Combined_Sol_Syn_FORGE.docx

I. INTRODUCTION

A. This is a Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Parts 12.6 as supplemented with additional information in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

C. This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular FAC 05-81, 10 APR 2015

D. Small Business

E. Posting Date: September 22, 2015

F. Response Date: September 25, 2015

G. Contracting Office: Army Contracting Command - Warren (ACC-WRN) 6501 E. Eleven Mile, Warren, MI 48397.

H. The NAICS code applicable to this acquisition is 541511. Offeror must be certified under this NAICS code prior to receiving an award.

I. This Combined Synopsis Solicitation contains clauses and provisions requiring a fill-in or representation. Offeror shall submit a copy of this Combined Synopsis Solicitation with their bid and respond to these clauses and provisions accordingly. A failure to complete these fill-ins may cause your offer to be determined ineligible for award.

J. Basis for award - The proposed contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one responsible source that will satisfy the requirements under the authority of FAR 6.302-1(b)(2). Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals before the closing date of this solicitation. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. The Government intends to negotiate and award a sole source contract to Noetics, Inc. (CAGE# 1KBA9).

II. GENERAL

A. The United States Army, Center for Army Analysis (CAA) in Ft. Belvoir, VA has a requirement for the following:

These performance based services to be provided under this contract are for developing new and modified functional updates to the FORGE model, model maintenance, model testing, model documentation, and training of government personnel. The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, tools, material and supervision. The intent of this acquisition is to award a one-year contract.

B. This acquisition is unrated under the Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS).

C. Instructions to Offeror:

a. Offeror must have performed similar work in the past and include a brief summary of past work in their response.

b. Offeror shall provide detailed proposals and, as applicable, explain how their proposal satisfies the requirements identified in the Performance Work Statement under Section 1.4 “Scope” and Part 5 “Specific Tasks”. The Offeror’s proposal must include an affirmative statement indicating that the Offeror will comply with the requirements of the contract.

c. Offers must include projected hours and rates for each labor category submitted.

D. Bids must be received by ACC-WRN no later than 12:00 noon, local Warren, MI time, September 25, 2015. Email bid to elizabeth.a.colpaert.civ@mail.mil. Offeror must be registered in System for Award Management (SAM) prior to receiving an award. Refer to website https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/.

PART 1

GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 Description of Services/Introduction: The contractor shall provide all equipment, tools, materials, and services to perform Force Requirements Generator Model (FORGE) Model Development, Maintenance, Testing, Documentation and Training as defined in this Performance Work Statement except as Specified in section Part 3 as government furnished property and services at the Center For Army Analysis and for other government work locations for meetings such as Ft. Lee, VA and locations within the National Capital Region (NCR). The contractor shall perform to the standards in this contract.

1.2 Background:

1.2.1 The Army requires a comprehensive model capable of rapidly determining the specialized types of support forces needed for sustaining combat forces of new types and various sizes in a wide variety of missions and roles around the world. A need exists for analysis methods with the flexibility to rapidly accommodate the Army’s multiple requirements for evaluation of new concepts such as the Army transformation to the objective force and the "footprint" reduction associated with that transformation.

1.2.2 FORGE is owned and run by the Center for Army Analysis for major Army force structure studies such as Total Army Analysis (TAA). FORGE computes administrative and logistical workloads based on data from a theater campaign simulation and uses these workloads along with a series of unit existence and workload allocation rules to generate the balanced and time-phased support force structure to sustain a combat force. Major elements of support addressed are maintenance, construction, supply, transportation, personnel, casualty support, hospitalization/evacuation, and personnel replacement. FORGE already includes significant enhancements in the areas of representation of the transportation / distribution network and some other core functionality areas, Graphical User Interface (GUI), and data error checking. The core functionality in FORGE is written in Microsoft Visual C++, with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and Microsoft Access being used for data base applications. In addition, FORGE uses Open Data Base Connectivity (ODBC) and other software to integrate the different types of software used by the model. The Force Analysis Simulation of Theater Administration & Logistics Support (FASTALS) model that was used to develop current FORGE and continues to be used as a tool for comparing code in FORGE was written in FORTRAN 77 and runs on Unix–based computers.

1.2.3 FORGE is designed to be an object-oriented model that runs on desktop PCs in a distributed resource local area network (LAN) environment and shall interface with other models used by CAA. The model is being implemented with an open systems approach to hardware and software application, lending itself to addition and integration of new functional capabilities and to interoperability with other models.

1.2.4 The existing contractor has developed several proprietary auto coding and checking tools that aid in system development that are not part of the FORGE software itself. The software tools are not part of FORGE software and these associated tasks can be accomplished with time-consuming and careful manual coding. However, these tools make the coding and testing process much more reliable and timely, particularly given the hundreds of entities and attributes currently in the FORGE application dictionary.

