Responses_to_Questions_Revised_9-13-18.docx

Solicitation # W912LR18R0034 Strategic Planning Services Questions Received from sellers as of 8-28-18:

1. The place of performance is listed as Ft Buchanan Bldg 546 and Bldg 552. Is it the intention that this project be combined with the lessons learned project?

A. The intent is for the projects to be separate projects by each of the contractors. However, the information gleaned from the Lessons Learned will almost certainly factor into adjustments to the strategic plan, TTX, and other G5 products. Cooperation and communication between the contractors is expected, but the projects will be separately run.

2. Will there be office space provided in Bldg. 546 and/or Bldg 552?

A. Yes

3. Please verify that no government equipment is provided. So the contractor is required to provide desks, chairs computers phones, ect?

A. Office space include desk and chairs. All other equipment must be furnished by contractor

4. The solicitation addresses travel and performing gap analysis 4 times a year. Is the work expected to be performed in Puerto Rico throughout the year?

A. Yes it will be conducted in PR throughout the year.

5. Or is the work expected to be performed in CONUS and the experts only required to be there for the gap analysis?

A. Any reach back support the contractor will need to perform tasks will require travel from CONUS located experts, if they wish to participate directly. If remote participation is available, that is the contractors decision.

6. Are personnel required to have Secret clearances? Will the PR ANG assist in sponsoring those clearances?

A. No.

7. Travel is authorized to San Juan for a total of 13 days for various activities throughout the project. Is that travel for the subject matter experts? Is that the only interaction that PR ANG expects with SME?

A. Travel authorized is for any CONUS located experts to assist in planning, participation in events, etc. PRNG expects contractor to participate as much or as little as is necessary to ensure the best product available.

8. If office space is not provided on base, can the contractor perform services off base in San Juan or surrounding areas?

A. Office space is provided.

9. Are you looking for a specific number of support personnel onsite at Fort Buchanan?

A. Not specific, but in order to be competitive, it is likely that at least one full time support person be able to report to Fort Buchanan.

10. How many estimated people and organizations to participate in exercises?

A. Typically only one, the PRNG. However, as this program progresses, it could include multiple organizations. (PREPA, Government, FEMA etc.)

11. It says no Government furnished materials/equipment – So, will the PRNG provide a facility for the exercise or is this a contractor expense?

A. There will be space provided to conduct the exercise, but if the contractor wants to rent a more convenient space, it is at its own expense.

12. Do the reach back personnel all need to be registered to the project (i.e. team)?

A. I don’t know what registered means in this context, but they should be involved, yes.

Are the onsite personnel under the direction of the contractor or the site POC?

A. On site personnel are under the direction of the contractor, but subject to the COR's review of contract requirement compliance.

13. Is there an existing or previous contract for these services? If so, who is the incumbent or incumbents and are copies of the current contract available in time for review prior to the proposal submission date?

A. Yes, HARPE Engineering. Contract Number W912LR17P0169

14. If there is an incumbent, is the firm or consultant eligible to propose on this solicitation?

A. Yes the firm is eligible to propose on this solicitation.

15. Has the PR ARNG been in coordination with any vendor on providing the services required by the RFP prior to release? If so, with whom and are they eligible to submit a proposal?

A. No.

16. Will the bidder be able to demonstrate corporate credentials and past performance to meet the 10 years of experience requirement on the basis of individuals’ collective experience, even if that experience was not with the bidder’s firm at the time it was performed?

A. Yes, experience is considered even if not currently a member of the bidding firm.

17. Will the bidder be allowed to provide references of employees who have performed similar services working with other firms, provided that the employee is bid on this work?

A. Yes, references can be provided from other firms.

18. If the credentials of bid employees whose experience is based on performance while at another firm satisfies the requirements for corporate credentials and past performance, will it be given the same or a lesser weight in comparison to corporate performance of the bidder?

A. Same weight. Experience will be treated as experience.

19. Are weights assigned to the evaluation criteria? If so, what are they?

A. State Evaluation Criteria as per solicitation.

20. With the requirement for cleared personnel, will the government sponsor the successful bidder for a facility clearance following award if all personnel proposed for the contract have current security clearances at the time of the proposal submission, but the vendor requires the postaward facility clearance?

A. Facility clearance will be coordinated through the government.

21. The preponderance of our firm’s workforce hold current DOD security clearances at either the SECRET or TOP SECRET level. Given that costs are incurred for background checks, will this requirement be waived for those holding these types of current DOD security clearances?

