A.02.06_TAE Class J&A for Other than Full & Open Competition_Redacted.pdf

CUI

Control Number: TAE-FY24-0002

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

District Reviews

I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition.

Business Oversight Branch

DSN:

Program Manager

DSN:

Legal Counsel Cell:

Chief of Contracting Office

DSN:

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

SCO-ALX and Headquarters Reviews

The following signatures indicate concurrence with the contents of this document.

HQ USACE, Office of Small Business Programs

HQ USACE, Technical Representative

SCO-ALX, Counsel

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition Under FAR Part 6.302(a)(2)

1. Contracting Activity: U.S Army Corps of Engineers, (USACE), Transatlantic Expeditionary District (TAE). Building 313, Sledgehammer Loop Camp Arifjan, APO AE 09366.

2. Description of Action: Approval is requested for a class justification and approval (J&A) for other than full and open competition to authorize Contracting Officers to issue solicitations for new firm fixed-price (FFP) construction contracts on Erbil Air Base (EAB) in Erbil, Iraq. The total amount requested for this class J&A is , will be funded with Operations and Maintenance, Army funds, and will cover future projects planned and anticipated for contract award in Fiscal Year 2024.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The following are projects that have already received validation and have been budgeted. They are in various stages of preparatory work (design) and are anticipated to be awarded in FY 24.

Construction South Entry Control Point (ECP): EAB Defense Task Force Chippewa is leading into EAB. The cargo overpass project was terminated a few years ago, leaving this project unfinished. This project will complete the unpaved road from the overpass to the ECP. The current path for EAB Ground Lines of Communication (G-LOC) to Syria is through the existing Erbil International Airport's (EIA) primary ECP which feeds directly into a round about allowing unknown vehicles to enter the convoy in route to Syria. This round about is a major intersection in the city major commercial shopping areas from all directions leading into and out of the EIA. The EAB G-LOC convoy can consist of up to sixty freight trucks loaded with items to be delivered throughout the Eastern Syria Security Area. This convoy, entering the roundabout, creates a traffic jam for the local traffic of passenger vehicles trying to enter and exit EIA. Returning G-LOC trucks must use the small 12' one-lane Vehicle and Cargo Inspection Scan Site at EAB Main EIA ECP and this convoy of up to sixty returning freight trucks results in a back-up on the heavily traveled interstate blocking traffic while waiting for all trucks to pass through the scanner. The construction of this ECP will greatly improve the G-LOC mission to provide ground support to Syria. By completing the partially complete EIA ECP, the G-LOC will be controlled by US troops and freight trucks will be able to enter and exit the ECP directly onto and from the interstate. The estimated value of this project is and funds will be used to fund this FFP project.

EAB Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) Headquarters: The CAB requests the design and construction of a pre-engineered metal building to support aviation mission planning operations. The CAB Headquarters compound is composed of multiple tents which make up the Aviation Task Force headquarters. These tents are weathered, worn, and well past their expected life cycle. The tents leak throughout every rainy season and their condition is expected to continue to decline. This project would provide paramount improvements to the task force area of operation. Moving the Aviation Task Force

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4) headquarters out of tents will not only improve aviation operations within the task force but across EAB and all areas of operation that fall under CAB. The estimated value of this project is $2,000,000.00 and FY24 OMA funds will be used to fund this FFP project.

Construct EAB No Mercy Maintenance Hangar: The CAB requires the design and construction of a climate-controlled pre-engineered metal building maintenance hangar to sustain operations of multiple model design series aircraft. The size and shape of the current aviation large area maintenance shelter (ALAMS) does not allow for the full and complete use of the portable crane used with the Chinook CH-47. For this reason, maintenance for the Chinook CH-47 is currently accomplished by borrowing an overhang from the Department of State under a verbal agreement. This climate-controlled facility will also minimize the impacts of adverse weather when conducting sensitive aviation maintenance on high-value and fragile components. Sensitive repairs include but are not limited to non-destructive inspections; composite repairs of rotor blades; dust sensitive rotor head or turbine engine servicing; and use of hazard material chemicals that require specific temperatures to minimize cure times. Finally, this facility will end the risk to soldiers safety while performing their duties on top of aircraft during icy or wet conditions. The estimated value of this project is $2,500,000.00 and FY24 OMA funds will be used to fund this FFP project.