1.3 Objectives:

1.3.1 The objective of FORGE is to provide a model capable of rapidly determining the support forces required for sustaining combat forces of various sizes in a wide variety of missions and studies including Total Army Analysis (TAA) and Future Force (FF) analysis and to rapidly evaluate new forces and missions. The overall FORGE development program is a multi-year effort divided into two separate phases.

1.3.2 Phase 1 has already been completed under prior contracts and was directed at replicating the CAA maintained FASTALS model functionality with a well-documented object oriented user-friendly model utilizing state-of-the-art IO processes and initially enhanced functionality. Phase I FORGE development is complete and successfully replaced FASTALS starting in TAA 13 as the Army’s premier support requirements generation/force structuring model.

1.3.3 The objective of this follow-on Phase 2 contract is to build further FORGE enhancements in support of TAA and other Army studies that includes new functionality. Certain specific functional enhancements and improvements are addressed under Task 1 in section 5.1.1, but is not an all-inclusive list as user-generated enhancements are continuously received, which will be prioritized by CAA during the duration of this contract. Furthermore, this Phase 2 contract provides for continued FORGE Model Testing, Ongoing FORGE System Maintenance, and Training for FORGE system enhancements.

1.4 Scope:

1.4.1 This Performance Work Statement (PWS) provides for continuing model development support for the Center for Army Analysis (CAA) model, namely the Force Requirements Generator (FORGE) model. This support provides for continued model development, documentation, testing, training, and maintenance support of the FORGE model partially developed under a previous contract. In addition, this PWS calls for providing additional functionality to the previously developed FORGE model.

1.5 Status Updates: The contractor shall provide status and progress to the Government either face to face, email or teleconference on a weekly basis.

1.6 General Information

1.6.1 Quality Control: The contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program for services that are performed in accordance with this PWS. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, non-recurrence of defective services. The contractor’s quality control program is the means by which he assures himself that his work complies with the requirement of the contract. The contractor shall deliver a Quality Control (QC) plan within 30 days after base contract award (CDRL A001). After acceptance of the quality control plan the contractor shall receive the contracting officer’s acceptance in writing of any proposed change to his QC system.

1.6.2 Hours of Operation/Place of Performance:

1.6.2.1 FORGE model code and all FORGE development shall be done at an unclassified security level. The contractor may perform the majority of the FORGE work including the majority of model development, maintenance, testing using unclassified test data, and documentation at its own unclassified facility and may work hours of his own choosing while not at a Government location with the exception of all training, classified FORGE development and testing and other work that must be performed at CAA shall be done during the period of time that CAA is open. Normally CAA will be open between the hours of 0800 to 1800 Monday thru Friday except Federal holidays or when the Government facility is closed due to local or national emergencies, administrative closings, or similar Government directed facility closings.

1.6.2.2 In addition, in performance of task 1 discussed below, the contractor shall be required to travel no more than 3 trips per year from either his facility or from CAA to either CASCOM at Ft. Lee, VA or to other government facilities within or near the National Capital Region. The purposes of these meetings shall be for coordination, consultation, and user training to ensure that processes that are part of FORGE and sample data are adequately portrayed and for questions to be answered. The contractor and COR shall make mutual arrangements in advance for all work conducted at CAA or alternate meeting locations and must be conducted during times that CAA or alternate locations are open. Normally CAA or CASCOM shall be open between the hours of 0800 to 1800 Monday thru Friday except Federal holidays or when the Government facility is closed due to local or national emergencies, administrative closings, or similar Government directed facility closings. The Contractor must at all times maintain an adequate work force for the uninterrupted performance of all tasks defined within this statement of work. When hiring personnel, the Contractor shall keep in mind that the stability and continuity of the work force are essential.

1.6.2.3 The following is a list of Federal holidays:

New Year’s Day Labor Day Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday Columbus Day President’s Day Veteran’s Day Memorial Day Thanksgiving Day Independence Day Christmas Day

1.6.3 Security Requirements: All FORGE model code development shall be done at an unclassified security level using unclassified test data. However, it is required that contractor have personnel with a SECRET security clearance who can perform any work on Center for Army Analysis (CAA) facilities or other government facilities. Contractor personnel with a SECRET level clearance shall be given an account and granted access to both the CAA internal unclassified network (UNET) and the CAA internal Secret network (SNET). All contractor personnel that do not have a Secret level clearance must be escorted by government personnel at all times while at CAA or any government facility with Secret level access. Contractor personnel without at least a Secret level clearance shall not be granted access to any classified information or any classified networks while at CAA or any other government facility. While at CAA, escorted contractor personnel without at least a Secret level clearance shall only have access to the internal unclassified (UNET) network.

