IB08 W9124D22R0004 CASS Solicitation Amendment 1.pdf

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing items 8 and 15, and returning or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 1. CONTRACT ID CODE

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQUISITION NUMBER 5. PROJECT NUMBER (If applicable)

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6) CODE

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 11/2016)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

FACILITY CODE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended. is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required) copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS.

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER

NUMBER IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation data, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15C. DATE SIGNED

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

16C. DATE SIGNED

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

PAGE OF PAGES

6. ISSUED BY CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (X)

CODE

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

Previous edition unusable

W9124D

Casualty Administrative Services Support (CASS)

Amendment #00001, Incorporates the below referenced changes to the solicitation and provides answers to submitted questions.

Point of Contact: Kishan Mootilal at kishan.a.mootilal.civ@army.mil and Barbara J. Jeffries at barbara.j.jeffries5.civ@army.mil.

MISSION AND INSTALLATION CONTRACTING CMD

MICC FORT KNOX

BLDG 1109B STE 250

199 6TH AVE

FORT KNOX KY 40121-5720

W9124D22R0004

1 8

03/24/2022

03/02/2022

W9124D22R0004 – CASS

AMEND 0001

24 Mar 2022

A. The amendment is issued to respond to the industry questions with the related answers as provided herein.

Q1. Can the government please clarify the current number of FTEs are supporting the contract?

A1. There are no FTEs on this requirements type contract. However, there are currently there are 18 FTEs for the current task order.

Q2. Can the government please confirm that offerors are not to include pricing data for both scenarios are not to include pricing information and we are to use scheduled B only for pricing?

A2. As provided in the combined synopsis/solicitation on page 93, paragraph d. titled Part III:

Price) Completion of Schedule B and FAR 52.212-3). Within subparagraph i. “Price shall be complete . . . requirement; it is not based on the management scenarios.” There should be no pricing in the technical proposal. All pricing shall be submitted on the revised Schedule B, dated 23 Mar 2022.

Q3. The number of hours for the various clins in each year are a presentation of an estimated 97 FTE. This appears to be much higher than staffing needs to be for this contract, even at high tempo levels. Is the government providing these as a ceiling amount?

A3. The number of hours provided in each contract line item (CLIN) are max full time equivalent (FTE) amount estimates. In addition, Schedule B has been revised, dated 23 Mar 2022.

Q4. The number of max hours listed in each clin are the same for the 11 month base and several option years for multiple clins for the full 12 month periods. Can the government please confirm?

A4. Schedule B has been revised, dated 23 Mar 2022.

Q5. In schedule B, are offerors to submit the unit (monthly) price and total price based off of the provide max number of hours that the government provides in each clin narrative or off of what the offerors feels the “steady state” staff should be for each clin?

A5. Offerors are to submit their price utilizing the max number of hours provided.

Q6. Page 92, Paragraph c. Part II: Factor 2—Past Performance reads:

"Relevant contracts are those of similar size (aggregate value in excess of $20 million for lifecycle of contract) and scope (Tasks outlined in Part 5 of the PWS). "The incumbent contract W9124D17D0057 appears to have been awarded in August 2017 and all orders under that IDC have a current obligated value of $5,645,681.64 over a 4-year period ending August 2021.

a. Does this mean that the incumbent contract, if used as a past performance reference, would be considered "unacceptable" since it is not relevant due to it not meeting the $20m threshold?

A6a. We are unable to answer any question that is concerning the incumbent contractor.

24 Mar 2022

b. If yes, and that was the only past performance reference provided by the incumbent contractor, National Sourcing, would that "unacceptable'' evaluation not disqualify National Sourcing from an award?

A6b. Refer to A6a.

c. Would the government consider lowering the relevancy threshold to align with the total obligated dollars more closely under the incumbent contract--perhaps $5m aggregate value?

A6c. Page 92, Part II: Factor 2 – Past Performance has been revised as follows:

From: The offeror shall provide a list of relevant contracts and subcontracts that are active or have been completed within the past three years from proposal due date that demonstrate the offeror’s ability to perform the proposed effort. Relevant contracts are those of similar size (aggregate value in excess of $20 million for life-cycle of contract) and scope (Tasks outlined in Part 5 of the PWS). On-going contracts/subcontracts shall have been performed for a minimum of six months. The list shall include contracts and/or subcontracts performed by proposed major subcontractors.

TO: The offeror shall provide a list of relevant contracts and subcontracts that are active or have been completed within the past three years from proposal due date that demonstrate the offeror’s ability to perform the proposed effort. Relevant contracts are those of similar size (aggregate value in excess of $4 million for life-cycle of contract) and scope (Tasks outlined in Part 5 of the PWS). On-going contracts/subcontracts shall have been performed for a minimum of six months. The list shall include contracts and/or subcontracts performed by proposed major subcontractors.

Q7. Page 73, Technical Exhibit 3: Since 2016 is shown, we are inclined to believe there was a predecessor contract to the current incumbent. Would the government please provide the contract number and contractor for this predecessor contract?

A7. W9124D11C0010 – National Sourcing Inc.