A. Those holding current DOD clearances will not need further clearance approval to meet PWS requirements.

22. Do the strategic planning workshops and exercises in the PWS require separate Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for each functional area or may SMEs cover multiple functional areas?

A. SMEs are SMEs whether they are experts in one area or multiple. The desired goal of the government is for the expertise be available, from whom it comes from is irrelevant.

23. Whereas the PWS has the requirement to only conduct 1 each TTX of a 5 day duration, will this be a single scenario TTX or is the intent to break the tabletop up into several scenarios? If a single scenario, what is the intended scenario (cyber, terrorist, natural disaster, other)? If the intent is for multiple scenarios, over the 5 day period, what are those scenarios and what is the intended duration of each separate scenario based TTX?

A. Guidance for the scenario to be used in the TTX will be at the discretion of the TAGO and Operations Officer. It has yet to be determined for FY19.

24. What criteria will be used and how will the SMEs submitted be evaluated and scored as part of the evaluation process? Are there specific criteria the government desires they meet in terms of Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, experience, etc.?

A. Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA), by technical acceptability, past performance, then price.

25. How is the offeror to demonstrate the level of expertise of its SMEs in these areas and how will it be objectively evaluated and scored?

A. Level of expertise in SMEs can be demonstrated through length of time in the field and experience operating in the functional areas.

26. How will this be objectively evaluated and scored?

A. The list of qualifications/certifications, will be measured against competing bids. Objectively, the most qualified and experienced SMEs on offer will be given more weight than those with lesser experience or certifications.

27. How will this be objectively evaluated and scored?

A. Bases on LPTA.

28. Is it acceptable for the contractor to demonstrate the 10 years of experience through the experience of its employees and SMEs as well as its experience as a company

A. 10 years of combined experience in the field is acceptable, but not ideal. Individual experience in excess of 10 years is preferred. The experience of the company is not weighted in terms of award, only the experience of its employees.

29. Is it acceptable for the contractor to demonstrate the 10 years of experience through the experience of its employees and SMEs as well as its experience as a company?

A. Yes.

30. Will State level experience in these areas be acceptable as well as federal? If so, will State and Federal be given equal weight in scoring?

A. State level experience will be considered but does not meet the requirement of 1.4.16.2, which seeks federal experience.

31. Will international strategic planning and emergency response as well as pro bono work conducted (e.g. PR Hurricane Maria Response, United Nations Operations, etc.) be acceptable as this experience? If so, will it be weighted equally to federal agency or National Guard experience?

A. International, and emergency response pro bono work will be acceptable as experience in section 1.4.16.2.

32. Will the experience of subcontractors be counted with equal weight toward the 10 years requirement for the team?

A. The team on offer should have at least 10 years of experience. More experience is preferred.

33. If a team member is a non-government organization with disaster response and other relevant functional area experience, will that experience be counted with equal weight toward the 10 years requirement for the team?

A. Yes, it will be considered as an augmentation of the organizational overall experience in spite not being Governmental.

34. Is the one Strategic Planning Trip, one TTX prep, one TTX event, and one Strategic Communications event the only times the contractor is required onsite with all other work being conducted off-site? If not, what are the other onsite requirements?

A. It is recommended to have at least one employee on site full time to work with the planning office in preparing and coordinating day to day requirements of the program. Addition reach back support should be available to support the events the contractor deems necessary.

35. A standard part of analysis normally includes surveys, focus groups and other protocols.

Whereas this is a federally funded contract, any interactions with persons from which data is collected including, but not limited to interviews, Delphi, Surveys, focus groups, etc. must have their protocols reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) before implementation. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Regulations including 45 CFR 46.111(a)(7) and 21 CFR 56.111(a)(7) require that the IRB shall determine that there are adequate provisions to protect the privacy of subjects and to maintain confidentiality of data in order to approve human subjects research. Will the government provide a federally registered IRB to meet these requirements or must this be provided by the contractor? If this is a contractor’s responsibility, how will the evaluation factors for award appropriately score contractors with a federally registered IRB higher than those who do not meet this statutory requirement?

A. If the contractor deems and IRB review necessary, it will furnish the costs.

36. Much of the required training cannot be accessed without a CAC card. Will the government ensure that all contract personnel receive CAC cards following the award in time to complete the training and meet the 10 day after award requirement?