1.6.3.1 PHYSICAL Security. The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all government property provided for contractor use. At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured.

1.6.4 Post Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings: The Contractor agrees to attend post award conference convened by the contracting activity or contract administration office in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 42.5. The contracting officer, Contracting Officers Representative (COR), and other Government personnel, as appropriate, may meet periodically with the contractor to review the contractor's performance. At these meetings the contracting officer shall apprise the contractor of how the government views the contractor's performance and the contractor shall apprise the Government of problems, if any, being experienced. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues. These meetings shall be at no additional cost to the government.

1.6.5 Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer is the administrating representative of this contract. A person with authority to enter into, administer, and or terminate contracts, and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the government. Note: The only individual who can legally bind the government.

The Contracting Officer is the sole individual with authority to make changes to the contract terms and conditions.

1.6.6 Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). The Contracting Officer shall appoint a qualified COR. The COR is designated as the technical representative of the Contracting Officer for the purpose of technical surveillance of workmanship and inspection of materials for work being performed under contract. The COR is not authorized to make any commitments or changes that will affect price, quality, quantity, delivery, or any other term or condition of the contract.

1.6.7 Contracting Officer Representative (COR): The (COR) is identified below:

Gary L. Causer Center for Army Analysis 6001 Goethals Road Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060-5230 Phone Number: (703) 808-5402 Fax: (703) 806-5743 E-mail: gary.l.causer.civ@mail.mil

1.6.8 Contract Manager: The contractor shall provide a contract manager who shall be responsible for the performance of the work. The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the contractor when the manager is absent shall be designated in writing to the contracting officer. The contract manager or alternate shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract.

1.6.9 Identification of Contractor Employees: All contract personnel attending meetings, answering Government telephones, and working in other situations where their contractor status is not obvious to third parties are required to identify themselves as such to avoid creating an impression in the minds of members of the public that they are Government officials. They must also ensure that all documents or reports produced by contractors are suitably marked as contractor products or that contractor participation is appropriately disclosed. While working at CAA (or during meetings at other government facilities) contractor personnel shall be required to wear badges that shall be provided by CAA (or the facility where a meeting is located).

PART 2

DEFINITIONS & ACRONYMS

PWS – Performance Work Statement

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) – A representative from the requiring activity assigned by the Contracting Officer to perform surveillance and to act as liaison to the contractor

BCT- Brigade Combat Team

BFSB – Battle Field Surveillance Brigade

CAA- Center for Army Analysis

CAB – Combat Aviation Brigade

CASCOM- Combined Arms Services Command

CCE– Contracting Center of Excellence

CAMP – Computer Aided Matching Postprocessor

CEM – The theater combat model used by CAA prior to JICM

COTS – Commercial-Off-The-Shelf Software

CS – Combat Support

CSS – Combat Service Support

Defective Service – A service output that does not meet the standard of performance associated with it in the Performance Work Statement.

DNBI – Disease and Non-Battlefield Injuries

FASTALS - Force Analysis Simulation of Theater Administrative and Logistics Support, the legacy model that preceded the FORGE model for determining support force structure.

FEBA – Forward Edge of Battle Area

FFDB – Future Forces Data Base – derived from SAMAS for use by DOD and the Joint community

FORGE – Force Requirements Generator Model

FF – Future Force

GUI – Graphical User Interface

JICM - Joint Integrated Combat Model, the model used by CAA to generate combat forces. The output from this model is used by FORGE to determine support force requirements.

LAN – Local Area Network

LIN – Line Item Number – detailed listing description of specific Army equipment items that make up an Army unit.

MCO – Major Combat Operation

MEB – Maneuver Enhanced Brigade

ODBC – Open Data Base Connectivity software, one of the software components in FORGE

PC – Personal Computer

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) – An organized written document specifying the surveillance methodology to be used for surveillance of contractor performance.

Quality Control – Those actions taken by a contractor to control the performance of services so that they meet the requirements of the PWS.

Quality Assurance – Those actions taken by the government to assure services meet the requirements of the Performance Work Statement.