EAB Airport Vehicle Maintenance Hardstand Building: The EAB Aerial Port currently does not have space out of the elements to conduct maintenance on any of their equipment. EAB Aerial Port is requesting a pre-engineered metal building for vehicle and aerospace ground equipment maintenance. The pre-engineered metal building requires a front garage door opening at least seventeen feet wide, a smaller garage door at least six feet wide on the back to accommodate large spare parts, with internal lighting and electrical access points. The building will allow the maintenance of the largest vehicle and one piece of aerospace ground equipment (AGE) simultaneously. Additionally, the facility will provide internal storage space for tools, equipment, and spare parts requiring weather/temperature controls. The unit maintains one primary material handling equipment (MHE) mechanic and one AGE mechanic, both of whom are the primary users of the facility. Finally, a hardstand building will allow for all-weather maintenance operations 24/7 on the MHE and AGE, which are mission critical assets to the unit and the base. The estimated value of this project is $ and funds will be used to fund this FFP project.

EAB Counterintelligence Team (CIT) 250 Compound: Due to an expanding mission and the associated increase in personnel to support that mission, the CIT 250 is in need to expand their current compound. The compound expansion requires the design and construction to provide screening rooms, offices and billeting for the linguists. CIT 250 is responsible for screening local nationals on EAB. Without this increase of space for additional personnel, the backlog of screenings will take three years to conduct, not factoring in mandatory bi-yearly re-screenings per CENTCOM OPORD 05-03. Local nationals screened at the site serve in positions such as Base Life Support workers, construction crews, and linguists. CIT 250 is requesting an expansion of the compound by 3,000 m2 and the construction of additional compartmental housing units, offices, and screening rooms. To further support the billeting area, new shower/latrine and laundry facilities will be provided along with supporting black

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4) water tank, potable water tanks, generators, and fuel tanks. The estimated value of this project is $1,500,000.00 and FY24 OMA funds will be used to fund this FFP project.

4. Authority Cited: Title 10 U.S.C. § 3204(a)(1) as implemented by FAR Subpart 6.302- 1(a)(2), For the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA and the Coast Guard, when the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

This action requires the use of FAR 6.302-1(a)(2) authority as the Asayish Approved Vendors List provides those vendors cleared to access and perform work for the EIA and EAB ments.

(a) Background:

The military EAB land is co-located with the EIA land. All United States and coalition occupants of EAB are guests of the Kurdistan Regional Government. The security entrance to EIA is also the security entrance to EAB. The U.S. Government does not control access to the airbase. In recognition of the Strategic Framework Agreement of a Relationship of Friendship and Cooperation between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq that was entered into force on January 1, 2009, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Central Command and the Kurdistan Regional Government was established and signed on November 25, 2022. This memorandum states that the Kurdistan Regional Government is responsible for security at EIA. The Kurdistan Regional Government, and its Asayish Security Forces have developed a list (the "Asayish Approved Vendor List") as part of its own security measures for the airport and airbase. The purpose of the Asayish Approved Vendors List is to meet the Kurdistan Regional Government's security requirements to ensure all vendors with access to EIA and EAB do not have past ties or associations with terrorist organizations.

(b) Justification:

Workers wishing to conduct business inside the EAB must first go through a vetting process and security screening by the Asayish Security Forces, which is in control of the airport, to gain access to the EIA to enter the EAB. Approved vendors provide documentation to the Kurdistan Regional Government. A background check is conducted on each vendor by the Government, to ensure the firm is a legitimate company. This information is provided to the Asayish Security Forces, who then conduct an additional background check of their own. The purpose of the additional background check is to ensure that the vendor does not have any connection with terrorist forces. Asayish Security Forces present any findings to the Kurdish Regional Security Office (KRSO). KRSO presents the recommendation to the Ministry of Interior (MOI) who will approve or deny the addition of the new vendor. MOI will then inform KRS) of their decision. KRSO will inform Asayish of the decision and if approved the vendor will be notified. All approved vendors are then added to an approved vendors list that is maintained by the Asayish Security Forces.

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

While the Asayish Security Forces may add a vendor to its approved list, the U.S.

Government will not solicit proposals from a vendor(s) if they are rated ''unacceptable" in the Joint Contingency Contracting System (JCCS). The JCCS is a U.S Government Information Technology system supporting contingency contracting since 2006.

