Q.A #2.pdf

Q&A #2 for Solicitation N00173-25-R-2440

Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Systems Design and Development

Question # Question Answer 1 At L-2 (7) it states "Index pages and Tabs" are required and shall be cross-referenced in the TOC. These items are typically not part of electronic submissions because the various volumes are submitted as separate files. Please consider removing this requirement to be consistent with the required electronic submission.

Reference to "Index pages and Tabs" has been removed from this section of the RFP.

2 Will this opportunity be affected by May 27, 2025 SecDef Memo, titled "Implementation of Executive Order 14222 - Department of Government Efficiency Cost Efficiency Initiative," limiting the Defense Department’s hiring of IT consultants?

Current and future opportunities could be affected by subsequent memoranda or service specific implementation guidance.

3 Attachment 2 - Personnel Qualifications: B1. The government lists multiple experience levels per LCAT, can the offeror submit required Key Personnel from any of the listed experience levels?

Each LCAT under paragraph B includes one key personnel at Level V. The remaining experience levels are non-key personnel. Attachment 2 was updated in the RFP Amendment 0001 to provide clarification.

4 The requirement is to detail relevant technical experience and capabilities, including both prime and subcontractor contributions. Why is the Government requiring this information under Factor 1 when it is a meaningful part of the Factor 2 requirements under L-4(3)?

L-4(3) references Factor 4, which evaluates previous contract efforts. Factor 1 focuses on the offeror's proposed technical approach to each task of the SOW, which includes experience with relevant projects in the areas required by the SOW.

5 The requirements state that "The Government's assessment of small business participation and commitment will be measured to determine if small business participation is maximized where applicable." Since the Government is acquiring services via small business set-aside, every contract dollar is attributed to a small business concern, thereby maximizing small business participation equally at 100% for all offerors submitting a proposal. Will the Government consider removing the Small Business Participation requirement in L-5 and Attachment 5?

The purpose of the small business participation requirement is to assist in tracking that small business participation. Subcontracting still allows for large businesses to participate as a subcontractor with limitations. Refer to FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting.

6 The ODC table on Page 69 splits out travel and materials separately; however, Attachment 4 only has one line for ODC-Gov't Plug. Shall offerors break ODCs into two rows (travel and material) on Attachment 4?

Offerors can add another row to the ODC cost line to create separate rows for Travel and Material.

7 Section B lists CLINs x0001 and x0002, plus SLINs x0001AA and x0002AA for each performance period. Will the Government please verify that offerors are to propose cost for the holding SLINs x0001AA and x0002AA but not the CLIN level x0001 and x0002?

Offerors shall propose costs to the 'AA' SLINs.

8 Evaluation factors state "To be considered for award, a rating of no less than “Acceptable” must be achieved for Factors 1 - 3." Did the Government intend to state that "Acceptable" must be achieved for Factors 1-5 or Factors 4-5?

Updated M-1: Acceptable ratings are required for Factors 1-3 only for award. An “Unacceptable” evaluation rating for only Factors 1-3 will result in an “Unacceptable” for the entire proposal and will render the Offeror ineligible for award and no further analysis will be conducted.

9 Requirement states that all key personnel are required to have a TS-SCI at the time of proposal submission. Must offerors demonstrate current TS-SCI clearances for ALL PERSONNEL proposed to fill every labor category/position listed in Attachment 2 B.1-B.6 or just ONE PERSON in the most senior labor category/position?

Only key personnel shall possess a final DoD granted TOP SECRET security clearance with SCI eligibility at the time of proposal submission.

10 Page 2 of the draft Attachment 2 that was released with the RFI was crystal clear; however, page 1 of the final RFP version is unclear. Will the Government consider reverting to a simple 2-column table with headers similar the draft to set requirements for the number of years’ experience that may be substituted for a degree in the final RFP?

The minimum educational degree and number of years’ experience are both required.

11 The paragraph header title and column headers on the table make the Government's requirements unclear. Are these minimum education and experience requirements for each level?

The header has been updated to include 'minimum' for Educational Degree. Attachment 2 has been updated to reflect this change.

12 If these are minimum education and experience requirements for each level, will the Government accept candidates with a high school degree, and if so, what is the number of years of experience for that degree level?