RSOI – Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration

SAMAS – Structure and Manpower Allocation System – Army manpower data base maintained by G3

SQL – Structured Query Language, used for Microsoft Access queries that are part of FORGE

SSC- Small Scale Contingency

SRC – Standard Requirements Code, a standardized army identification code for a unit

TAA – Total Army Analysis TPFDD - Time-Phased Forces Deployment Data

TUCHA – Type Unit Characteristics File

UIN – Unit Identification Number, a key field in FORGE that is based on an SRC and a logical region (command echelon)

VBA – Visual Basic for Applications, a software component used in FORGE

PART 3

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, EQUIPMENT, AND SERVICES

3.1 GENERAL: The government shall provide, the facilities, equipment, materials, and services listed below.

3.2 Equipment: When the contractor performs work at CAA, the government shall provide office space, furniture, and CAA PC systems throughout the duration of the contract. For all contractor personnel working at CAA, CAA shall provide CAA unclassified internal network (UNET) access for development, testing, and debugging of the model using unclassified data. For contractor personnel with at least a Secret level clearance the government shall also provide CAA classified internal secret network (SNET) access for development, testing, and debugging of the model using classified data.

3.3 Services:

3.3.1 Utilities. When the contractor performs work at CAA, all utilities in the facility shall be available for the contractor’s use in performance of duties outlined in this PWS. The Contractor shall instruct employees in utilities conservation practices. The contractor shall be responsible for operating under conditions that preclude the waste of utilities.

3.4 Facilities: When the contractor performs work at CAA, the government shall furnish workspace for the contractor to provide the support outlined in this PWS to include desk space, telephones, computers and other items to maintain an office environment.

3.5 Data: For contractor personnel with at least a Secret level of clearance, the government shall provide data for the classified model testing to be run under Task 1, 2 and 3. For unclassified model development and for contractor personnel without at least a Secret level clearance, all model testing shall be done with unclassified data provided by the contractor. For Task 1, the government shall provide additional information and guidance on specific functional algorithms or methods required for implementation and the order of priority.

PART 4

CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND SERVICES

4.1 General: Except for those items specifically stated to be government furnished in Part 3, the contractor shall furnish everything required to perform this PWS.

PART 5

SPECIFIC TASKS

5.1 BASIC SERVICES. The contractor shall provide services for FORGE Model Development, Maintenance, Testing Documentation and Training, as for the tasks below the contractor shall follow standard procedures for configuration control management and both component and integration testing of software.

5.1.1 Task 1: Phase 2 Enhanced Functionality Concept Exploration and Development:

5.1.1.1 Requested user enhancements to FORGE are continuous in nature, and cannot not be clearly defined and specified in this PWS, however all work performed under this Task will for FORGE software enhancements and shall be covered by this contract. CAA with assistance from CASCOM will continue to maintain a prioritized list of enhanced functions and capabilities for concept exploration and possible FORGE development. The contractor shall explore the feasibility and risk of incorporating these enhanced and new concepts and functions into FORGE, and provide the Government with its assessment during routine meetings. From this assessment, CAA will make the final determination and prioritize the contractor development of new and enhanced FORGE features. The contractor shall develop algorithms and model prototype(s) versions of CAA selected enhancements to test the incorporation of these new concepts into the FORGE model. These prototypes shall serve as a “proof of principal” that the proposed changes are feasible and that the proposed functions and relationships described above can be duplicated in FORGE. The contractor shall provide documentation (CDRL A008) for any prototype (CDRL A004) consistent with task 4 below. Approval of this prototype may be contingent on the contractor making modifications to the initially demonstrated prototype and supporting documentation to ensure that functions and relationships are correctly represented in FORGE and that required differences from earlier versions of FORGE are explained and documented. When any prototype is acceptable to CAA, the contractor shall integrate the prototype module into the FORGE model. Approval of any prototypes may be contingent on the contractor making modifications to the initially presented deliverable based on government verification and validation, user testing and an assessment of the appropriateness of the proposed methods to FORGE development. Task 1 is split into 2 pieces: Task 1A which are urgent FORGE enhancement tasks required by the G3 and CAA in support of TAA and other major studies Task 1B which are other known enhancement tasks required by the G3 and CAA in support of TAA and other major studies, and Task 1B which are other enhancements desired by CAA, CASCOM, G4 and other organizations to add functionality and to improve and refine the existing functionality within the FORGE model. Task 1 includes both Task 1A and Task 1B below. In all instances, whether listed under Task 1A, Task 1B or any other FORGE software enhancement not currently specified below, all FORGE Enhanced Functionality Concept Exploration and Development shall be prioritized by CAA to the contractor.

5.1.1.2 Task 1A: FORGE Enhancements Required in Support of TAA and Other Studies. This task requires further adaptation of any number of or all of the several hundred existing algorithms in FORGE to meet critical study needs. These enhancements are required by G3, G4 and the TAA community and needed for completing evolving TAA studies.

Major required enhancements that are currently known and shall be delivered under this contract are:

1. Joint Integrated Combat Model (JICM) Import by Sector. In the FORGE tool that imports combat data from the JICM model, the contractor shall refine the current JICM import tool to develop and deliver an interface that permits the user to select individual sectors or all sectors for Government testing. Currently the user must import all sectors at once.

