Justification and approval for SLIC 29 Sep 26 dr rcc _Redacted.pdf

Department of the Air Force: Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition

CUI

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I. Agency and Contracting Activity (RFO 6.104-1(a)(1)):

Agency: Department of the Air Force - US Space Force Contracting Activity: Air Force District of Washington Contracting Directorate (AFDW/PK)

II. Nature and/or description of the action being approved (RFO 6.104-1(a)(2)):

This document approves the award of a contract on a sole source basis to Flatter, Inc. for a non-personal services contract to design, manage, coordinate, and execute an intensive, five-day executive-level senior leader development and orientation program in support of the United States Space Force Senior Leader Immersion Course Pilot. This justification is made on Individual basis.

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs (RFO 6.104-1(a)(3)):

This Determination and Findings (D&F) authorizes the solicitation to a single source, Flatter, Inc., for non-personal services to provide leadership orientation, executive-level curriculum development, professional guest speaker sourcing, and on-site course facilitation for the 5-day USSF Senior Leader Immersion Course Pilot - Course Curriculum and Facilitation.

The SLIC Pilot directly replaces the legacy Department of the Air Force (DAF) Senior Leader Orientation Course (SLOC) for Space Force personnel to focus on the unique technical, tactical, and acquisition landscapes of the space warfighting domain.

This integrated acquisition consists of two interlocked requirements:

a. Course Curriculum Design and Co-Development, Materials, & Professional Facilitation:

Providing Technical, functional, and managerial expertise to co-design an specialized, high-impact, hands-on curriculum alongside the USSF Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR). Designing, managing, and executing specialized educational tracks (including integrated joint sessions, separate General Officer/SES seminars, a parallel spouse development program, and interactive exercises/automated role-play platforms). Developing tailored, executive-level curriculum tracks for approximately 30 -50 total participants, which includes specialized, concurrent modules for USSF General Officers, Tier 1 SES civilians, and spouses.

b. Facility, Lodging, & Logistics Support: Procuring and coordinating a turn-key, all-inclusive Complete Meeting Package (CMP) at a sequestered corporate training campus located at least 45 miles but no more than 100 miles from the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes meals, continuous snack service, IT/AV hardware support, and cleared transport coordination for classified briefings (up to TOP SECRET/SCI) at the Pentagon or nearby secure facilities if necessary and deemed appropriate.

Estimated Program Value: (O&M FY26 Funds). This action is being conducted using the procedures set forth in Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, as streamlined and authorized under sole-source guidelines.

Period of Performance: 30 September 2026 - 29 September 2027

IGCE:

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IV. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition (RFO 6.104-1(a)(4)):

10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1), Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

RFO 12.201-2, Other procedures - 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1)

V. Rationale for Use of Authority (RFO 6.104-1(a)(5)):

The proposed contractor, Flatter, Inc. (CAGE: 3YQC4; DUNS: 129487522), a certified Service-Disabled Veteran- Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), is the only source reasonably available to satisfy the Government's requirements due to the following compelling circumstances:

A. Unusual and Compelling Urgency & Transition Risk The requirement for the USSF SLIC is of an unusual and compelling urgency. S1L is contractually bound to execute the first pilot iteration of this senior leader orientation program in October/November 2026 to prepare newly confirmed military and civilian executives to assume command roles during a critical strategic window.

A competitive solicitation would delay contract award and critical training mobilization by an estimated 6 to 9 months. This delay would directly disrupt the continuous development of the service's newest General Officers and SES members, resulting in unacceptable operational readiness gaps in the space domain.

Flatter, Inc. is the only vendor capable of immediate execution. Any other source would require extensive lead time to design, develop, and refine a brand-new training curriculum over multiple iterations, causing an immediate, high-risk gap in Space Force senior leadership training.

B. Highly Specialized Expertise & Legacy Success Flatter, Inc. possesses highly specialized skills in conducting executive-level orientation courses for General Officers and SES members, developed through multiple years of successfully executing the legacy DAF SLOC program. They maintain established, proven coordination pathways across the DAF (including both the USAF and the USSF) and directly with the Space Force S1L teams.

This unique operational footprint enables them to navigate and facilitate complex, high-level military engagements (such as direct Pentagon office visits with the service's most senior leaders) and secure an exclusive network of retired 4-star General Officers, former SES members, and highly qualified spouse mentors to facilitate curriculum segments. No other vendor can duplicate these established pathways, security clearances, and facilitator rosters without a lengthy, disruptive onboarding period that would halt program execution.

C. Unique Curriculum Baseline & Cost Duplication Flatter, Inc. has been updating and honing the established course design, curriculum templates, and operational baseline for this program since August 2019. Flatter owns the proprietary rights to these baseline SLOC curriculum materials, slide decks, participant workbooks, and their integrated PersonaOPPs AI Conversational Platform (which provides 24/7 automated role-play scenario repetitions).

Because the government has not previously acquired unlimited or government-purpose data rights to Flatter's proprietary baseline, awarding this requirement to any other contractor would legally require a complete, ground-up redevelopment of the training curriculum. Based on the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE), a transition of this nature would result in a substantial, unrecoverable duplication of costs to the Government:

· Direct Contractor Curriculum Development Labor: (comprising 130 hours for a Senior Instructional Designer and 115 hours for an Executive Subject Matter Expert to draft curriculum/facilitator guides from scratch).

· Internal Government OPR Personnel Labor: (representing the extensive hours required of

May 2026 Page 4 of 5May 2026 Page 4 of 5 senior S1L personnel to guide and review a new vendor's work over multiple iterations).

