Section L Draft.pdf

FA8684-22-R-2006

SECTION L

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS OR

RESPONDENTS

The purpose of this acquisition is to provide the Architecture and Integration Directorate (XA) with an agile contract vehicle to satisfy Capability Development/ Development Planning, Systems Development, and Synthetic Environment Development requirements at multiple levels of security. XA requires a wide breadth of vendor experience including both traditional and non-traditional defense contractors spanning large and small business. This vehicle shall not be used for any Advisory and Assistance (A&AS) requirements.

The Government intends to conduct evaluations on an incremental, first-in-first-out basis as proposals are received.

Contractors are encouraged to submit proposals early and submittals will be evaluated as reasonably soon as the Source Selection (SS) team can convene. The Government, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to notify Offerors of any discrepancies discovered after early submission and before the solicitation closing date and time to provide Offerors the opportunity to correct those discrepancies by the solicitation closing date and time. Such notifications shall not constitute exchanges governed by FAR 15.306. The Government will not make award to any contractor prior to the solicitation closing date and time in order to allow contractors to update their proposal or to fix any discrepancies discovered after early submission. All awardees will have the same effective date of award in the appropriate block of the award document, regardless of the date of proposal evaluation.

L-1.0 SUBMISSIONS OF PROPOSALS

L-1.1 INSTRUCTIONS

a. Offerors shall submit proposals no later than 4:00pm Eastern Time, 17 May 2022. To assure timely and equitable evaluation of proposals, Offerors shall comply with all instructions within Section L and all solicitation submission requirements, including submission requirements within the terms and conditions and representations and certifications. Proposals shall be submitted utilizing the Proposal Response Guide and other relevant documents in accordance with Table L-1.3 and addressed to the Contracting Officer (CO) and Contracting Specialist (CS). To ensure timely receipt, Offerors shall submit proposals electronically via the DOD SAFE website at https://safe.apps.mil/ to the following recipients:

Capt Donald Goeb, Contracting Officer donald.goeb@us.af.mil Jenna Schieltz, Contracting Specialist Jenna.schieltz@us.af.mil

Late submittal may result in Offeror disqualification IAW FAR 52.215-1(c)(3) and 15.208.

b. Offerors shall apply all appropriate markings including those prescribed in accordance with FAR 52.215- 1(e), Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data, and FAR 3.104-4, Disclosure, Protection, and Marking of Contractor Bid or Proposal Information and Source Selection Information. Classified information will not be permitted.

c. Questions shall be submitted no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Time, 11 April 2022. Questions may be submitted directly by email to the CO and CS via email.

L-1.2 GENERAL INFORMATION

a. The Offeror’s proposal shall include all information requested by this Request for Proposal (RFP) and shall be submitted in accordance with these instructions. The proposal shall be compliant with the requirements as stated in the SOW and solicitation. Non-compliance with the instructions provided in this RFP may result in the proposal being ineligible for award. The proposal shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and substantiating the validity of all stated claims. The proposal shall not simply rephrase or restate the Government’s requirements, but instead shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet the stated requirements. The Government will base its evaluation only on the information presented in the Offeror's proposal or provided during discussions, if applicable.

b. Elaborate brochures or documentation, binding, detailed art work, or other embellishments are unnecessary and are not desired.

DRAFT

https://safe.apps.mil/ mailto:donald.goeb@us.af.mil mailto:Jenna.schieltz@us.af.mil

c. The proposal acceptance period is specified in Section L-1.1a of the solicitation. The Offeror shall make a clear statement in Section A of the solicitation that the proposal is valid for 180 days from proposal submission date.

d. In accordance with FAR Subpart 4.8 (Government Contract Files), the Government will retain one copy of all proposals.

e. Government Point of Contact: The CO and CS are the sole points of contact for this acquisition with the CS being alternate to the CO. Address any questions or concerns you may have to the CO and CS.

Written requests for clarification shall be sent to the CO & CS at the email addresses located in Section A of the solicitation.

f. Offeror’s Point of Contact: The Offeror shall notify the CO or CS in writing of the name, phone number, and email address of the individual who shall receive Government notices.

g. The Government intends to award multiple contracts under this solicitation. However, the Government reserves the right to change the total number of contracts awarded, to include no award.

h. Participation by Foreign Firms: In accordance with the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), foreign firms or U.S. companies determined to be under Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI) will not be permitted to participate.

i. Joint Venture: The Offeror can be a prime contractor consisting of parties jointly owned and managed either by a partnership or a corporation established for the expressed purpose of entering into a contract with the Government. Neither party alone will have direct privity of contract with the Government; only the joint venture itself will have direct privity.

j. The Government estimates awarding between 50 and 100 contracts under this solicitation.