Attachment 2 has been updated to add a High School Degree under Level I only, with a minimum of 2 years of experience.

13 The column headers on the table make the Government's requirements unclear. Does the table indicate that the number of years’ experience in the third column is equivalent to the degree listed in the second column?

The minimum educational degree and number of years’ experience are both required.

14 Rows 27 and 28 of the Attachment 4 Cost Proposal xlsx require offerors to provide cost for Contractor site and Government site overhead.

How does each offeror's proposed number of hours to be performed at each site impact the evaluation or technical value or performance/cost risk?

Hours are not specified by site (Contractor site and Government site). Proposals will be evaluated based on the total labor hours proposed, not the distribution or breakdown of hours between individual sites.

15 The proposal delivery section recommends against using zip files and directs bidders to submit documents as Adobe, Word, and Excel. In L-2 (5), page 5, the instructions specify each file must be stored in a folder that corresponds to the volume it represents. However, due to the requirement to deliver via DoD SAFE (which only allows for files to be uploaded), folders with files would require packaging via zip which conflicts with the instructions in L-1 (3). Is it acceptable to submit each file (using the specific naming instructions provided) without a folder structure?

Updated L-2 to remove the requirement for submitting files in a folder.

16 Since labor hour distribution across labor categories has not been specified, how does the offeror propose the “half the LOE and cost” request found in section L-7 (3)?

Labor mix for all personnel has been provided in Amendment 0001 of the RFP.

17 Page 62-63 states “shall be signed by all proposed key personnel not currently employed by the Prime Offeror”. Does Prime Offeror mean the Prime or the Prime’s team, including subcontractors, as a whole?

The statement of commitment shall be signed by all proposed key personnel who are not currently employed by the prime offeror, including subcontractors.

18 Please confirm that in the following statement, "Offeror" means prime and subcontractor teammates: "The Offeror's proposed Key personnel must be currently employed by the Offeror or the Offeror must provide documentation showing their immediate availability upon contract award"

Offeror in this statement is for the Prime and subcontractors.

19 Based on the statement "Offeror's shall provide NRL Past Performance Questionnaires and/or CPARs reports with their proposal" can the government confirm that all past performance citations must come from the prime offeror only? This would ensure that the prime has the requisite past performance to execute a program of this size and complexity? If the government is allowing both prime and subcontractor past performance, what is the minimum that must come from the prime offeror?

Past performances questionnaires shall be submitted directly to the Contract Specialist. No more than five relevant efforts within the last five (5) fiscal years as of the date of this solicitation release shall be provided for the prime. The POC for past performance questionnaires submittal has been updated in Attachment 3.

20 Section L states that the proposal shall be based on a start date of October 29, 2025, however, RFP CLIN0001AA has a Period of Performance with a start date of October 30, 2025. Can the Government please clarify the start date for proposal purposes?

Amendment 0002 will update CLIN 0001AA period of performance start date.

21 Could the Government please clarify the instructions to include labor pricing for half the LOE and cost of CLIN 4001. Should the offeror's proposal include half the anticipated LOE for the entire duration of CLIN 4001 period of performance?

For the FAR 52.217-8 evaluation, this should be priced at half of the cost of CLIN 4001. This cost shall not be included in the contract award price, but will be evaluated separately in determining cost reasonableness/realism for this effort.

22 Does the government require prime offerors to submit an Intent to Prime letter? If so, when is this due?

This is not required to be submitted.

23 Senior Program Analyst (C1) and Senior Program Analyst (C5) are both listed as Level IV. C1 requires 3 years minimum experience where as C5 requires 3-10 years minimum experience. Should these be two different levels?

The C1 Senior Program Analyst category was a duplicate to the C5 Senior Program Analyst. C1 was removed. Attachment 2 has been updated to reflect this.

24 Can you confirm that the Administrator II needs 2 years of experience regardless of what degree level has been obtained?

The degree level is the minimum required, plus the # years’ experience.

25 Can you confirm that the IT Help Desk Support Specialist I need 2 years of experience regardless of what degree level has been obtained?

The degree level is the minimum required, plus the # years’ experience.

26 Can you confirm that the System Analyst II needs 2 years of experience regardless of what degree level has been obtained?