2. Expanded Medical Model. The contractor shall expand the medical model in FORGE so that it can determine the maximum number of patient beds needed within each FORGE time period, after iterating on day-by-day calculations using the basis population, incident rates, and lagged support percent for each day within the time period. The contractor shall develop and deliver this model for Government testing.

3. JICM Import for Combat Medical. The Contractor shall develop and deliver automated load tool for importing and translating JICM daily output files into a FORGE external workload for use in medical calculations for Government testing.

Major candidate enhancements that are currently under CAA consideration and/or prioritized by CAA for development may include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Incorporation of new transportation and supply handling and force drawdown logic in the model and new model algorithms that add more detail to exiting model based on evolving sponsor and user requirements.

2. Tool for Better Displaying of Combat Imports from JICM. The Contractor shall continue to develop an automated data verification tool for the displaying of combat units inputs into FORGE from the JICM model.

3. Expanded Planning Data Application (PDAP) Capability. Contractor shall continue to interface with CASCOM on requested modifications to and the proper use of PDAP. The contractor shall implement changes to the PDAP application as needed and provide new install versions with data provided by the Government.

4. The contractor shall provide options in the CASCOM import to process Line Item Number (LIN) details for consumption and maintenance rates. This permits isolating key LINs and changes in burn rates and consumption rates that affect the results.

5. Non-decrease Groups, Grouped Sectors, Smoothing Algorithms and Averaging Techniques based on either unit allocations or workload calculations. FORGE (and FASTALS before FORGE) has always contained non-decreasing logic in which individual unit allocations for the current time periods cannot be less than the unit allocations for the previous time period. Smoothing allows the model to delay force structure allocations when there are peak demands that can be satisfied in future time periods when there is less demand. The prior contract provides for the ability of the user to turn off non-decreasing logic and smoothing globally and at the individual Unit Identification Number (UIN) level for user selected FORGE time periods and was used in the implementation of the Force Drawdown and Retrograde enhancements. In addition, the prior contract provided the capability for both Non-decreasing logic and smoothing to be done either at the individual sector level or at the level of user identified grouping of sectors.

a. The contractor shall continue testing and refinement of the evolving non-decrease and smoothing algorithms for grouped sectors and develop new prototype versions of the model. In addition, the contractor shall implement min/max limits on unit allocations within grouped sectors.

b. The contractor shall continue to investigate new smoothing and averaging approaches to better factor in aspects of forecasting demand and modeling distribution management functionality and develop new prototype versions of the model.

6. Expanded Force Drawdown and Phase IV scenario expanded adaptation capability. A force drawdown capability was developed under the prior contract. The contractor shall continue to improve the user-friendliness of the interface and improve algorithms for improved functionality based on user testing and feedback. The model code enhancement shall allow for force drawdown for Phase IV and stability operations. This enhancement shall continue to require recalculating workloads and reallocating force structure with a reduced number of force drivers units (e.g. reduced number of BCTs, Divisions, theater assets etc.) that are in the unit manual and unit combat FORGE tables. From this reduced number of force driver units and user control to non-decreasing logic suspension and user control of smoothing options in user-selected time periods and phases where this drawdown occurs, a reduced number of support units and support-to-support units shall continue to be allocated with FORGE allocation rules. This force reduction may be gradual and may occur in several stages.

7. Expanded and continual modeling of retrograde operations for unit equipment and supplies.

a. Unit retrograde capability was accomplished under the previous contract. Under this enhancement the contractor shall perform code verifications to obtain results that are compared with other versions of the model. Potential expansion could include the use of retrograde workloads for the allocation of support units needed for unit retrograde.

b. FORGE currently uses existing link flow and transportation workloads and keeps track of uploads and download workloads as part of retrograde. This enhanced refinement would further allow the user to keep track of the retrograde contribution of existing workloads for transportation, supply handling and other functional areas. The contractor shall further refine the existing transportation network to allow units and supplies to move in the reverse direction to exit theater.

c. FORGE is currently being used to model aspects of retrograde supply operations. The contractor shall continue to develop a method to more directly model and highlight the use of retrograde workloads used, which are determined by user testing and reprioritization of the requirements based on the sponsor request.

8. Explicit modeling of contractors on the battlefield.

a. The contractor shall adjust the FORGE system to allow for allocating Army units, contractor units or an appropriate user controlled mix of units for any logistical support requirement represented in FORGE. This shall include creating separate contractor Standard Requirements Codes (SRCs) with a parallel structure for supporting other Army or contractor units and a parallel structure for contractor units being supported by other Army or contractor units.