L-1.3 PROPOSAL ORGANIZATION

a. The Offeror shall prepare the proposal as set forth in the Proposal Organization Table (Table L-1.3 below) and utilize the Proposal Response Guide as instructed. The titles and contents of the volumes shall be as defined in this table, all of which shall be within the required page limits as specified in Table L-1.3. The contents of each proposal volume are described in the Instructions to Offerors (ITO) paragraph as noted in the table below:

Table L-1.3 - Proposal Organization

Volume /Section Title Method of Submission

Page Limit Volume I Main Proposal Proposal Response Guide

Section I Company/ Other Info Proposal Response Guide Fill-in Section II Narrative Summary Proposal Response Guide 2

Section III Factor I: Technical Capability Experience Narrative Proposal Response Guide 3 pages per category/ 9 pages max

Section IV Factor II: Price Post Award CDRL Pricing Worksheet Proposal Response guide 1

Volume II Small Business Subcontracting Plan (as req) Written, submit separately No Limit Volume III Solicitation Documentation

Section I SF 33 Written, submit separately No limit Section II Exceptions to Solicitation Requirements Written, submit separately No limit

Section III Reps & Certs Written, submit separately No limit Section IV Identification and Assertions Written, submit separately No limit

Volume IV Administrative Submissions Section I Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI)

Plan Written, submit separately No limit

Section II Cost/ Price Introductory Documents Written, submit separately No limit

DRAFT

b. If Evaluation Notices (ENs) are required, page limits shall be placed on any responses. The specific page limits for responses to ENs shall be identified in the letter forwarding ENs to the Offeror. Excess pages submitted in response to these shall be removed and disposed of by the CO. Other deviations from the instructions shall be reviewed by the CO to ensure that no contractor receives a competitive advantage.

Deviations resulting in a competitive advantage for an Offeror shall result in the proposal being determined to be noncompliant with the RFP requirements.

c. To the greatest extent possible, each written volume shall be on a stand-alone basis so that its contents may be evaluated with a minimum of cross referencing to other volumes of the proposal. Information required for proposal evaluation which is not found in its designated volume shall be assumed to have been omitted from the proposal. Cross-referencing within a proposal volume is permitted where its use would conserve space without impairing clarity.

d. A glossary of all abbreviations and acronyms used will be included in the Proposal Response Guide.

L-1.4 WRITTEN PROPOSAL SIZE/FORMAT

a. Written proposal material: Written proposals shall be submitted electronically, in PDF format on the Proposal Response Guide provided with the solicitation. All PDF should be in a format that allows the Government to copy and paste text. Offerors shall not deviate from the format of the templates provided and shall not exceed page limits set forth in Table L-1.3.

b. Electronic proposal materials: The Offeror shall submit all volumes via the DoD SAFE website (https://safe.apps.mil/) only. Do not compress files.

L-1.5 DEBRIEFINGS

The CO will promptly notify Offerors of any decision to exclude them from the competitive range (if the Government establishes a competitive range), where upon, they may request and receive a debriefing in accordance with FAR

15.505. Offerors excluded from the competitive range may request a pre-award debriefing or they may choose to wait until after the source selection decision to request a post-award debriefing. However, Offerors excluded from the competitive range are entitled to no more than one debriefing for each proposal. The CO will notify unsuccessful Offerors in the competitive range of the source selection decision in accordance with FAR 15.503.

L-1.6 DISCREPENCIES

If an Offeror believes that the requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are otherwise unsound, the Offeror shall immediately notify the CO in writing with supporting rationale, as well as the remedies the Offeror is asking the CO to consider as related to the omission or error. The Offeror is reminded that the Government reserves the right to award this effort based on the initial proposal, as received, without discussion.

L-1.7 ELECTRONIC REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

All referenced documents for this solicitation are available online at http://sam.gov. Potential Offerors are encouraged to subscribe for real-time e-mail notifications when information has been posted to the website for this solicitation.

