Justification and Approval _Redacted.pdf

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JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Solicitation ID04200038, Contract Award 47QFSA20F0066

J3-International Special Operations Support (J3I SOF Support) in support of:

United States Special Operations Command

(USSOCOM)

United States (U.S.) General Services Administration (GSA)

Federal Acquisition Service

Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) Defense

Interagency Agreement Number 47QFSA19S0005

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The General Services Administration (GSA) Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) makes this Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition orders pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302.

1. Identification of Agency and Contracting Activity:

Agency:

GSA AAS acting in support of Department of Defense (DoD), USSOCOM

Contracting Activity:

GSA AAS Contracting Office (QFCA) 1800 F Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20405

2. Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved:

In accordance with FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements, under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), approval is requested to extend the current contract directly with Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) in support of the J3 International (J3I) Directorate by up to 11.5 months.

The resultant Task Order extension will provide the services needed for continued, seamless, uninterrupted support for USSOCOM’s J3I’s mission. Additionally, the extended contract will continue providing the qualified personnel with the specific requirements and minimum skill described in the Statement of Work (SOW). The sole vendor capable of meeting the requirements and mission needs without substantial duplication of costs or unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency requirements is Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. as further detailed herein.

This Task Order extension will allow GSA AAS and USSOCOM J3I the time necessary to properly adjust and articulate the scope of a competitive effort which will fulfill the future contract needs of the J3I. This competitive acquisition is currently in the Market Research and Acquisition Planning stage. Considering the priorities of the Presidential administration and the change of leadership at USSOCOM, additional time is required to ensure this new contract action will provide the J3I the contract support that aligns to its five-year vision.

3. A Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet Agency’s Need (Including the Estimated Value):

The Directorate of Operations (J3) provides fully capable Special Operations Forces (SOF) to defend the U.S. and its interests and synchronizes planning of global operations against terrorist networks. Within the J3, the J3I Division enhances interoperability, strengthens alliances, and advances partnerships across the global SOF enterprise consistent with the National Defense Strategy and Commander USSOCOM guidance and priorities. The J3I Division is a mixed organization consisting of US military, US Government service personnel, SOF Officer and senior enlisted representatives from twenty-five nations (at present) from across the globe. The J3I Division also manages

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BAH is the only contractor that can provide the services required by USSOCOM within the applicable timeframe. No other company has the unique capability, positioning, and specialized experience to ensure continued J3I Support Services mission support for the J3I program by 14 September 2025. As the incumbent contractor, BAH’s continued operation under this TO does not require any time for the administrative transition in activities. These transitions would disrupt ongoing operations, require substantial time and resources, and ultimately impede the J3-I's ability to effectively support USSOCOM's mission.The contractual relationship with BAH allows the Government to avoid a costly and essentially duplicative second transition period. For these reasons, BAH is the only contractor positioned to successfully fulfill these contract requirements at this time.

The J3I Division is instrumental in enhancing interoperability, strengthening alliances, and advancing partnerships across the global SOF enterprise. A disruption in J3I support would have significant negative consequences, including:

● Reduced interoperability with allied SOF forces, hindering joint operations and potentially increasing risk to personnel.

● Weakened alliances and partnerships, undermining USSOCOM's capacity to effectively counter terrorist networks and address global security challenges.

● Impaired coordination with SOLOs in 22 countries worldwide, limiting USSOCOM's situational awareness and operational effectiveness.

Delays in SOCOM's acquisition strategy and the challenging acquisition environment currently preclude the use of full and open competition in the short term. A competitive process would necessitate approximately one year, which is not feasible given the impending gap in coverage and the July 2026 deadline for the follow-on contract.

Changes to the FAR and a reduction in the acquisition workforce further constrain the agency's ability to conduct a full and open competition in a timely manner. GSA’s resources are concentrated on the larger follow-on contract, rendering a smaller, interim competitive procurement impractical. Utilizing FAR 6.302-1 allows the agency to expeditiously and efficiently award a contract to ensure this continuity.

The proposed 11.5-month period of performance extension will enable USSOCOM to continue J3-I Support Services while a competitive procurement of a new five-year (base year plus four, one-year option periods) J3-I Support Services task order is finalized, which will establish coverage for fiscal years 2026 through 2031. This additional period of time will also facilitate contract transition efforts, while ensuring continuity of coverage in the event of a protest.