9. Further improve the transportation network’s automated path generation algorithm and dynamic control of nodes, links, modes, storage, network capacity, movement rates, prioritization of both supply classes & unit moves and other time-varying features.

a. The current version of FORGE allows the user to manually specify time-dependent transportation paths as a combination of user specified time dependent links between nodes, taking into account the link distances, link capacities and link modes. FORGE also has an option that automates this path generation process that reduces the amount of time for generating a transportation network. The Contractor shall refine and improve this algorithm to more quickly and accurately meet study needs by robustly handling all feasible combinations of link modes and correctly choose the right paths based on the correct prioritization when there are multiple path choices available.

10. Expansion of the allocation rule tree to allow for a more complete chain.

a. The contractor shall develop an "Automated backtrack" analysis tool after a model run to perform a complete recursive audit trail of workload and existence allocation rule sourcing for an allocated Unit (allocation rule tree).

b. The Contractor shall provide an improved user interface to do selective allocation rule trees, provide the capability in both directions (parent to children and/or children to parent) and improve the current overall processing speed. Depending on the size of the input data sets used by the model, the difference could range from seconds to the query not completing. This enhancement would reduce the possibility of slowness or no completion.

11. Continue to Develop and Improve User-Friendly Data Import/Linking Tools and Interface Capabilities With Other Models and Data Sources

a. JICM is the theater combat model used by CAA. To accommodate JICM output, a FORGE interface tool for importing and processing JICM campaign posture and combat unit ammo consumption & maintenance data was developed and used starting in TAA-13.

b. The contractor shall continue to refine the interface based on user comments to improve and ensure a user-friendly method of importing external data such as SRC source data, equipment fuel consumption, equipment usage rules and supply class consumption rates into FORGE.

12. Continue to Develop user friendly Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) and simplified processes for adapting FORGE to quick study Major Combat Operations (MCOs) and for smaller scale contingencies and stability operations.

a. The contractor shall continue to investigate data changes and data base structure changes including, but not limited to, planning factors and allocation rule changes needed for modeling SSCs and stability operations. Finally, the contractor shall determine if there are any needed model functionality changes needed in conjunction with the above data changes and implement those needed changes.

b. The contractor shall develop and refine templates scenarios already developed by CAA for simplification of some MCO scenarios. The contractor shall incorporate template information for MCOs and non-MCO templates yet to be developed by the contractor into the FORGE model.

c. The contractor shall provide a simpler front end user interface or template to FORGE that shall provide editable defaults and easily generate user editable force-driver SRCs for scenarios not driven by the JICM combat model. This shall include the ability to easily incorporate simplified information such as the number, types, locations and timing of Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), posture profiles, combat loss, ammunition, and equipment data, simplified incorporation of the number, location, and timing of critical force driver assets such as theater assets, MEBs, Divisions, CABs, BFSBs, and Sustainment Brigades. The contractor shall use this basic force–driver information plus additional basic questions about the relative size of the geographic area; allowable transportation modes (e.g. airports, seaports, rail, intra-waterways, intra-airports, and highways) and percentage usage of transportation modes by location to quickly generate a simplified editable transportation network. The simplified adaptation shall require a simpler interface to define needed and level of engineer tasks, scenario dependent chemical requirements, methods of adjusting and scaling down allocation rules and SRC allocations, and simplified inputs and algorithms for specifying and generating external workload requirements such as casualties and Disease and Non-battlefield Injuries (DNBI) for generating hospitals and other medical requirements.

d. The contractor shall ensure that the simplified user interface is compatible with the more detailed interface currently used by FORGE for more detailed force estimation modeling.

5.1.1.3 Task 1B: Other Functionality Enhancements to Further Improve FORGE. Task 1B are other currently known enhancements desired by CAA, CASCOM, G4 and other organizations to add functionality and to improve and refine the existing functionality within the FORGE model.

1. The contractor shall automate the updating of user customized queries using SQL string replacements for new table names and field names when upgrading FORGE to a new version.

2. The contractor shall develop an interactive wizard to assist the user in finding suitable FORGE queries based on dimensions required including time period, account, account type, UIN detail, and unit of measure, supply class, engineer task, maintenance, link type, link, node, logical region, and sector.

3. The current comparison tool in FORGE allows the user to compare the current model run results with model results from multiple model runs in multiple scenario databases but this process is slow and users currently never used this tool to compare more than one external model run with the current run. The contractor shall investigate and provide model comparisons that can be generated faster by restricting the comparison tool to only compare the current model run with one model run from an external scenario database at a time.

