Limited_Sources_JA_-_AJACTS_Redacted.pdf

Limited Sources Justification and Approval (J&A)

March 2018 Page 1 of 5

Contracting Activity: 1 SOCONS/PKA

Purchase Request / Local ID Number: TBD

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): A2JACTS - JTAC Web

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): Contracting

Authority: Multiple Award Schedule Program (FAR 8.405-6)

Estimated Contract Cost (including options):

Is this a Bridge Action as defined in the AF Bridge Action Reduction Plan? Yes No

Description of Limitation:

AFSOC has a continued need for the procurement of AJACTS at Hurlburt Field, FL. AJACTS, otherwise referred to as A2JACTS, is the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)/Air Combat Command (ACC) Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) Academics Currency Tracking System. AJACTS provides AFSOC and ACC Battlefield Airmen with world-wide 24/7 access to real-time trainings, mission essential procedures, certifications, and combat applications through their successful completion of multimedia courseware in order to comply with AFI and SOCOM Directive changes essential to meeting mission goals and maintaining legal operations.

The contractor shall perform the requirements of AJACTS in accordance with (IAW) the Performance Work Statement

(PWS).

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

March 2018 Page 2 of 5

I. Contracting Activity.

This is a limited sources justification from the Department of the Air Force, 1st Special Operations Contracting Squadron/LGCA, Hurlburt Field, FL 32544.

Contracting Officer: Ms. Shataya Butler, (850)884-3266.

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

1 SOCONS intends to solicit, evaluate, and award a six month task order to Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, LTD for the continued operations of JTAC WEB (which includes: AJACTS, TACTICS and AMACTS), the tracking and training system used by US SOCOM and ACC Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC), as well as the AFSOC Special Operations Surgical Team (SOST) members. The intended purchase order is a follow-on action to a previous sole source purchase order.

This is a follow-on to a previous sole source task order.

This requirement will utilize General Service Administration (GSA) Schedule 70.

The estimated period of performance is 15 Jun 2018 - 14 Dec 2018.

Line items will be established as Firm Fixed Priced.

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

The contractor shall provide a web based tracking and training system to support the AFSOC and ACC Battlefield Airmen (BA) authorized to perform JTAC duties and SOST personnel. This system is required to be world wide accessible and available 24/7, and allow for monitoring and accomplishment of training required in JTAC and Field Medicine operations. Additionally, this system must be capable of rapid updates and changes to meet AFI and SOCOM Directive changes.

The required services are performance based IAW FAR part 37. The total estimated value of this acquisition is . Operations and Maintenance (O&M) funds will be used to fund this requirement.

IV. Identification of the justification/rationale for limiting sources and demonstration of the contractor's unique qualifications to provide the required supply/service.

Procurement under this contract will be conducted on a limited source justification basis under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program per FAR 8.405-6. Specifically, FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B), "Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized."

The current contract with Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, LTD was initially established with AFSOC in May 2013, with one initial year and four option years. Since that time, Odyssey has consistently updated and expanded the scope of the system to meet the needs of SOCOM, ACC and the 24 SOW. This is accomplished through three separate systems under the AFSOC/ ACC Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC)-Web: Academics Currency Tracking System (A2JACTS). These include AFSOC's AJACTS, ACC's TACTICS and the 24 SOW's AMACTS.

Each system tracks the unique requirements specified by each group. These requirements can be found within AFI 13-112 V1, JTAC Training Program, ACC and AFSOC RTM, and the SOCOM Manual 525-13 (20 Jun 2017).

Additionally, a highly detailed reports log allows each user to extract data in a usable format to report to squadron commanders, group, wing, MAJCOM and SOCOM (e.g. Go/ No Go status, individual training status/ history, range

March 2018 Page 3 of 5 and aircraft/ munitions usage, supervision details, individual mission details, and look back/ look forward status, to name a few).

Each system is used on a daily basis to log detailed training events, which includes individual control requirements (e.g. day, night, live, laser, urban, artillery call for fire, airspace control, etc.). These examples demonstrate the level of detail and workload that was accomplished to produce the product that we currently receive. This data is compiled to determine if a JTAC or SOST member is deployable and can support SOCOM or ACC RFF's. A stoppage of the system, would result in a mission failure, as no additional means of ensuring currency/ training requirements are met. There is no other available source that could track this amount of training or academics, without a substantial time for development. An estimated 3,500 operators would lose their JTAC certifications or Military Field Currency resulting in inability to maintain deployment readiness. For SOCOM JTAC's alone, there are 49 tasks (both academic and tasks) required every 18 months and 24 control requirements semi annually.

Any other source would result in recreating the tracking and academic components of the current system, at a substantial cost and delay to the government. After reviewing the systems, AFSOC A3I estimated that it would take multiple years of software development and testing to meet the current system standards, excluding any ongoing update efforts. Additionally, this would produce an unacceptable stoppage of the current system.

Currently, the Government does not possess the data right for the software and system architecture to allow another vendor to openly modify or update the system. Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, Ltd. has a unique mix in skill sets to include understanding SOF JTAC TTP's/training to develop courseware, they own all data rights, and they do not release their programming technology specific to A2JACTS in order for other contractors to be able to perform the necessary programming modifications, software development, and IT operations.

V. Determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer that the order represents the best value consistent with

FAR 8.404(d).

The Government intends to compare pricing to current published price lists, pricing found reasonable on previous purchases, and compare pricing to the independent government estimate as the proposal analysis techniques IAW DFARS 208.404. The Contracting Officer will seek additional price discounts from the contractor based on the specific order requirements.