L-1.8 COMMUNICATIONS

The CO will control all exchanges of source selection information between the Government and Offerors. CUI exchanges and initial proposal submissions shall be submitted via DOD SAFE. Further correspondence may be via email.

The Contracting Officer (CO), Captain Donald Goeb (donald.goeb@us.af.mil), and Contract Specialist (CS), Jenna Schieltz (jenna.schieltz@us.af.mil), are the sole points of contact for this acquisition. Address any questions or concerns you may have to the CO and CS.

Email may be used to transmit information and must include “SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION” in the subject line.

L-2.0 VOLUME I – MAIN PROPOSAL

L-2.1 SECTION I- COMPANY/ OTHER INFORMATION

Utilizing the Proposal Response Guide proposals shall include the following:

a. Authorized Offeror Personnel: Provide the name, title, and telephone number of the company/division point of contact regarding decisions made with respect to your proposal and who can obligate your company contractually. Additional requested information is provided in the fields of the Proposal Response Guide.

DRAFT

https://safe.apps.mil/ http://sam.gov/ mailto:(donald.goeb@us.af.mil mailto:(

b. Government Offices: If applicable, provide the name, mailing address, telephone, and facility codes for the cognizant Contract Administration Office, DCAA, DCMA Administrating Contracting Officer, and Government Paying Office. Also, provide the name and telephone and fax number for the Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO).

L-2.1 SECTION II – NARRATIVE SUMMARY

The Offeror’s proposal shall include a narrative summary of the entire proposal that is concise, to include addressing significant risks and highlighting any key or unique features, excluding price. The narrative content shall relate to the evaluation factors. Any summary material presented here shall not be considered as meeting the requirements for any portions of other volumes of the proposal and will not be evaluated.

L-3.0 SECTION III – FACTOR I: TECHNICAL CAPABILITY

Offerors may respond to one or more of the three Technical Capability categories (Capability Development/ Development Planning, Systems Development, and Synthetic Environment Development). Offerors shall clearly identify which categories they are responding to and which they are not responding to in their proposal. An unacceptable determination in one category will not render the entire proposal unacceptable, if an Offeror responds to multiple categories and is found acceptable in another category. Information provided for each category shall be evaluated on a standalone basis and only considered for that category.

Each category response shall include, at a minimum, one experience narrative. The experience narrative shall describe a current or recent (within 5 years) activity or project managed, supported, or completed by the Offeror. Examples include work with the US Government, other government partners, or private industry. The experience narrative shall describe the totality of the Offeror’s support for the activity or project: scope, tasks performed, contract/subcontract value, and period of performance. The experience narrative shall demonstrate proficiency in at least two (2) attributes listed under each category in Section M.

L-4.0 SECTION IV FACTOR II: PRICE

Compliance with these instructions is mandatory and failure to comply may result in rejection of the proposal. Data beyond what is required by this instruction shall not be submitted, unless the Offeror considers it essential to document or support its price position.

No pricing data or information shall be included in any other volume, including cover letters, unless specifically requested by the Government in the respective volume. If price information is included elsewhere in the documentation, the proposal may be deemed unacceptable and the proposal may not be evaluated. The Offeror shall comply with the intent of the pricing instructions in supplying information that is current, timely, and in full support of the proposal. Exceptions or deviations will not be accepted.

L-4.1 PRICING INSTRUCTIONS

Proposals shall include the following:

a. Pricing for development and delivery of the Post-Award CDRL utilizing the Post-Award CDRL Pricing Worksheet section of the Proposal Response Guide.

b. The worksheet must be complete.

c. The Offeror’s proposal must equal $1,000.00.

L-5.0 VOLUME II- SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN

The Small Business Subcontracting Plan is a requirement for award for Other than Small Businesses and shall be incorporated into any resultant contract. Other than Small Business Offerors shall submit a written small business subcontracting plan that complies with FAR 52.219-9, Alternate II, and DFARS 252.219-7003 (or DFARS 252.219- 7004 if the Offeror has a comprehensive subcontracting plan). Small Business subcontracting goals must be expressed in terms of percentage of subcontracted value.

Table L-5.1 below depicts the breakdown of the Small Business Subcontracting Plan goals. Offerors shall submit, in writing, a Small Business Subcontracting Plan addressing each of the socio-economic categories listed in the table.