There are no alternatives to limiting competition as described above. The Kurdistan Regional Government is responsible for security at EIA and will not allow any vendor not on the Asayish Approved Vendors List access to EIA. Because EAB is located within EIA, vendors not on the Asayish Approved Vendors List would not be able to gain access to EAB to perform the construction requirements outlined under each of the projects described under paragraph three above. Full and open competition with offerors not already on the approved Asayish Approved Vendors List that may be attempting to be added during solicitation is not feasible. Prospective vendors that are not already approved and included on the Asayish Approved Vendors List at the time of solicitation would not have sufficient time to submit a package for review and approval to be added to the list prior to the thirty-calendar day proposal due date scheduled in accordance with FAR 5.203-Publicizing and response time under each of the project solicitations described above. Furthermore, the U.S. Government has no authority for input or oversight on the Asayish Approved Vendors List approved vendor process, and there is no influence on how long the approval process will take or whether new firms will be added to the approved list.

(c) Impacts: Failure to limit sources would seriously impact the Government because it will severely impact the programs mission. The impacted mission includes:

Construct South ECP: The current ECP at the EIA main gate will continue to deteriorate and processing will be limited to one lane. Traffic off base will continue to clog all passenger vehicle traffic traveling into and out of EIA. Unknown vehicles will continue to enter the convoy in route to Syria instead of having the convoy enter directly onto the interstate. Returning from Syria will continue to create dangerous travel on the interstate due to the freight trucks stacking up on the active interstate waiting to pass through the single lane scan.

EAB CAB Headquarters: The current tents that support CAB Headquarters will continue to degrade and be unable to meet the functional standards necessary for key elements of the aviation task force to plan and execute mission requirements with success and efficiency.

Construct EAB No Mercy Maintenance Hangar: If the verbal maintenance agreement with the State Department ever falls through, EAB would not have the maintenance capacity required to support the aviation mission.

EAB Airport Vehicle Maintenance Hardstand Building:

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

EAB CIT 250 Compound:

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: In accordance with FAR 5.202(a)(12), this action will not be synopsized. The current Asayish Approved Vendors List contains sixty-six approved vendors. These vendors have been vetted against JCCS and have been identified as the only vendors authorized to perform work in that region. All solicitations for projects listed in paragraph 3 above will be competed among the sixty-six vendors.

Although there were two projects that were not completed due to poor performance, there are still at least sixty-four vendors that are still determined capable should those two vendors who previously performed poorly be excluded. Competition will occur via a notification to all firms on the Asayish Approved Vendors List that a solicitation is available. The solicitation will also be posted on PIEE Solicitation as restricted and only the vendors on the Asayish Approved Vendors List will be added. The proposal managers from each firm identified under the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) Solicitation module will receive an e-mail notification that an opportunity has been posted.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: At this time, only vendors on the Asayish Security Forces approved list will be granted access to Erbil Airbase. Vendors are notified that the contract actions at Erbil Airbase are restricted to only those vendors on the Asayish list during the pre-solicitation and solicitation phase. Instructions on how to request approval to be added to the vendors list has been provided to the Government by EAB.

Previously, the approval process information was provided by a System for Award Management (SAM) Government post, however, the Government has been instructed by EAB not to post any information associated with the Asayish Approved Vendors List or the approval process on SAM.Gov due to concerns with security and the integrity of the approved vendor vetting process. New vendors interested in submitting a package for consideration and potential approval to the Asayish List are advised to contact the contracting office. Once the contracting office receives the vendor's request information, the individual responsible for processing the request will be notified by the contracting office. The approval process can take anywhere from two to six months. If approved, the vendors will be immediately notified however, if vendors are not approved, they will not be notified or debriefed. The Government is exploring more options with EAB to improve its communications with additional vendors regarding the procedures to obtain placement on the Asayish list.

8. Market Research: Market Research was conducted in accordance with FAR 10.002 by the USACE TAE Contracting Division. The current Asayish Approved Vendor List is dated 19 January 2024 and includes sixty-six approved vendors. Erbil Airbase is in a

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4) sensitive location and only those vendors who are approved on the Asayish Security Forces list are authorized to perform work on Erbil Airbase, Iraq.