6. A Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as Practicable:

a. Initial Competition AAS conducted market research from February 2020 to April of 2020. In accordance with an agreement between AAS and SOCOM, GSA AAS solicited these requirements against the SMWS Group-A IDIQ. An RFI was released on 19 February 2020 enabling

Version 11/25/2024 Page 5 all interested parties an opportunity to comment. Three out of the ten offerors holding a SWMS Group-A contract responded to the RFI confirming their intent to quote on this requirement (BAH, Fulcrum and MacAulay-Brown), so it was determined that there were sufficient sources for competition. On 1 April 2020, a solicitation was issued, and by the closing date of the solicitation, only BAH submitted a quote. The contracting team contacted each of the other nine offerors on the SWMS Group A IDIQ contract who did not submit a proposal, to determine why they did not submit one. Fulcrum responded that they were unable to get enough qualified personnel for this requirement; MacAulay- Brown did not respond to the request. The remaining companies stated the following reasons for their “no bid”: the requirement was too small, they chose to spend their proposal funding on other efforts, they were unable to obtain the required qualified personnel, and/or it is not normally a requirement in their company’s purview. All companies were asked if there was something specific that GSA could have done to enhance their company’s ability to submit a proposal and all of the contractors responded that there was nothing that they were aware of that could have been done.

b. Task Order Extension

As required by FAR Part 5.201, on Aug 12, 2025, the AAS Contracting Officer published a notice of proposed contract actions on SAM.gov, which provided a synopsis stating the Government’s plan to Sole Source this acquisition. This action provided further opportunities for potential offerors to express interest. The responses to that notice and the Government’s evaluation of the responses are detailed in Section 8 below.

c. Future Competition

The J3I contract requirements will be competitively procured by GSA AAS, as the contracting activity supporting USSOCOM. As the incoming leadership articulates their vision for the command, AAS will refine the scope of the future acquisition to most appropriately meet the continuing need of the J3I. In efforts to promote competition, AAS will leverage the strategies common to its acquisition practices, including:

● Requests for Information: GSA AAS will publish RFIs to Best-In-Class contract vehicles, based on preliminary market research, in efforts to determine the acquisition strategy that best promotes informed competition.

● Market Analysis Discussion (MAD) Sessions: GSA AAS will provide contractors under select IDIQs the opportunity to participate in one-on-one MAD Sessions, allowing them to better understand the future vision of the J3I requirements and to converse with Government stakeholders. Historically, this common AAS practice has had a direct, positive impact on competition.

● Industry Day and Due Diligence Events: As AAS and J3I further elaborate upon the future contract vision for these requirements, and as the AAS Contracting Officer determines the best procurement strategy, the parties will conduct Industry Day and Due Diligence events with contractors under the IDIQ that supports the most competitions practicable for the Government’s needs. These

Version 11/25/2024 Page 7 contract for an additional 11.5 months. The COR conducted capability evaluations from the companies who responded to the SSN and determined that only BAH was capable of supporting the SOW requirements.

This market research, including the publication of a notice of proposed contract action on SAM.gov, demonstrates that while there may be other companies capable of performing similar services, only BAH can provide seamless continuity of J3-I support within the required timeframe and without incurring the significant disruption and cost associated with a transition.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition:

If FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements was not used to award the 11.5 month extension to the incumbent, BAH, the cost to the Government that would be duplicated would be approximately $184,391, encompassing $23,325 in security clearance expenses, $1,050 in HR onboarding costs, $150,000 in recruiting expenses, and $10,016 in training costs, all avoided by retaining BAH. Beyond these direct costs, the government would risk losing the value of BAH's established expertise, smooth operational transition, and proven efficiency gains, incurring additional costs associated with a new contractor's learning curve, potential initial inefficiencies, and the risk of transition-related delays or performance issues.

10. A Listing of the Sources, if any, That Expressed, In Writing, An Interest in the Acquisition:

The AAS Contracting Officer received six responses of interested parties regarding the proposed Sole Source effort which was posted in August 2025. Statements of interest were received from Asterism IT Solutions LLC, Soturi Global LLC, and BHPE LLC but they consisted of only an email providing information as to how the Government could request a capabilities statement. They did not provide a response to the required questionnaire. No other communication was received. BAH (incumbent) provided a response to the questionnaire prior to the requested response date.

11. A Statement of the 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:

GSA will continue working with USSOCOM on the follow-on contract. Prior to any future acquisition, GSA will utilize market research tools to connect with Industry via RFIs, MAD, and/or SSN to maximize the opportunity for competition.

12. Contracting Officer Certification that the Justification is Accurate and Complete to the Best of the Contracting Officer’s Knowledge and Belief:

I certify that this Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I determine based on the findings above that an other than full and open competition approach is in accordance with the requirements and is in the best interest of the Government.

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Date

Contracting Officer, AAS Defense Assisted Acquisition Services

Technical and Requirements Personnel Assertion:

The Technical and Requirements Personnel assertion is provided as an Attachment.

Final Approval:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I determine on the basis of the findings above that an other than full and open competition approach is in accordance with the requirements and is in the best interest of the Government.

Date

Client Executive Assisted Acquisition Services