote competition.

CUI / SP-PROCURE

administrative costs to the government to maintain the contracts’ ordering periods is di minimis given contract administration for the entire OASIS SB contract program continues through December 19, 2029.

9. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS (see part

10) OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED.

Market research in support of the TOFRP was initiated in June 2024 to identify the capabilities and qualifications of contractors who could support the CWMD services requirement. The following actions were taken during market research:

● Knowledgeable individuals in Government and industry were contacted

● Government databases were queried for information relevant to procurement’s requirements.

● Information available from the following sources was reviewed:

○ General Services Administration (GSA) Discovery Tool.

○ Small Business Administration (SBA) Dynamic Small Business Search

○ Veterans Affairs (VA) VetBiz Portal.

○ Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG)

○ Integrated Contractor Directory (ICD).

○ GSA’s Category Management Tool.

○ GSA’s Acquisition Gateway

○ Available GSA contract vehicles such as OASIS, Alliant2 and Astro

An RFI was issued on June 26, 2024 to contract holders in the GSA OASIS Small Business (SB) Pool 1 to gather information on potential solutions and capabilities. The RFI responses identified that five OASIS SB Pool 1 contract holders currently have the capabilities necessary to support the CWMDS TO requirement and that adequate competition could be expected if the solicitation is released to the OASIS SB Pool 1 contract holders.

The results of the market research led to a determination by the CO that the Government would receive adequate competition via GSA OASIS Small Business, Pool 1 and there was time to issue the solicitation and make the award timely. At that time, the contracting officer made the determination that this effort be set aside under OASIS SB Pool 1.

Additionally, An Advanced Notice was issued to all OASIS SB Pool 1 contract holders on July 24, 2024, to generate additional market research, garner information about performance and technical risks, generate interest in the requirement, and promote competition. The notice included background information, high-level functional areas, and gathering additional information relevant for consideration in formulating requirements. The GSA AAS CO, CS, and PM conducted one-on-one, Due Diligence, conversations with respondents on August 1st, 2024. There were six vendors that provided a positive response and participated in Due Diligence sessions with the Government.

10. OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

CUI / SP-PROCURE

GSA AAS had spent a reasonable amount of time and resources in acquisition planning, market research, and issuance of the solicitation to meet their customer’s urgent and complex requirements in a timely manner. The ordering activity incurred significant administrative costs in preparation for this complex TO. Resolicitation will result in a substantial duplication of cost and effort to compete a contract to support this specific requirement for USSOCOM. GSA’s AAS office provided the amount charged to the federal agency for the labor hours of work performed thus far to maintain the expedited deadline, including establishing the acquisition strategy, soliciting and evaluating the offers received in response to the solicitation and award to-date, which is $271,000.00. This estimate was calculated by the GSA AAS team using the following costs:APM= $90,000.00, PM= $55,000.00, CO and CSsupport = $96,000.00, Other support (ADD, SD, Legal) = $30,000.00

Additionally, the agency has a bona fide need for the services to begin within the next month, and if an alternative approach is taken, the mission requirements of the customer (USSOCOM) will not be met in a timely manner, with the delays causing severe consequences.The agency will not be able to achieve their mission because they will be unable to get the mission-required support services on contract while they start the entire acquisition lifecycle over again. In addition to the mission readiness injury, USSOCOM estimates that failureto execute this order will result in serious loss of effort and financial injury to the Government for the rework required to re-solicit.

The purpose of this extension is to allow for the Agency to complete their TO award activities including providing feedback to offerors,receivingOral Feedback Meeting Requests from offerors, conducting oral feedback, responding to additional questions within two business days of the Oral Feedback Meeting, obtaining legal review and concurrences, providing written responses to follow up questions resulting from the Oral Feedback Meetings, and clearing the 10 day debriefing date following award and to resolve protests (if necessary)

Additionally, it is not feasible - nor possible to consider any other contractor than the three identified herein to compete for, or be awarded a TO in adequate time to support the requirement, because they are the three who are in OASIS SB Pool 1 and responded to the TORFP. There is not enough time to re-solicit and award to new contractors who are capable of performing withinthe scope and complexity of thecurrent CWMD follow-on award without significant mission and financial injury.

If GSA was to fail to authorize the extensions of the ordering periods for the specific of the impacted contracts, not only will the mission be significantly negatively impacted (there will be no services), but a recompete of the services will have to begin in earnest with other JOFOCs most likely being necessary. In short, other noncompetitive actions will be needed to support this requirement. By extending these contracts, competition, in practice, is maintained/fulfilled.

11. A LISTING OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED, IN WRITING, AN INTEREST IN

THE ACQUISITION

The TORFP (47QFCA24R0048) was issued under OASIS SBPool 1 on August 30, 2024.

The following OASIS contractors responded to the TORFP:

12. A STATEMENT OF 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 OASIS SB contracts are multiple-award IDIQ contracts, and the OASIS+ SB family of contracts are the follow-on contracts under evaluation at this time. GSA conducted a FAR Part 15 full and open competition to award the OASIS master IDIQ contracts in 2014, and the same process was utilized in soliciting OASIS+ follow on contracts. To date, the OASIS+ SB Contracts have not been awarded and are currently awaiting resolution of multiple protests. OASIS+ SB was projected to be awarded in July-August 2024, which would have allowed federal agencies to utilize the contract vehicle for their procurements. Agencies relied on these contracts being in place prior to the expiration of OASIS SB; however, due to circumstances beyond their control, these agencies had to weigh the risks of issuing their TORFPs under OASIS and completing TO awards prior to December 19, 2024, or waiting for OASIS+ to be awarded.

GSA is not a mandatory source for professional services and agencies have the option to choose the procurement vehicle that best suits their needs. GSA does not have the authority to hold agencies accountable to meet the agencies’ acquisition milestones and deadlines;

however, GSA has no intention of considering further extension of the contracts outside of what is described herein. This extension action is for the Government to finish their award activities and respond to any potential protests only. The performance period for the class of OASIS SB Pool 1 is not being extended and shall end (on all awarded TOs) December 19, 2029.

CUI / SP-PROCURE