4. Unit move detail including RSOI and unit relocation delays and movement of stocks.

a. Current FORGE assumes that a unit arrives at its final location at the same time that it is required and does not account for realistic unit delays. The contractor shall investigate and provide a model enhancement that takes into account the amount of delay time during unit moves in which a unit must be supported by other units but cannot support other units.

b. Also in the current model, stock age automatically moves when the unit moves without any workload being generated. If prioritized by CAA, the contractor shall provide doctrinally-based algorithmic methods for modeling stock age movement workloads when a unit moves.

5. Improved local haul and distribution processes within an echelon.

a. FORGE currently only indirectly accounts for the local haul work through allocation rules. If prioritized by CAA, the contractor shall provide direct modeling of local haul workloads in FORGE.

6. Nodal front-end interactive GUI to visually display the distribution and transportation network and to translate nodal data into FORGE representation.

a. The contractor shall continue development and provide an interactive map based interface to set up and visually display the node/link transportation network. The map display shall enable the user shall be able to visually display, add, move, or delete both nodes and links and represent movement. Changes made in the map display shall automatically update the corresponding information in the database. In addition the contractor shall provide improved graphical displays to improve the interface based on user feedback for data entry and output report capabilities beyond those developed in prior years based on model user input. The model enhancements shall include the development of more user-friendly forms menus in Access for the input of data and the development of additional Access queries for the incorporation of massive data inputs changes into the model, as well as any additional types of automated charts, graphs, and tables plus other displays and analyses based on user demand.

7. More detailed modeling of individual transportation links, cargo/vehicle/facility constraints, and throughput capacity.

a. The contractor shall develop and provide a model enhancement that considers the use of a more detailed representation of the transportation network that shall utilizes multiple links/paths of the same mode type between two nodes, which may require a revision of the method of prioritization and the automated paths methodology currently being utilized in the model.

8. The contractor shall update the matching tool for processing and consolidating Standard Requirements Code (SRC) unit level information from different DOD and Army data bases and various levels of aggregation and time-frame and continue to provide updated enhancements to the FORGE Computer Aided Matching Processor (CAMP) Postprocessor model:

a. An outdated interface currently exists for combining SRC and deployment data from varying Army data bases such as SAMAS, FFDB, TUCHA, CTU data. The contractor shall provide a model enhancement that expands the prior interface to provide refined capability (see below b though i) and an easy to use interface and data checking and replacement capability for reconciling SRC aggregation level, allowable substitutions and applicable SRC time frame.

b. Contractor shall update CAMP to run under the current version of the Microsoft Windows operating system in use at CAA, and provide further updates as changes to the operating system are implemented.

c. Contractor shall update CAMP to be compatible with the current version of Microsoft Windows in use at CAA, and provide further updates as changes to Windows are implemented.

d. Contractor shall update CAMP to be compatible with the current version of FORGE, and provide further updates as changes to FORGE are implemented.

e. Contractor shall update CAMP to incorporate TUCHA data.

f. Contractor shall update CAMP to output data in standard TPFDD format.

g. Contractor shall update CAMP to use either SAMAS or FFDB as data for sourcing unit requirements.

h. Contractor shall update CAMP to use user-provided force list in lieu of FORGE modeled requirements.

i. Improve SRC matching capability between current vs. out year SRCs, SAMAS SRCs and FFDB SRCs, and parent/child aggregation and disaggregation of units.

5.1.1.4 Based on any research and investigation of the above features, as well as, CAA will approval any features or enhancements listed above and also not currently specified above prior to any contractor investigation. If approved, the contractor shall develop and provide prototype modules in FORGE to explore the feasibility of incorporating modified concepts into FORGE. All new features shall be designed, prioritized, and implemented with CAA guidance and approval.

5.1.2 Task 2 – Perform Ongoing System Maintenance.

The contractor shall provide the following services under maintenance support.

5.1.2.1 The contractor shall provide FORGE installation support due to changes in computer configuration and configuration design.

5.1.2.2 The contractor shall provide upgrades to FORGE due to new releases or upgrades of supporting commercial off-the-shelf software (e.g., new Microsoft Windows versions, new versions Visual Studio (including Visual C++) and Microsoft Office /Access) that are acquired and maintained by CAA to ensure compatibility of FORGE.

1. The contractor shall implement changes so FORGE runs properly under Office 2013 32-bit and future versions of Office implemented by CAA. The primary change for Office 2013 32-bit is to adapt the ribbon interface to the new "Backstage" view of the file menu. The ribbon changes require auto coding of different multiple versions of the ribbon XML for Office 2013 as well as Office 2007, and then dynamically loading the correct ribbon at run time. The contractor is responsible for all changes needed for context menus and queries, such as pivot queries that are no longer supported. The future FORGE version shall operate properly under either version of Office.