The degree level is the minimum required, plus the # years’ experience.

27 Can you confirm that the System Analyst III needs 3 years of experience regardless of what degree level has been obtained?

The degree level is the minimum required, plus the # years’ experience.

28 Can you confirm that the Test Writer II needs 2 years of experience regardless of what degree level has been obtained (excluding Associates)?

The degree level is the minimum required, plus the # years’ experience.

29 Both C1 and C5 LCATs are listed as Senior Program Analyst with different responsibilities.

Can you confirm that they are the same title?

The C1 Senior Program Analyst category was a duplicate to the C5 Senior Program Analyst. C1 was removed. Attachment 2 has been updated to reflect this.

30 Since the FAR 52.217-8 extension cost/price will neither be included in the Government's total evaluated cost, nor the award amount, what is the purpose of the FAR 52.217-8 cost/price requirement in the evaluation?

Pricing for FAR 52.217-8 extension will be evaluated separately in determining cost reasonableness/realism for this effort.

31 The education and years’ experience requirements are inconsistent for Level II - Junior. In the third from last row of the table, did the Government intend to list the Minimum Level as Level II - Junior?

Level II- Junior is listed as intended.

32 The education and years’ experience requirements are inconsistent for Level II - Junior. Why is there only one combination of education and experience for Level II - Junior when Levels III-V list three combinations each?

Level II- Junior does not include a PhD Level, as in Levels III to V.

33 Can the Government please confirm that they explicitly do not want any names included for non-key personnel.

Names can be provided for non-key personnel that have been identified at the time of proposal submission; however, this is not required.

34 Can you confirm that currently employed Key Personnel do not need to sign the commitment letter individually and only proposed contingent employees need to?

As described in Section L-3(c)paragraph 3, currently employed key personnel only need to submit proof of current employment with the company to show commitment.

35 Could you provide your small business requirements and goals for this effort for small business as well as disadvantage SBs (i.e., SDVOSB, WOSB, etc.)

The overall goal is more than 50% of subcontracted effort to small businesses.

Specific goals for each socioeconomic category are not specified. The small business participation requirement is to assist in tracking the small business participation, in accordance with FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting.

36 Is proof of employment documentation required only for contingent Key Personnel or for all staff?

Proof of current employment is only required for Key personnel, unless documentation of immediate availability is provided for the contingent key personnel. Non-key personnel do not require proof of employment with the offeror. Section L has been updated to reflect this revision.

37 H-9 requires performers and applicants to submit information, which makes it unclear if this is a proposal requirement or a post-award requirement. When the Government uses the terms "performers" and "applicants" is this equivalent to "offeror" meaning proposal requirement, or "Contractor" meaning post-award requirement?

H-9 is not a requirement of the RFP and is a post award requirement. Offerors shall refer to Section L for specific proposal content.

38 M-6(2) requires offerors to propose the total plug amount listed in Section B, which is inclusive of indirect rates; however, L-7(3) requires offerors to add their indirect rates to the RFP specified ODC amounts. Will the

The Offeror shall follow the instructions in Section L, and add their Indirect Rates to the RFP specified ODC amounts.

Government please explain the differences in these requirements or resolve this apparent inconsistency?

39 For most of the labor categories, the degree requirement states BS in Mathematics, Engineering or Computer Science. Would the Government consider expanding the degree requirements to include “or equivalent degree”?

A number of the current performers do not qualify under the as written requirement – staff with a non-technical BS but having a technical MS would not qualify as written. While the personnel qualifications allow less years of experience with a higher-level technical degree, they still require the person to have a BS in Mathematics, Engineering or Computer Science.

Equivalent degree language was incorporated into Attachment 2 - Personnel Qualifications.

40 The Senior Program Analyst, which reads as a finance and contracts manager, requires a computer science degree. Can this requirement be changed to include a financial degree? (i.e.

finance, accounting, economics, etc.)

Attachment 2 has been updated to include "Business" degree under the senior program analyst LCAT.

41 The Administrator labor category specifies a Level II as an Associate’s Degree in business, language arts or the sciences. Would the government be willing to add equivalencies for a Bachelor's degree?

Language was incorporated in Attachment 2 to include a "minimum" of an associate’s degree.