Q8. Based on data provided by the Federal Procurement Data System, it appears that the yearly obligations for this Requirements contract have been very stable from year to year, at approximately $1m per year. Please confirm.

A8. That is correct.

Q9. Please describe the scope of the 5 Delivery Orders issued under the incumbent contract. We are inclined to believe that Delivery Orders are based on providing a team of people to accomplish the entire CASS Support function described by the PWS, rather than on providing people to perform a specific task or to satisfy any one specific requirement.

A9. Task Orders are issued by section. Only the PCRB section has been issued a task order for the last two option periods.

Q10. Page 73, Technical Exhibit 3: If the scope of the Delivery Orders under the incumbent contract are, in fact, for a team of people to accomplish the entire CASS Support function described by the PWS, would the government please provide the total

24 Mar 2022 number of personnel, and the labor categories required, to accomplish the historical workload for CY2020?

A10. No. PCRB was the only section that a task order was awarded for. The total number of personnel and labor categories are a part of the current contractor’s technical approach to fulfilling the requirement.

Q11. Para 1.3.1.4 Personnel Security Clearances: Is a secret clearance required of all employees working on this contract?

A11. No. As stipulated in the PWS, “specified contractor personnel shall possess security clearances” and this specification will occur with the issuance of each individual Task Order.

Q12. Is all work to be performed onsite at Fort Knox?

A12. As per PWS 1.2.3.5. Place of Performance is on-site Fort Knox, Kentucky. However, there may be circumstances similar to COVID that may permit teleworking on a case by case basis.

Q13. In the event that telework is required (in the event of another COVID outbreak, for example), would the government provide equipment and connectivity to our employees from their home offices?

A13. The Government does provide laptops and access to VPN. Internet and printers are not provided.

Q14. Para/Section d. Part III: Price (Completion of Schedule B and FAR provision 52.212-

3) - iii. Offeror shall provide a detailed breakdown of how it arrived at proposed costs as follows: CLIN, Description, Service Contract Act (SCA) Occupation Code, Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Direct Labor Categories and Rates, for all proposed exempt and non-exempt positions; clearly identifying the proposed positions as exempt or non-exempt, full-time equivalents for each labor category, productive hours, proposed exempt and non-exempt. Please clarify specifically what is required based on the information contained in this entire paragraph/section.

A14. Offeror shall provide the information as stated in the combined synopsis/solicitation.

Q15. Para 1.2.1 -Can the APM start during the phase-in period since the PM is required?

A15. That is a contractor business decision.

Q16. Para 1.2.4 - Contractor employees shall be trained, qualified, certified, or licensed as required in this contract prior to starting work. Please confirm that the government will not provide initial skills training to contractor employees.

A16. No. If a specified position requires specific skills, qualifications, certifications and/or licenses, then it is expected that the individual contractor filling the specified position will already retain said skills, qualifications, certifications and/or licenses. The government will provide an orientation on the mission, functions and tasks required in support of each issued Task Order.

The general process utilized to complete the aforementioned functions and tasks per Task Order will be provided and reviewed with the Contractor, however, contract personnel are expected to then be able to complete these procedures and process steps with minimal disruption.

24 Mar 2022

Q17. Para 1.2.4.1.3 - The qualifications of the PM shall be submitted to the KO and (COR) within three business days of award and within three business days of any subsequent changes. Will the government extend to five business days?

A17. PWS paragraph 1.2.4.1.3. and Technical Exhibit 2 – Deliverables Schedule are revised as follows:

From: 1.2.4.1.3. The PM is considered essential to the performance of this contract. The qualifications of the PM shall be submitted to the KO and (COR) s within three business days of award and within three business days of any subsequent changes. Replacements shall meet or exceed qualification standards set in this PWS.

TO: 1.2.4.1.3 The PM is considered essential to the performance of this contract. The qualifications of the PM shall be submitted to the KO and (COR) s within five business days of award and within five business days of any subsequent changes. Replacements shall meet or exceed qualification standards set in this PWS.

Technical Exhibit 2:

FROM:

PWS 1.2.4.1.3

Program Manager Qualifications

Within three business days of award and within three business days of any subsequent changes

Email to the KO and COR

TO:

PWS 1.2.4.1.3

Program Manager Qualifications

Within five business days of award and within five business days of any subsequent changes

Email to the KO and COR

Q18. Para 1.2.7.2 These sudden and unusual events could result in great impact to contractor performance and contract requirements. In the event that unusual conditions develop, the contractor shall continue, and expand, if necessary, contract performance only when directed by the KO. How much time do you anticipate would be provided to expand/increase headcount?

24 Mar 2022

A18. The government will provide advance notice when a contingency / mass casualty event occurs with TO being issued shortly thereafter. Full performance is expected within 60 days of the advance notification. PWS paragraph 1.2.7.3 has been added to the revised PWS dated 24 Mar 2022.

Added: 1.2.7.3. The government will provide advance notice when a contingency / mass casualty event occurs with TO being issued shortly thereafter. Full performance is expected within 60 days of the advance notification.

Q19. Para 1.3.1.4 Personnel Security Clearances -Are there certain positions that will different clearance levels (Confidential, Secret, Top Secret) for classified information? If so, please confirm which ones?