The Contracting Officer will post this justification and approval within fourteen (14) days of placing the order IAW FAR 8.405-6(a)(2).

VI. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or explain why market research was not conducted.

In accordance with FAR 10.001(a)(2), agencies must conduct market research appropriate to the circumstances.

Therefore, the purpose of market research for this requirement is to validate conditions have not changed since the last market research was conducted and determine the most suitable approach to procuring A2JACTS.

In accordance with DFARS PGI 206.302-1(d) a sources sought notice was posted with the following results:

In attempt to remove competitive barriers and increase competition, a Sources Sought notice, RFQ ID RFQ1278845, was posted on GSA eBuy with a reach of 590 vendors within Schedule 70 from 10 April 2018 to 20 April 2018. The notice included the draft PWS. Additionally, a second Sources Sought notice, with draft PWS, was posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) from 12 April 2018 to 23 April 2018. The intent of the two Sources Sought notices was to confirm whether or not changes had taken place in the marketplace since the last procurement.

Sources Sought notice, RFQ ID RFQ1278845, was posted on GSA eBuy to a reach of 590 vendors within Schedule 70 from 10 April 2018 to 20 April 2018. The notice included the draft Performance Work Statement (PWS). Upon closure of the response date, twenty-six (26) responses were received. Of these responses, none were affirmative.

No responses were received showing interest or capability in all or part of the requirement from the Sources Sought

March 2018 Page 4 of 5 notice posted on GSA eBuy.

A second Sources Sought notice was published, with the draft PWS, on Federal Business Opportunities from 12 April 2018 to 23 April 2018. Five (5) responses were received from interested firms prior to the response date close. The interested firms included: SRR International, Inc.,; AlgorithmsPlus, LLC; Jacobs Technology Inc.; HTA Technology Security Consulting; and American Systems Corporation. Of the five (5), four (4) provided capability statements of work performed on other data tracking programs so a clarification was requested via email to all of the firms to understand if any were authorized to work on AJACTS.

To eliminate ambiguity, Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, Ltd., the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and firm currently holding the contract, was contacted and a request was made to determine if they had a list of authorized vendors able to perform services on the AJACTS program in combination with the program/service contract referred to as A2JACTS. In response, Mr. Joey Toler, Program Manager, and Ms. Daeri Coskren, Director of Legal Compliance, both with Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, Ltd., confirmed the data rights of AJACTS are proprietary to their company and that they do not allow any resellers nor authorize any sub-contractors to provide services, of programming or any other nature, on AJACTS. This information proved the three (3) firms previously appearing as potential candidates to be lacking full capability in ability to perform the work IAW the PWS.

A Scope Determination request was submitted via email on 18 April 2018, to netcents@us.af.mil, in order to confirm the acquisition outside the scope of NETCENTS-2, the mandatory purchase vehicle of the Air Force for netcentric products. The initial Scope Analysis from the NETCENTS-2 Technical Team determined the requirement to be out of scope, however, they believed it might be within the Application Services ID/IQ so further investigation was conducted. Final review by the NETCENTS-2 Technical Team on 30 April 2018, deemed this requirement outside the scope of all NETCENTS-2 contracts. Therefore, the use of NETCENTS-2 as the acquisition strategy to procure AJACTS is not appropriate.

The use of DoD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) shall be used to fulfill requirements for commercial software and related services in accordance with DFARS 208.7402(1). The website at www.esi.mil was researched and three (3) service Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA) were found. The first, DoD Cisco JELA, was determined an invalid avenue as this BPA is for Crisco-branded hardware or software. The second, Forrester BPA, was also deemed not applicable as it is for the delivery of research-based services. The third, Gartner BPA, was additionally determined out of scope as this BPA is for research and advisory services including telephone inquiry support and research in the realm of industry and market trends. Due to the aforementioned reasons, the determination was made that none of the service agreements within DoD ESI contained applicable BPAs comprehensive of the services required by the PWS for this acquisition.

The market research performed concluded Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, Ltd. remains the only company capable of performing all requirements of the PWS. The OEM owns all data rights and does not release their programming technology specific to A2JACTS, therefore, none of the five (5) prospective firms found through the sources sought process were able to be vetted as true potential candidates. This also lead to the determination this acquisition is not suitable for the 8(a) program nor does any reasonable expectation exist for receiving fair market prices from two or more small businesses identified under the socioeconomic programs (HUBZone, SDVOSB, or WOSB). Further market research indicates no reasonable expectation of obtaining offers from two or more responsible small or large businesses that are competitive in terms of market prices, quality, and performance.

Thus, it is recommended the small business set-aside be dissolved for this acquisition. Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, Ltd. is the sole proprietor as well as the incumbent contractor of AJACTS, previously awarded as a sole source under the GSA schedule 70. A direct award to Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, Ltd., a large business concern, is most advantageous to the Government.

March 2018 Page 5 of 5

VII. Other facts supporting the justification.

Not Applicable

VIII. Actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services.

To overcome barriers to competition, the Government team will continue its due diligence in researching various avenues for AJACTS software services. The following milestone schedule outlines the team's intentions in overcoming barriers to competition:

Discussions with AFSOC/ A3 and the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) will be held annually to acquire the data necessary to qualify additional sources.

Should the OEM be willing to sell the data rights to the Government or other contractors, & the procurement is deemed economically reasonable, the Government team will proceed with acquiring the required services and securing necessary funding.

The Government will review these services every year prior to executing any new contract awards.

IX. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

X. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.