IB08-Questions and Answers to Industry-Updated.pdf

QUESTIONS REGARDING 2025 ARMY RAIDER

1.3 Scope: The Contractor shall provide the Government with experienced contractor personnel to perform all promotion and production aspects for which aspects shall include:

a) design, construct, and implement an all-encompassing digital scoring system that can be integrated into Microsoft 365 and distribution of all scoring sheets.

QUESTION – How does “Microsoft 365” factor specifically into your system request?

Microsoft 365 is a subscription service that offers access to a suite of productivity applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, along with cloud storage and other services? Is what you are saying you want the output to integrate into the programs widely available in the Microsoft 365 office products? What output needs are you specifically requesting? Documents, reports, spreadsheets, etc.

RESPONSE – Microsoft 365 factors specifically into an all-encompassing digital scoring system by the output to integrate into Excel for reports and spreadsheets.

b) work area setup and cleanup

QUESTION – Which areas are we responsible for? Exclusively our station/rubbish created at RSOI, our scoring room and our part of the table at each event site?

RESPONSE – The work areas the contractor is responsible for setup and cleanup is exclusively the contractor’s workstation and contractor’s trash created at RSOI, the contractor’s scoring room, and the contractor’s part of the table at each event site.

c) event/staff personnel

QUESTION – Confirm any restrictions on personnel. Last year there was a call made on-site that precluded the use of JROTC cadets from a nationally prominent program in the Ft. Knox area. This cost the contractor money and time. Must they all be of a specific age? Post-high school? Cannot be a group of volunteers pooling their payment to fund raise for a larger group?

RESPONSE – Last year, 2 Marine JROTC Cadets showed up unsupervised and without any adult escort. Mr. Rick Torres and USACC Legal provided regulatory guidance on the utilization of minors by a contractor. We strongly advise against the use of minors/Cadets to facilitate the execution of this contract.

d) manuals, monitoring, and training

QUESTION What are the specifications for this manual? Training and oversight (monitoring) are planned as always to maintain a quality outcome. A single page or two on “How to Handle your Duties” is something we plan to do to ensure the job is done correctly. If we are now required to produce a “manual”, can you give guidance as to WHAT EXACTLY this manual will be required to accomplish? How detailed this manual will need to be?

Specifics it will cover.

RESPONSE –The contractor shall provide the “How TO” as an adequate source of information and instruction so long as it is all encompassing and nested with the Raider

SOP.

f) the design, construct, and team package materials presented to each cadet chest medallion

QUESTION – Confirm if you are requesting a “chest medallion” OR a “medal on a neck ribbon” (which is referenced later in this document). This is a conflict.

RESPONSE – medal on a neck ribbon

1.4 Objectives: The objectives for the event are:

c) to provide world class competition awards and event package materials

QUESTION – Please confirm that the only item we are responsible for is a medal (which seems to be classified as “a package item”) and we are NOT responsible for any other type of competition awards.

RESPONSE – Correct. Just the medal.

1.4.1 Scoring:

a.) Contractors shall provide the Government with a digital scoring system as a primary means of scoring that can produce a real time leader board for release. Contractor shall provide all equipment required to utilize their scoring system with built in redundancy.

QUESTIONS – The term “real time leader board” needs clarification. Digital times are inherently ‘real time’ but always subject to adjustment by penalties and adjustments that might be made later by the OIC. Digital times are only captured for 4 events, prior to Ultimate Raider (Rope Bridge is not a “time & distance” event so no digital timing is possible. Those 4 events are captured and constantly viewable where in every specific, digitally timed event, the times can be seen as they occur and the “leader” could be identified by specifically changing the sort to put the leader at the top of the list. But without having 2 of the events digitally timed (Rope Bridge and Battle Fit) there is no way to see any OVERALL leader without vastly altering the scope of how those events’ data is captured and reported by the Contractor. Please advise if Rope Bridge and/or Battle Fit need to be included in the “leader board” in a near real time situation. Also be aware that those 2 events have a natural delay of 1-2 hours as the events are currently handled due to the sheets needing to be transported, reviewed, scored and inputted into the analog system, which would preclude them from having a “real time” effect.