A19. Yes. As stipulated in the PWS, “specified contractor personnel shall possess security clearances”. This specification will be dependent upon the circumstances and situation driving the requirement requiring issuance of a specific Task Order. As such, the specificity in the positions requiring security clearances will occur with the issuance of each individual Task Order. Nonetheless, it is expected that the positions in Notifications will require a secret clearance and it is anticipated, at a minimum (And, again situation dependent) that the positions in Initial Case Management and Transitions may also require possession of a secret clearance.

Also please note Paragraph 1.2.5.2, Cross-Training During Contract Period. This training will prepare contract employees for a contingency-related task order to be executed against any of the tasks in this PWS with minimal ramp up time. If contractor personnel do not possess a secret clearance, then it may limit the ability to cross-train and lengthen the ramp-up time for a given contingency-related task order.

Q20. Para/Section HLO: 5.4 Task: 5.4.1 and 5.4.2 (AQL) - No more than one benefit or entitlement misrouted or not offered to the eligible Survivor per period of performance. Is this per annual period?

A20. This QAL is applicable for each period of performance. Base performance period is 11 months; and each option period (i.e., 1, 2, 3, and 4) of performance is twelve months.

Q21. 5.5.2.3. Contact Carlson Wagonlit to arrange flights to and from Philadelphia International Airport and receive a tentative itinerary. What is in Philadelphia, PA relevant to this project?

A21. Families of the Fallen traveling to attend the Dignified Transfer of Remains at Dover Air Force Base are travelled through the Philadelphia International Airport to and from Dover Air Force Base. Families are supported by the USO while at the airport and ground transportation to and from the airport and Dover Air Force Base is executed either through support provided by the accompanying Casualty Assistance Officer and/or CMAOD-Dover personnel.

Q22. PWS 1.2.4 states the Program Manager (PM) and Alternate Program Manager (APM) shall be on site at Fort Knox, Kentucky. CLINs 0008 and X 0007 Program Management appears to only have enough hours for one (1) FTE. Can the government please identify which CLINs the PM and APM align to?

A22. Please see revised Schedule B, dated 23 Mar 2022.

24 Mar 2022

Q23. PWS 5.4.12 says, “the contractors shall have a Lexis Nexis account(s) and utilize for tasks included in this PWS.

a. Is the successful contractor required to provide and price Lexis Nexis accounts?

A23a. Lexis Nexis is on the government system and access will be provided. Contractor is not required to provide nor price for this account.

b. If the above question is yes, how many licenses does the government estimate the successful offeror will require?

A23b. Refer A23a.

c. Is the requirement for access to Lexis Nexis only for personnel performing work associated with PWS 5.4 (Transitions) or for all tasks within the PWS?

A23c. No. This will be situation dependent and specified in the issuance of a given Task Order.

Also see Paragraph 5.6.2.41.

Q24. The instructions for PART III: Price (Completion of Schedule B and FAR Provision 52.213-3) on page 93 states the “Price proposal is based on the total estimated hours of this requirement.” Schedule B appears to indicate that the government intends for industry to price 21 FTE for CLIN 0003 (43,680 hours / 2080); 23 FTE for CLIN 0004 (47,840 hours / 2080); 3 FTE for CLIN 0006 (6,240 hours / 2080); etc.

a. Does the government consider “total estimated hours” to only be productive hours?

A24a. Yes.

b. Or does the government consider “total estimated hours” to be the total of productive hours + sick hours + vacation hours + holiday hours * FTE? In the case of CLIN 0006, for example, does the government intend for offerors to price 3 FTE at 2080 hours each for a total of 6,240 hours?

A24b. The government calculation is: 2080 hours – vacation hours – holiday hours = productive hours. See revised Schedule B, dated 23 Mar 2022.

Q25. Attachment 4-CASS Recompete dd254.pdf uploaded to SAM appears with an error message. Will the government please provide the DD254?

A25. DD254 will be re-uploaded with the solicitation amendment.

Q26. How many of the SCA positions were currently on the contract?

A26. The contract is a requirements type contract and doesn’t require positions. Task orders are issued as necessary which do require positons. Refer to A1.

Q27. Can the government please consider allowing a few more pages for the Past Performance Volume? For teams that have a significant subcontract, 5 pages is not enough room to showcase the 6 past performances in relation to relevance.

A27. On page 89, item 2. Proposal Format: paragraph b. Proposal Limitation: subparagraph

iii. Past performance: is revised as follows:

From: iii. Past performance: 5 pages

To: iii. Past performance: 8 pages

24 Mar 2022

B. As a result of the changes as outlined herein, the following documents have been revised and are provided with this amendment.

1) RFP W9124D22R0004, dated 24 Mar 2022.

2) Attachment 2 – Performance Work Statement, dated 24 Mar 2022.

3) Attachment 1 – Schedule B and Rate Schedule, dated 23 Mar 2022.

4) Attachment 4 – DD254 – no changes, re-uploaded.

C. The time for questions is closed. No further questions will be received.

D. The response date and time of 4 April 2022 at 2:00 pm, Eastern Time remains unchanged.

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