Offeror’s goals shall meet or exceed the DoD subcontracting goals shown in Table L-5.1 and the Offeror shall present a methodology for meeting or exceeding such goals. For small business categories where the Offeror’s goal is less than the DoD goal shown in Table L-5.1, the Offeror shall provide a substantiated rationale for not meeting the suggested goal.

Table L- 5.1

Type of Small Business DoD Goals for Percentage of Total Subcontracted Value

Offeror’s Proposed Percentage of Total Subcontracted Value

Small Business % 32.25% Small Disadvantaged Business % 5% Women-Owned Small Business

5%

Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business %

3%

HUB Zone % 3%

L-6.0 VOLUME III- SOLICITATION DOCUMENTATION

L-6.1 SECTION I- SF 33

The Offeror’s proposal shall include a signed copy of the SF 33 (to include clause fill-ins), Sections A through K. The Offeror shall complete blocks 13 through 16 and sign and date blocks 17 and 18 in Section A of the SF 33.

Signature by the Offeror on the Standard Form 33 constitutes an offer, which the Government may accept. In doing so, the Offeror agrees to the contract terms and conditions as written in the RFP Sections A through K. Offerors shall ensure that all clauses and provisions that require “fill-in” information are appropriately completed, except pricing information which is included in the Proposal Response Guide (do not insert any pricing information on pages 2 through 7 of Section B).

This contract is an IDIQ contract with baseline clauses and conditions. The specific prices, contract type(s), delivery requirements and period of performance will be determined at the delivery order level.

L-6.2 SECTION II- EXCEPTIONS TO SOLICITATION REQUIREMENTS

Offerors shall meet all solicitation requirements, such as terms and conditions, representations and certifications, and technical requirements, in addition to those identified as evaluation factors. Offerors shall clearly identify any exception to the solicitation terms and conditions. Each exception shall be specifically related to a specific paragraph and/or specific part of the solicitation to which the exception is taken. Offerors shall provide rationale in support of the exception and fully explain its impact, if any, on the performance, schedule, cost, and specific requirements of the solicitation. Please be aware that if any exceptions are taken to the solicitation and award is made without discussions, your proposal will be deemed unawardable. This information shall be provided in the format and content of Table L-2.3 below:

Table L-2.3 Offeror Solicitation Exceptions

Solicitation Document Page/ Paragraph Requirement/ Portion Rationale

SOW Model Contract, ITO, etc.

Applicable Page and Paragraph Numbers

Identify the requirement or portion to which exception is taken

Describe why the requirement can/will not be met *If no exception is proposed on the compliance matrix, it is understood that the Offeror can meet ALL requirements.

L-6.3 SECTION III- REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS

Offeror shall ensure all required representations and certifications have been filled-in/completed and are provided in their proposal, or indicate if information is contained in SAM.gov.

L-6.4 SECTION IV IDENTIFICATION AND ASSERTIONS

Offeror shall identify and assert any data rights for the contract level. Specific data rights will be addressed at the delivery order, when applicable.

L-7.0 VOLUME IV - ADMINISTRATIVE SUBMISSIONS

The purpose of this volume is to provide information to the Government for preparing the contract document and supporting file as well as to aid in making responsibility and responsiveness determinations, as applicable.

L-SECTION I- 7.1 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST MITIGATION PLAN

Organizational Conflict of Interest is a concern requiring specific attention. Offerors shall identify any existing or potential conflicts and provide a legible, clear, and coherent Organizational Conflict Of Interest Mitigation Plan.

An Offeror’s proposal may be deemed unawardable if the Offeror is unable to mitigate an actual or apparent OCI or fails to present a compliant OCI Mitigation Plan.

The Offerors’s Approved Mitigation plan will be incorporated into the resultant contract and supplemented with each Delivery Order, as required.

Offeror’s OCI mitigation plan will not be evaluated as part of the technical evaluation; rather, the CO will determine whether any apparent successful Offeror is awardable with regard to OCI concerns, akin to a responsibility determination. This determination focuses primarily on OCI concerns. OCI concerns relating to Subcontractors will primarily be addressed as part of the consent to subcontracting process, which is a matter of contract administration.

