JA Afghanistan 2015-2021_PCO Signed_Redacted.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity: The United States Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal (ACC-DTA) is the procuring activity for this action.

2. Description of Action: The ACC-DTA is proposing to solicit and award, on a sole source basis, a non-severable twenty-two month Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) contract to Dr.

Christopher Davis, to complete production of a monograph manuscript and commence research and write a prospectus and the first three chapters of a comprehensive history of U.S. Army operations in Afghanistan from 2015 through 2021 in support of the Center of Military History (CMH). The proposed contractor information is below.

Dr. Christopher W. Davis CAGE Code: 9KEW4 Unique Entity ID: PS5SWAD5NAK3 Address: 2302 Hathaway Dr., Greensboro, NC 27408-2814

The total estimated value of the proposed action is .

funds will be utilized for this effort.

3. Description of Services: This procurement is to support the CMH’s Tan Books series, which is the official history of the U.S. Army since 11 September 2001. This procurement is for historical research and writing services to complete publication of a monograph manuscript and to research and write a prospectus and three chapters of a book on U.S. Army operations in Afghanistan from 2015 through 2021. The resultant contract will be for the final revision of the monograph manuscript, production support, and the drafting and revision of a prospectus and three chapters of approximately 45 pages each. These deliverables will contribute to the eventual completion of a detailed, comprehensive, and authoritative history and supporting materials ready for printing or which may be separately printed as determined by the needs of the Government.

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition for this action is 41 U.S.C. 1901 as implemented by FAR 13.501(a), Sole Source Acquisitions.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: The reason for the authority permitting other than full and open competition is the nature of the requirement and the fact that this author is uniquely qualified to complete this work in a timely and effective manner at the level of quality desired. The author must understand how to conduct historical research (particularly in the unique CMH classified database for Afghanistan), must have expertise on Army operations in Afghanistan, and the author’s writing must meet the high standards required to produce official history. It takes years to develop all these skills, and Dr. Davis has already invested a year of time and effort to ensure he meets CMH’s requirements.

Dr. Davis first came to CMH after being awarded a one-year contract (W56HZV-23-P- L072), through a best value trade-off source selection process competed as a 100% Total Small Business Set-Aside (SBSA), to write a monograph on this topic. Dr. Davis had experience conducting research in Government and non-Government archives, which indicated that he was already familiar with the challenges of archival research and independently solving complex research problems.

Dr. Davis is currently performing historical research and writing services to complete the draft monograph. While it is still early in the performance of Dr. Davis’s work on this project, he has quickly developed expertise on the Army, knowledge of operations in Afghanistan, and experience with CMH writing expectations. He has demonstrated an ability to research and write at a high level of quality. His early submissions demonstrate that he has the ability to succeed in this project over the long term. Final success requires continuing the investment in Dr. Davis’s skills and careful quality control and feedback on his submissions to guide the research, writing, and eventual publication of this work. This proposed contract would allow Dr. Davis to continue researching and drafting the manuscript under the current contract.

Awarding this requirement to another contractor necessitates starting the research and manuscript process from the beginning, and risks loss of extensive research that Dr.

Davis has already completed. It would take another author many additional months to gain the knowledge and understanding of the conflict in Afghanistan, Army operations, CMH research and writing requirements and standards, as well as the experience that Dr. Davis has already accumulated. In addition, CMH’s market research has not identified another or perhaps better qualified author who is available for full-time dedication and is capable of undertaking a project of this nature and scope.

Furthermore, CMH is not aware of any other authors with a similar level of experience who are not already employed elsewhere in the federal Government.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

a. Effective Competition: The Government does not intend to solicit additional sources for this effort for the reasons described in Paragraph 5 above.

b. Subcontracting Competition: Pursuant to FAR 19.702(b)(1), a small business subcontracting plan is not required because Dr. Christopher Davis is a small business.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: No actions to increase future competition are contemplated at this time, as Dr. Christopher Davis meets CMH’s need to complete production of the monograph and produce three chapters of the next manuscript. In the future, the U.S. Army Chief Historian will use competitive solicitations for new manuscripts where there is no author available with unique qualifications.

8. Market Research: Pursuant to FAR 10.002 (Procedures), , Chief, Histories Division, CMH, conducted two market research surveys to determine the availability of fully qualified author/historians and/or companies to bid on and fulfill this contract.

On 23 January 2024, surveyed existing and past Government contracts on www.contractdirectory.gov. The type of business establishment that pertains to this contract is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 711510 – Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers. The search yielded 100 results, but almost all of those results pertained to translation and writing services to support the Voice of America or other Government agencies producing short articles for various media. None were relevant to historical research and writing or to Army history in general. concluded that www.contractdirectory.gov offers no useful leads for finding vendors able to fulfill this requirement.

On 20 April 2024, , the chief historian, and led a panel discussion on Army book contracting at the 2024 annual convention of the Society of Military History in Arlington, Virginia. Hundreds of professional military historians take part in this convention each year, and it is the best marketplace in the nation to match military history book contracts with experienced military historians who write books.

Sixteen historians attended the panel where and explained the contracting process, and they were all invited to submit resumes and discuss possible contracts individually. Though interested in the topic and CMH’s work, no one submitted a resume or desired to learn more. The reason is because the members of this audience are all already working full time, are retired and do not want a contract, or are not interested in living in Washington, D.C. This illustrates that there are very few well-qualified military historians who are available for a contract such as this one.

Because this survey of past Government contracts and the meeting of the 2024 Society of Military History did not indicate availability of another individual or company well-suited, or even qualified, to take on this contract, it would be best to do this as a sole source contract with the vendor who has already spent six months working on this project. Market research indicates that Dr. Christopher Davis is the only vendor capable of continuing to fulfill the Government’s need.

9. Interested Sources: To date, no other sources have written to express an interest.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History:

i. Contractor: Dr. Christopher Davis Contract: W56HZV-23-P-L072

Period of Performance (PoP): 29 September 2023 – 23 September 2024

Total Contract Value:

SBSA: Yes

b. Other Facts: None.

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.

Typed Name: Date: 4/23/2024 Title: Chief, Histories Division Signature:

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.

Typed Name: Date: 4/23/2024 Title: Chief, Histories Division Signature:

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 based on the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) and past procurement history. The contractor will not be required to submit certified cost and pricing data because the proposed action will be a commercial procurement in accordance with FAR 15.403- 1(b)(3).

Typed Name: Elida Kellezi Date: 5/28/2024 Title: Contracting Officer Signature://EK//

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

Typed Name: Elida Kellezi Date: 5/28/2024 Title: Contracting Officer Signature: //EK//

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of the historical research and writing services in the estimated total value of on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of FAR 13.501(a), Sole Source Acquisitions, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.