2. The contractor shall develop a version of the FORGE front end user interface database that works with either the 32 or 64-bit versions of Microsoft Office 2013 or future version of Office used by CAA. The contractor is responsible for all changes to the Visual Basic code in the FORGE front-end database and the referenced SMART library code.

3. If required by the Army the contractor shall convert the FORGE model code to 64-bit with 64-bit Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), which may be accomplished by extensive changes to the C++ ODBC code, the Preprocessor, the Postprocessor, the Bitpack library, the table procedures, the model GUI interface library, and the FORGE model itself.

As an alternative to full 64 bit model conversion, it is possible that the contractor shall have a work-around for Office 64 bit by installing a Microsoft 32-bit ODBC adapter for the Access database. This shall permit the model to stay in 32 bit code even with Office 64 bit installed on the user’s computer.

5.1.2.3 The contractor is responsible for addressing and correcting errors (bugs) detected by CAA in the course of model usage during test and production exercises. CAA will notify the contractor when an error or problem is detected. CAA will provide the contractor a detailed unclassified description of the error. Contractor personnel without a Secret level clearance shall have access to an unclassified computer at CAA with unclassified test data to reconstruct the error for debugging purposes. Contractor personnel with a Secret level clearance shall have access to a classified computer at CAA with classified study data to reconstruct the error for debugging purposes. Once the contractor has resolved and corrected the problem, the contractor shall test it to verify the correction and its impact on other areas within the model. When testing is complete, the contractor shall prepare and deliver a system update to CAA for testing. CAA personnel will test the correction with classified study data to verify the correction delivered by the contractor resolves the issue.

5.1.2.4 The Contractor shall maintain and provide updates via CD for the following highly specialized components of FORGE:

1. Active data dictionary which defines both entities and relationships for the database, as well as C++ classes and object relationships for the model, all within a common framework that bridges the object/relational impedance mismatch and enables read/write between the model and database. In addition, the data dictionary generates the table relationships, specifies forms, defines lists and priority queues for the model, and creates the online help system.

2. System update procedure that fully automates the updating and conversion of the existing CAA study data when converting to a new version of FORGE. This difficult and data-sensitive feature is critical for the deployment of new software versions.

3. Query-driven data checking system, which provides a rule-based framework for identifying data inconsistencies using queries. The system is rapidly extensible and currently contains a library of over 686 query-based data checks, in addition to the normal rules for key fields, domains, and referential integrity.

4. Data import/export system, which integrates dictionary specifications with table-driven format specifications and query-based conversion methods to transform data to/from external systems.

5. ODBC table-level library, which provides classes and methods to read database values into the model data layer. These table-level classes and methods provide a higher level of data access on top of ODBC, with dictionary-level read/write and data management procedures for entire tables, including key fields with lookups and relationships.

6. Memory management library for the model, integrated with the data dictionary to include table data storage, lists, lookup relationships from child to parent, lookdown relationships from parent to child, lists with data-driven sorting criteria, priory queues (heaps), and cross product array relationships.

5.1.2.5 The contractor shall provide onsite consolation on model operation, function application and new features. The contractor shall be present for meetings and briefings on FORGE.

5.1.3 Task 3. Continued Model Testing. The contractor shall continue to incrementally test functionality enhancements and compare results to the latest version of FORGE (with unclassified test data for all contractor personnel and with classified study data for contractor personnel with at least a Secret level security clearance) and correct any errors or inconsistencies. The contractor shall correct any code producing unexplained differences between FORGE results until the differences are explainable and acceptable to CAA. For configuration management purposes, the contractor shall document and provide all versions of FORGE and coding/result changes during testing consistent with task 4 below. Then one-by-one the contractor shall add improved functionality modules and compare to the previous version of FORGE. The contractor shall explain and quantify differences and CAA will verify results and conduct independent testing. The contractor shall correct any code producing unreasonable differences until the differences are reasonable and acceptable to CAA. The contractor shall provide an updated FORGE users’ manual and produce a programmer’s manual reflecting the latest set of FORGE algorithms consistent with task 4 below.

5.1.4 Task 4 - Documentation

5.1.4.1 The QC plan should be delivered within 30 days of contract initiation in accordance with CDRL A001.

5.4.1.2 The contractor shall produce a Detailed Algorithm and Data Base Description and a Programmer’s Manual. The Description and Programmer’s Manual shall include a data dictionary with definitions of all external and internal variables, a detailed flow diagram of all functions and algorithms in the model, a detailed explanation of all FORGE subroutines and algorithms, and user interfacing procedures for the data architecture and the model in accordance with CDRL A008.

5.1.4.3 As each model change described under tasks 1-3 above is completed, the contractor shall incorporate documentation changed into the Detailed Algorithm and Data Base…