A. Yes, CAC Cards will be coordinated on a case by case basis.

37. As currently stated, the past performance requirements appear overly restrictive to potential offerors with significant experience in these areas, especially given the limited opportunities available to gain past performance on ARNG specific PWS tasks. As stated, we respectfully offer that this will unduly limit the competitive pool to the advantage of an incumbent and hinder the government in receiving the highest quality services at the lowest reasonable cost. For example, while we understand that the Agency is entitled to great discretion in establishing its needs, the relationship of these restrictions on competition to the government's needs are not clear from the solicitation. We feel that the government's need to achieve a valid Performance Confidence Assessment of any offeror and their team is unnecessarily restricted by limiting past performance. Question: Will the government relax this restriction by rewording the applicable sections of the solicitation to allow relevant past performance of the offeror in all areas of Strategic Planning and TTX events if they are related to emergency response as is the RFP objective? If this is request is denied, will the government provide the justification for the challenged specification to include the agency's need for the restriction and how the specification is reasonably necessary to meet its needs?

A. As per 1.4.16.2, Experience sought is in plans, training, and operations at a national level. Title 10 experience with the National Guard is an example of the type of experience the government is seeking.

38. How are the factors weighted for award?

A. Factors are given equal weight.

39. Will the contractor require a final Secret Clearance to access the system required for entering collected data?

A. No.

40. Will the contractor require access to the SIPRNET?

A. See previous question response.

41. Will State level experience in these areas be acceptable as well as federal? If so, will State and Federal be given equal weight in scoring?

A. They will be both considered as acceptable, with preferable weight to the Federal experience.

42. Will international strategic planning and emergency response as well as pro bono work conducted (e.g. PR Hurricane Maria Response, United Nations Operations, etc.) be acceptable as this experience? If so, will it be weighted equally to federal agency or National Guard experience?

A. Yes.

43. Section 1.4.17 "Contractor attendance at these meetings shall be at no additional cost to the government." Will the government please confirm that these periodic progress meetings will occur at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico?

A. These meetings will typically occur at Fort Buchanan. Any alternate locations will be on island.

44. Section 3.0. Will the government please confirm that no GFE will be issued? Will the government allow the contractor to use the unit’s computer while embedded with the unit?

A. The contractor will not be given any GFE. Computing needs will be through Full Time Support Personnel, and contractors personal computer.

45. Section 5.14. Will the government please confirm that G&A expenses will be allowed on top of travel expenses in accordance?

A. G&A expenses will not be authorized

46. In terms of invoicing, will the government please confirm that billing will occur on a monthly basis? Or will the entire amount of the contract be billable in one up front FFP bill for the entire Period of Performance?

A. Monthly basis for billing.

47. What is the contract number of the previous contract supporting this effort?

A. W912LR17P0169

48. Does the government have an estimated Level of Effort (number of FTEs and/or number of hours) that would be optimal to support this contract?

A. At least 1 full time support person to assist G5 in day to day progress. Additional support, or reach-back capabilities at the discretion of the contractor.

49. Is announcement is a currently ongoing work and if there is there an incumbent, or if this is a new creation? Likewise, how many people does the gov’t expect to be needing?

A. Ongoing work. Government has not expectation for number of personnel, other than at a bare minimum contractor should be supplying one full time support person for work at the offices in Fort Buchanan.

50. Could it be a very small team (2-3 people) with high level expertise, or a very large one with 8+ people (an expert in each of the areas listed in the announcement)? Similarly, what type of space does the GOVT have available for this work?

A. Contractor is flexible in how they want to accomplish requirements. There will be space to field a team of up to 10 personnel.

51. Even thus the PWS says there is no Govt provided equipment – but will you provide office space, computers etc?

A. Office space (desk chair etc.) is the only government provided 'equipment.

52. Is there any additional information regarding the number of FTE and PTE employees required for this task?

A. FTE should be at least one person to report to Fort Buchanan, as a POC for the services the contractor provides, in order to remain competitive. How much FTE/PTE support needed to meet the requirements is up to the contractor.

53. Is there any historical information you can provide or any specific positions that you would like to specify for pricing? The requirement identifies several roles, a few with full-time requirements, and several with part-time (or event specific) requirements.

A. The roles and services we expect can be provided in a number of ways. It is the contractors responsibility to decide how best to allocate their resources to meet the needs of our organization. Multiple personnel on ground or, a few, with a robust reach back support network are two examples, but the contractor is encouraged to be creative

54. If this is an existing contract, can you please provide a list of required staff and hours, or a list of required staff with an estimate of the full-time equivalency for this program?

A. 1 PTE Contract Manager. 1 FTE Contract POC/SME one site. Multiple PTE (IT, logistics, aviation, medical, engineer, force structure, etc.) as reach back support and available for travel should need arise.