The only time OCI concerns relating to Subcontractors will be included in the responsibility-like determination is if the Prime Offeror’s proposed use of Subcontractors demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of the agency’s OCI concerns. This determination is concerned both with ensuring objectivity and with avoiding any unfair competitive advantage that could result from unequal access to nonpublic information. It is a significant objective of this acquisition to promote customer confidence that Government activities are unencumbered by potential OCI in the use of customers’ competition-sensitive or proprietary information. That confidence among industry partners is vital to AFLCMC/XA contractors’ access to sensitive and proprietary customer information which, in turn, is vital to the effective fulfillment of AFLCMC/XA requirements. The contract likewise requires the Contractor to exercise judgment to assist the Government in matters where the Contractor’s objectivity is vital. In some cases, however, safeguards are not sufficient to mitigate an OCI. The Offeror shall ensure its submission contains sufficient information to enable the Government to make the determination in these regards.

The following information will be used at the DO level both in determining whether any Prime Contractor is awardable and as the starting point to assessing the OCI aspect of the consent to subcontracting process. After surveying Subcontractors’ and the Offeror’s own business units, and applying the principles of FAR Subpart 9.5, the Offeror shall assess whether there is an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest associated with the offer it plans to submit, including any potential Subcontractor. The Offeror shall disclose business activities of itself, its affiliates, its teammates, and affiliates of its teammates. The Offeror shall specifically identify those which may create at least the appearance that (a) any participant on the Offeror’s team might therefore be motivated to use the Government customer’s information improperly, or (b) the judgment of any participant on the Offeror’s team might be impaired in its fulfillment of requirements of the AFLCMC/XA Delivery Orders. An affiliate includes any person or organization with which the Contractor is associated through an ownership, control, or direct financial interest. It includes any parent organization (to include the parent organization reflected at www.usaspending.gov) and any organization majority owned or controlled by such parent (to include organizations of a common parent as reflected at www.usaspending.gov). The Offeror shall:

- Identify any teammate for whom there is any doubt whether it qualifies as a “Covered Government Support Contractor” (see DFARS 252.227-7013 and 252.227-7014) for programs supported either directly or indirectly under this acquisition, and identify the business activity (or activities) that might prevent the team member from qualifying;

- Identify whether any teammate or any affiliate of a teammate has, within the past three years, participated as a Prime or Major Subcontractor in furnishing end items or services supporting armament and related systems. (Reference DFARS 252.209-7009);

- “Business activities” shall be described with specificity as to customers served, products and services provided, and dollar volume of sales including contracts/sales by date and amount which are representative of each such activity;

- The Offeror shall provide evidence of facts and circumstances which it believes mitigates concerns related to the appearance and/or presence of business activities which may create at least the appearance of a potential or actual organizational conflict of interest; and;

- To the extent the Offeror identifies any potential or actual organizational conflicts of interest, the Offeror shall explain the actions it intends to take to mitigate concerns about potential or actual conflicts. The Offeror shall submit proposed approaches to mitigating the effects of any potential or actual conflicts of interest arising out of the business activities disclosed.

The Draft OCI Mitigation Plan will be reviewed by the CO upon submittal by the Offeror with their proposal. The Draft Mitigation Plan will not be evaluated as part of the technical proposal but will be evaluated by the CO as part of an overall responsibility determination. The CO will review for any potential issues with respect to OCI.

DRAFT

http://www.usaspending.gov/ http://www.usaspending.gov/

Clarifications may be requested from Offerors, but such OCI plan clarifications will not constitute discussions. The Final Mitigation Plan will be an administrative action/issue.

Specifically, the awardees will submit their Final Mitigation Plan(s) for the Government to review for final approval. Once the Plan(s) is/are approved by the Government, the Mitigation Plan(s) will be incorporated into the contracts.

L-7.2 SECTION II- COST/PRICE INTRODUCTORY DOCUMENTS

L-7.2.1 ESTIMATING SYSTEM

The Offeror shall indicate whether the Offeror’s system has Government approval and if so, provide evidence of such approval.

L-7.2.2 PURCHASING SYSTEM

The Offeror shall indicate whether the Offeror’s system has Government approval and if so, provide evidence of such approval.

L-7.2.3 ACCOUNTING SYSTEM

Indicate whether the Offeror has Government Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) approval of the accounting system and if so, provide evidence of such approval.

L-8.0 INITIAL DELIVERY ORDER

The Government intends to award a Delivery Order to all successful Offerors to satisfy the IDIQ minimum price of $1,000 for development and delivery of a Post-Award CDRL. The Post-Award CDRL will be developed and delivered as required by SOW para 7.0, and is NOT a deliverable under this solicitation.