Redacted_JA_Redacted.pdf

Control Number: 19-71

UNCLASSIFIED/FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Justification and Approval for an Exception to Fair Opportunity

W911W4-17-D-0001, Task Order 0002, Modification 21

1. Contracting Activity: Army Contracting Command-Warren (ACC-WRN) is the procuring activity for this action.

2. Description of Action:

a. ACC-WRN intends to award a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) term modification to W911W4-17-D-0001, Task Order 0002 to Valiant Government Services, LLC (referred to herein as Valiant), 205 Van Buren Street, Suite 310, Herndon, VA 20170, under its Department of Defense (DoD) Language Interpretation and Transition Enterprise (DLITE) II Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract0F

1. This modification will extend the period of performance (PoP) for up to 9 months, one 5-month base period and one 4-month option period with the unilateral right to partially exercise this option in one month increments. The Government will fund the 5 month extension with Fiscal Year (FY) 19 Operations and Maintenance Army (OMA) – Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds. If necessary, the follow-on option period will be funded with FY 20 OMA OCO funds.

b. This modification will provide continued support to the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) mission to ensure that no unacceptable delays arise in fulfilling the Government’s immediate requirement. On 31 July 2019, the competitive follow-on task order to support Army Central Command (ARCENT) was awarded to Valiant (W911W4-17-D-0001, Task Order W911W419F0009). This task order was awarded under the terms and conditions of the Department of Defense (DoD) Language Interpretation & Translation Enterprise II (DLITE II) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. Four unsuccessful offerors filed post award protests with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and a stop work order was issued on 16 August 2019. Due to the urgent nature of these requirements in the CJTF-OIR Area of Responsibility (AOR), it is imperative that this bridge requirement be placed on contract before the current contract expiration date of 30 September 2019 to ensure linguistic services remain unabated while the General Accountability Office (GAO) renders a sustain/deny decision for the new ARCENT effort.

1 DLITE II consists of small and other than small businesses who are capable of providing non-commercial linguist services to transcribe, interpret, and translate information.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: This effort provides linguist support services to the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command, Contract Linguist & Intelligence Program Support Office (CLIPSO) in support of CJTF-OIR. The current task order W911W4-17-D-0001-0002 was awarded on 28 December 2018 to Valiant and currently provides 881 Full Time Equivalents (FTE) across the CJTF-OIR Area of Responsibility (AOR) and expires on 30 September 2019. The total estimated dollar value of this 9 month action is $89,850,938.55.

This bridge will allow for the sustainment of mission critical linguist support services without interruption.

The specific requirements for transcription, translation, and interpretations vary by location(s) and current mission(s). There are three categories of contract linguist supporting the CJTF- OIR missions:

Category I: CAT I linguists may be locally hired or from a region outside of the AOR and will not require a security clearance;

Category II: CAT II linguists are citizens of the US who have a SECRET security clearance; and

Category III: CAT III linguists are citizens of the US who possess a TOP SECRET security clearance.

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A), “[t]he agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.”

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

a. DLITE II IDIQ is structured to provide flexibility and rapid delivery of a wide variety of specialized linguists needed to meet the DoD missions. Valiant is the current provider of the subject services on contract W911W4-17-D-0001-0002 which currently provides all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, and other items necessary to provide the required level of linguist services in support of CJTF-OIR related operations. This task order provides interpretation and translation services in support of highly sensitive activities, such as intelligence collection, as well as less sensitive activities, such as document exploitation and open source intelligence activities.

b. As stated above in paragraph 3, the current CJTF-OIR task order expires on 30 September 2019.

On 31 July 2019, the ARCENT task order was awarded Valiant Government Services, LLC 101 Walton Way, Hopkinsville, KY 42240. As a result, four unsuccessful offerors filed post-award protests with the GAO and a stop work order was issued to Valiant on 16 August 2019.

The Government anticipates a GAO decision of all four protests by 27 November 2019.