· Total immediate, unrecoverable duplicative labor expenditures: .

· Overall curriculum/platform redevelopment costs: Estimated to exceed when accounting for graphic design, material re-printing and custom AI persona training.

These expenditures cannot be recovered through competition, and the associated scheduling delays are unacceptable to the Space Force.

VI. Integrated Market Analysis and Efforts to Solicit Competition (RFO 6.104-1(a)(6), (8), and (10)):

I. Market Research History:II. Market research was conducted continuously from May 11, 2026, through 13 August 2026 by the S1L program office. As part of this effort, AFDW/PKF initiated a formal Request for Information (RFI) from 15 -25 July 2026 to survey the market.

While three small businesses responded to the market inquiry, a technical evaluation of each respondent and other available commercial alternatives demonstrated that only one source is capable of meeting the Government's integrated technical and scheduling requirements.

II. Evaluation of Alternative Sources

a. Dumonde Travel (CAGE: 7MQN8; DUNS: 965495104):

· Socioeconomic Status: Small Business.

· Technical Capability: Unacceptable. Dumonde is a highly capable, niche travel agency specializing in hotel sourcing, corporate travel, and airline ticketing. However, they possess zero technical capability, instructional staff, or past performance in military curriculum design, leadership development, or senior facilitator management. They cannot execute Task 1 or Task 3 of the PWS.

b. BHPE LLC (Begini Howard Private Equity) (UEI: UPDJHPJUYQ71; CAGE: 9SWS7):

· Socioeconomic Status: SDVOSB / Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise.

· Technical Capability: Unacceptable. BHPE is a management and private equity firm that expressed interest in coordinating the logistical, facility management, and registration requirements of Task 2. However, they lack the technical capability, curriculum assets, and specialized executive network required to execute professional military leadership development programs. They do not maintain a cadre of retired military General Officers/SES mentors or an executive spouse training program.

c. Grey Kingbird Technologies LLC (GKT) (UEI: FL2WMM1F6L24; CAGE: 1MD20):

· Socioeconomic Status: SDVOSB (Joint Venture).

· Technical Capability: Technically Incomplete / Unacceptable for Immediate Need. GKT is a professional, veteran-led firm providing leadership training and instructional design. GKT proposed utilizing their proprietary Mission-Driven Leadership Excellence Framework (MDLEF™) to manage Tasks 1 and 3 directly, while handling Task 2 (Facility) via a hybrid coordination model. However, GKT represents an unacceptable risk for the immediate requirement:

· GKT does not possess established, exclusive agreements or active coordination pathways with the highly specialized network of retired 4-star General/Flag Officers and Tier 1 SES mentors required to facilitate this specific USSF curriculum.

· GKT lacks a pre-existing executive-level spouse curriculum or a dedicated Spouse Mentor to lead the parallel spouse tracks.

· Because GKT does not own the baseline SLOC curriculum, awarding to them would require a complete, ground-up redevelopment of the training materials. This would directly trigger the 6-to-9-month training gap, threatening Space Force leadership readiness, and result in the in unrecoverable, duplicative labor expenditures detailed in Section 4(C), and up to more than when accounting for graphic design, material re-printing and custom AI persona training.

d. Hilton Garden Inn Tysons Corner (Vienna, VA):

· Socioeconomic Status: Large Business / Commercial Hotel Operator.

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· Technical Capability: Unacceptable (Fails Key Performance Parameters). This property represents a standard commercial hotel located in Vienna, VA. The venue fails several critical performance parameters:

· Geographic KPP Violation: Located approximately 15 miles from the Pentagon, this property violates the mandatory PWS requirement of being at least 45 miles from the National Capital Region (NCR).

· Failure to Sequester: Operating as a standard commercial hotel in a high-density urban center, it cannot provide a self-contained, sequestered campus. It cannot physically isolate the USSF cohort from the general public, creating severe operational security (OPSEC) and focus risks for attending General Officers and SES civilians.

For future iterations of the SLIC, SF/S1L will continue to monitor the market for emerging executive education providers. As the program matures beyond the pilot phase, the government intends to refine the performance work statement (PWS) to enable broader competition, potentially utilizing a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) vehicle.

III. SBA "Rule of Two" Assessment Under FAR 19.502-2, a standard competitive small business set-aside is required if there is a reasonable expectation of receiving technically acceptable bids from at least two responsible small business concerns.

The market research and technical evaluations of the July 2026 RFI responses prove that only one responsible small business (Flatter, Inc.) possesses the specialized technical capability, proprietary data rights, and executive network required to execute this program by the mandatory November 2026 deadline. Consequently, a standard competitive small business set-aside would fail to meet the "Rule of Two," and a sole-source acquisition is the only legally viable path.

VII. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost (RFO 6.104-1(a)(7)):

The Contracting Officer is responsible for evaluating, determining, and documenting the anticipated contract cost/price is fair and reasonable in accordance with RFO Subpart 15.4, Contract Pricing.

VIII. Any Other Facts Supporting the Justification (RFO 6.104-1(a)(9)):

NA

IX. Actions to Overcome Barriers to Competition (RFO 6.104-1(a)(11):

For future iterations of the SLIC, SF/S1L will continue to monitor the market for emerging executive education providers. As the program matures beyond the pilot phase, the government intends to refine the performance work statement (PWS) to enable broader competition, potentially utilizing a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) vehicle.