PANMCC26P0000053669 J and A Redacted.pdf

Control No.:

Justification Review Document FAR Part 12 Sole Source Justification and Approval14

Program/Equipment: U.S. ARMY Recruiting Division (USARD) request to purchase psychological testing materials.

Authority: 13106-1b Simplified acquisition procedures for Commercial Products and Commercial Services, Title 41 U.S.C. 1901 as implemented by FAR 12.201-1.

Amount:

Prepared by:

Contracting Officer:

Technical:

Requirements:

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support sole source.

b. Alternatives. Other “broadband” tests of personality and psychological health that could have been considered for this mission include those that are commonly used in clinical settings and in other similar assessment programs in military psychology. A broadband psychological measure is typically one that includes multiple subscale measurements that correspond to different personality attributes or psychological symptoms or diagnoses. Their common use in other programs increases the odds that candidates for OCP assessments will have already taken these tests elsewhere, which can increase odds of test-retest impacts and decrease validity of certain individual scores. As such, the clinical test that is by far the most commonly used in military healthcare settings to measure personality and psychological health (the Personality Assessment Inventory [PAI]) was excluded from consideration even though it can be used in personnel selection settings.

Additionally, OCP consulted both the American Psychological Association and subordinate Divisions, such as the Society for Personality Assessment, The Society of Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and the National Academy of Neuropsychology. These organizations are the leading governing bodies in the profession of psychology related to psychological testing. Review of all available similar measures espoused by these entities yielded no other suitable alternative testing that exceeded either the psychometric properties, overall utility, or cost effectiveness of the DAT Next Generation for use in current OCP missions.

c. Impact if justification not approved: If not approved, OCP will not have the necessary psychological testing supply to conduct its personnel assessment and selection missions. It will also lack its most important tool to conduct objective assessments in those missions. There will be increases to unmitigated mental health risk in the USAREC formation, as well as decreased ability to evaluate all candidates for conversion to 42T.

7. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The Contracting Officer shall publish the notices required by FAR 5.101.

a. Effective competition: No other effective competition is expected, as NCS

Pearson Assessment is a single source, sole supplier that has been granted copyright or exclusive rights to the supply items. Required supply items are not available from any other source by lawful means.

b. Subcontracting competition: Not applicable.

8. Actions to Increase Competition: There are no reasonable actions to be taken by the government to increase competition. All three psychological tests sought for use are proprietary and were developed at great expense over decades by experts in the field who focus solely on development of these kinds of tests. The government does have an entity that researches and develops psychological testing, known as the Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI). ARI is working to develop testing intended to help Select soldiers for Recruiting duty. However, the testing currently in the development will not adequately replace the DAT Next Generation, nor are they intended to do so.

11. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. This determination will be made using the following:

X price analysis

As a part of this basis, certified cost or pricing data is not required because the item being acquired is considered a commercial item FAR 15.403(b)(3).

14. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.