For additional market research purposes, a notice of intent (NOI) was posted on SAM.Gov for fifteen days beginning 20 November 2023 and ending on 04 December 2023. The NOI contained a basic description for each of the five projects and a general magnitude of construction cost between and for each project. The NOI informed interested vendors of these upcoming projects for EAB as well as the restrictions surrounding the Asayish Approved Vendors List. Interested vendors were requested to be active in SAM.Gov and to submit a capability statement not later than 4 December 2023. Twenty-five companies expressed interest in the NOI. The Government evaluated the responses received and identified that twenty of the twenty-five companies were not currently cleared for the Asayish Approved Vendors List. The remaining five firms that expressed interest and submitted capability statements for consideration are cleared on the current Asayish Approved Vendors List and possess the technical capability to complete the work based upon an informal technical review by USACE Program Managers.

Market Research has determined that there is still considerable interest, however, the Federal Government does not have the authority to approve any new vendors or make or suggest changes to the existing approved Asayish Approved Vendors List. The Kurdish Government at Erbil Air Base is the only authority for adding or deleting vendors from the Asayish Approved Vendors List and notifies the Federal Government of any changes through an updated list. On 8 December 2023, an email notification was sent to the point of contact for the Asayish Approved Vendors List at Erbil Air Base and included a summary of the interested vendors and requested consideration or acceptance of new vendors to be added to the current approved list. The point of contact for the Asayish List notified the Federal Government that they were not currently accepting new vendors.

9. Interested Sources: The J&A will be made available in accordance with FAR 6.305

(a) in which the justification will be posted within 14 days after the contract award. As of 19 January 24, there are sixty-six approved vendors on the Asayish Approved Vendors List. The disclosure of this list is procurement sensitive. Market Research concluded on 4 December 2023 resulting in nine companies expressing interest in this procurement.

As of today, no other companies have expressed interest.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement history:

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

(1) Previous Construction Contracts issued by TAE at EAB:

Contract Number Project Title Contract Award Date W5J9JE20C0001 Erbil Taxiway 25 September 2020 W5J9JE22C0003 Design-Build Roberts Dining Facility 30 June 2022 W5J9JE22C0005 LSA Strike DFAC 26 September 2022 W5J9JE22P0001 Non-Tactical Vehicles (NTVs) Erbil AB, Iraq 10 March 2022 W5J9JE23C0002 North Old Erbil International Airport

Renovations 25 September 2023

(2) Competitive Status: All actions in paragraph 10.a.(1) above were solicited as other than full and open competition to the vendors on the approved Asayish Approved Vendors List except for W5J9JE20C0001, Erbil Taxiway (discussed below).

(3) Previous Authority: All procurements identified under paragraph 10.a.(1) were procured in accordance with Title 10 U.S.C. § 3204(a)(1) as implemented by FAR Subpart 6.302-1(a)(2), For the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA and the Coast Guard, when the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.

(4) Justification Summary: The MOU between the U.S. Central Command and the Kurdistan Regional Government provides that the Kurdistan Regional Government is responsible for security at EIA/EAB, and only vendors that are vetted and approved by the Asayish Security Forces are allowed access to EAB. Therefore, competition, by necessity, must be limited to those vendors that are on the Asayish Approved Vendors List as vendors not on the list would be unable to access EAB and perform the requirement.

(5) Previous use of Full and Open Competition: As noted in paragraph 10.a.(2) above, contract W5J9JE20C0001 Erbil Taxiway was solicited and awarded as full and open. The MOU discussed in paragraph 10.a.(4) above was not executed until 25 November 2022. Prior to this memorandum of understanding, there was no requirement by EAB to solicit to a specific list of vetted contractors.

(6) Unusual Patterns: N/A

(7) Prior Justification: All projects since the establishment of the MOU have been solicited as other than full and open and been appropriately documented and approved on individual J&As.

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

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 to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. This determination is made based upon the development of the independent Government construction working cost estimate which was developed utilizing construction cost estimation software with the local area price book. Certified cost and pricing data is not anticipated based on the expectation of adequate price competition among the vendors on the Asayish Approved Vendors List (FAR 15.403- 1(b)(1)).

14. Contracting Officer Certification:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

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(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

Approval

Based on the foregoing information, I hereby approve this class justification for the procurement of construction contracts listed above for Erbil, Iraq on an other than full and open competition basis, at an estimated value of , and pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 3204(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for this acquisition.