However, due to the complexity of this effort, the unknown sustain/deny decision that will be rendered by the GAO, any required corrective action, and the 90 day transition period that may be required if the protest is sustained by GAO, the current effort is required to be extended by 5 months (with one 4 month option period) to ensure services continue unabated as the Government cannot accurately estimate with a reasonable degree of certainty when all four protests will be resolved.

Valiant remains the only reasonable option for providing linguist support due to the time sensitive nature and urgent national security requirement.

Approval of this action is necessary to properly support time sensitive operations and ensure that contract linguist services will be available through the protest period. Any interruption to these services will degrade the effectiveness of military operations in the CJTF-OIR AOR. If this urgent requirement is not approved, the CJTF-OIR mission and the lives of US military personnel will be placed in jeopardy.

c. In addition, utilizing an alternative vendor, even if it had security vetted linguists that meet both the Department of Defense and Head Quarters Department of the Army G-2 stringent requirements for this effort, would have considerable recruiting lead time which would create unacceptable breaks in linguist support. Due to the nature and the Global security implications, it is urgent that the Government execute this modification under this Exception to Fair Opportunity.

6. Market Research: In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10, market research was conducted.

a. In accordance with (IAW) FAR 10.002(b)(2)(ii), the Contracting Officer conducted market research on 9 September 2019 in accordance with FAR Part 10. Commercial sources were identified on General Services Administration (GSA) schedules but the

2 Large business contractor pool

CJTF-OIR requirements are non-commercial by nature of the military environment.

There are nine potential offerors in the DLITE II Multiple Award IDIQ Force Projection pool. All nine contractors were solicited for the follow-on competition which is currently under source selection evaluation. In accordance with Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (AFARS) 5108.9402, “contracting officers shall use contracts administered by the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) to procure foreign language support-”. As such, the INSCOM DLITE II contracts are the mandatory source for contract linguist support provided to DoD Components.

b. IAW FAR 10.002(b)(2)(i), the Contract Language and Intelligence Program Support Office (CLIPSO), who oversees and manages the DLITE II IDIQ contracts and facilitates linguistic services throughout the Department of Defense, was contacted to see if any other vendors or contracts were available to support the linguists requirement. No other sources were identified that could meet the Government’s time sensitive requirement for CJTF-OIR AOR services.

c. IAW FAR FAR 10.002(b)(2)(iv), the contracting Officer reviewed available sources of these services under the DLITE II IDIQ contract on 9 September 2019 and did not identify any other source currently providing the services covered under the CJTF-OIR contract within the CJTF-OIR AOR.

d. Based on the above, while there were sources identified who are technically capable of performing the required services, there were no sources identified that are able to meet the Government’s urgent CJTF-OIR AOR requirement in a timely manner without seriously jeopardizing mission performance.

7. Other Facts:

Procurement History:

A sole source bridge contract W911W4-17-D-0001-0002 was awarded to Valiant under DLITE II in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A), to continue providing these mission critical services with an expiration date of 30 June 2018. Due to delays in source selection for the new competitive ARCENT task order, the bridge contract issued to Valiant was extended on 1 January 2019 with a six month base period and one three month option period which will provide continued support through 30 September 2019.

8. Actions to Increase Competition: Any subsequent procurement actions are anticipated to be competed under FAR 16.505, Fair Opportunity, under the current DLITE II, Force Projection pool of contractors.

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

Typed Name: Vincent G. Scannelli Date:

Title: INSCOM G-3 CLIPSO COR Signature:

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

Typed Name: Forrest A. Evans Date:

Title: Program Manager Signature:

11. Contracting Officer’s Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. I am determining that the anticipated cost will be fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b)(2)(ii).

Typed Name: Matthew Kunkel Date:

Title: Contracting Officer Signature:

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

Typed Name: Matthew Kunkel Date:

Title: Contracting Officer Signature:

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of contract linguist support services estimated in the amount of $89,850,938.55, with an exception to the fair opportunity process pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A), the agency need for services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays. This approval is subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Date: _____________________ Signature:__________________________

DANIEL J. GALLAGHER

Senior Contracting Official Army Contracting Command - Warren