RESPONSE – Real time leader board should reflect updated overall standings and ALL event results as scores are calculated. “Real time” can be categorized as a running update within 1 hour blocks each day in which the contractor will provide USACC Raider TOC with continuous updated results.

b) Digital timing must be displayed in real time at every competition station.

QUESTION – Only raw time (time BEFORE any penalties or other adjustments) can be automatically displayed. All final times (time AFTER total review and penalties) can only be displayed after human review and penalty adjustments assessed. This will cause all of those times to be adjusted. What are the specifications for the display required at every competition station? Are generators being provided to each digitally scored competition site for the Contractor’s use?

RESPONSE –Raw times are the only times needed to be displayed. Yes, generators are provided.

c) Contractor shall provide an analog scoring capability as an alternate means of scoring in the event of a digital scoring failure.

QUESTION – The contract requires “redundant” scoring. We will assume this refers to a digital system and an analogue system run in parallel. Would this serve as meeting the requirement for “redundancy”?

RESPONSE –Yes.

e) Digital leader board shall have an on/off capability controlled by the Government for publication. Contractor shall provide live updates to the Government Scoring Liaison who is responsible for updating and maintaining a government controlled live scoring dashboard.

QUESTION – Need to confirm that we provide the LINK to the live data. Government can choose to use it as is and simply embed it into their system (as they paid someone to do last year), or the Government may create their own interface to process this data into a different format at their choosing. Also confirming that the Contractor will have the ability to make the data live to the outside world at the Government’s request, or shut down the data to the outside world. This would be done from the scoring room where the data if processed.

RESPONSE –Yes contractor will provide the link to the live data and provide it to the government. The contractor should have no need to make the data available to the outside world in any circumstance and that decision and capability should lie solely with the government.

h) Contractor shall provide a block of instruction to support cadre on how to run the scoring system used during the competition.

QUESTION – Please clarify “run the scoring system during the competition”. Support Cadre affect the analog aspect of scoring with scoresheets, applying penalties on the course, stop watches, validation and transportation of scoresheets. Is the Government requesting something different?

RESPONSE –No, the government requires that the contractor provide training and certification on all support cadre to ensure understanding and proficiency in scoring.

This block of instruction shall be delivered two times to support cadre prior to execution of the competition. The first shall be during Working Group #10 on 10 SEP 25 time to be determined and the second during support cadre onboarding date not to execute earlier than 20 OCT 25.

QUESTION – Is Working Group #10 a Teams meeting or in person? Is there a live run through in September?

RESPONSE – Working Group 10 will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. There will be a live run through in late September or early October (TBD). The purpose of this run through will be solely to validate thru-put capacity and does not require contractor presence.

j) Contractor shall integrate secure chat communications with site OICs and USACC Tactical Operation Center (TOC) to facilitate grading discrepancies.

QUESTION – The term “secure chat communications” needs clarification. Would personal cellular phone voice and text between event areas satisfy this requirement?

RESPONSE –Yes.

l) Each event shall maintain four (4) USACC personnel at the scoring table and two (2) USACC personnel for each obstacle. USACC personnel shall be trained and certified on scoring programs to augment contracted vendor's scoring capability.

QUESTION – Define in greater detail which aspects of scoring the Government will be trained to support so we can ensure we can meet the government’s expectations. To what level of detail? Our scoring system is quite detailed and we basically train to the level of their duties on site. Is this sufficient?

RESPONSE –The requirements of the scoring concept to ensure accuracy and consistency nested with eh Raider Challenge SOP. The method of capturing and reporting data needs to be clearly understandable amongst support Cadre.

m) Digital scoring systems shall need to communicate and provide real time results;

however, a USACC LNO shall be embedded in the contractor’s scoring cell for results to be shared and published in the government’s internal system.

QUESTION – Is this LNO expected to be stationed within our scoring room or in the adjacent

TOC?

RESPONSE –The LNO will be utilized in within both areas of work to ensure the fluidity of results transfer.

QUESTION – After receiving the swim lanes scheduling data, does the Contractor produce the individual team schedule sheets for distribution?

RESPONSE: Yes.