Attachment_8_-_Answers_to_Questions.pdf

W9133L-16-R-0084 Attachment 8 – Answers to Questions Question Deadline: 01 July 2016 12:00 EDT.

1. Is the new or existing work?

NGB Answer: As noted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) announcement, the previous contract number which supported this requirement is W9133L-09-A-0005-0006.

2. Who is the current incumbent?

NGB Answer: This is publically available information, which can be found on https//www.fpds.gov by searching “W9133L09A0005.” Call order 0006 appears as a part of the results, and shows that the previous contractor was IIF Data Solutions.

3. What was the previous Solicitation Number and current contract number?

NGB Answer: Please see the answer to question #1 of this question set.

4. How many FTEs are projected to support this contract. What is the LOE in terms of FTEs?

NGB Answer: This is a performance based services requirement in accordance with FAR 37.102 and 37.6. As such, it is the responsibility of the contractor, based on its own core competencies, to analyze the requirement and propose a solution which will represent the best possible value based on the stated evaluation criteria and basis of award. For the purposes of being transparent, historical performance hours are listed below:

National Guard Bureau: Task 1 through Task 6 - 19,200 hours per year.

JITEC: Task 7 – 7,680 hours per year.

5. What is the split in the number of contractors supporting the JITEC administrative Offices in St Albans WV and the contractors supporting the NGB at Arlington Hall Station?

NGB Answer: Please see the answer to question #4 of this question set.

6. From what I understand, the staffing and operations associated for Tasks 1 - 6 are expected to be executed from within the contractor's local area facility, and NOT from within the J3's workspaces.

NGB Answer: Task 1 through Task 6 are expected to be performed at the National Guard Bureau’s Arlington Hall Station at 111 S. George Mason Drive, Building 2, Arlington, VA 22204.

7. From what I understand, the staffing and operations associated with Task 7 are expected to be executed on-site from within the JITEC workspaces.

NGB Answer: Task 7 will be executed at JITEC administrative offices at 5 Armory Drive, St. Albans, WV 25177. The PWS has been amended to include the specific address for JITEC.

8. I am assuming that the J3 will expect at least one of the contractors to work as a program manager within their workspaces, with the principal duty of interfacing daily with the J3 staff, attending daily meetings, and coordinating support requirements off-site with the contractor's support personnel who are supporting Tasks 1 - 6.

NGB Answer: This is a performance based services requirement in accordance with FAR 37.102 and 37.6. As such, it is the responsibility of the contractor, based on its own core competencies, to analyze the requirement and propose a solution which will represent the best possible value based on the stated evaluation criteria and basis of award.

Question Deadline: 01 July 2016 12:00 EDT.

9. Will the J3 expect a single program manager to serve as the senior point of contact for all contracted support -namely the execution of Tasks 1 - 6 as well as Task 7 in their entirety? Or will they expect the senior member from each element to serve unilaterally as the senior point of contact at the J3 and JITEC respectively?

NGB Answer: This is a performance based services requirement in accordance with FAR 37.102 and 37.6. As such, it is the responsibility of the contractor, based on its own core competencies, to analyze the requirement and propose a solution which will represent the best possible value based on the stated evaluation criteria and basis of award.

10. I am assuming that the JITEC will have a limited amount of workspace to dedicate to the on-site support personnel - is there a maximum amount of contracted staff that we should consider for planning purposes?

NGB Answer: All personnel performing under this contract will have access to adequate workspace regardless of location.

11. Is the expectation that the contractors will organize their teams by region or by command (i.e. one team provides all Task 1 - 6 support for "Region 1", another team for "Region 2", etc; or is the expectation that the contractors will support the 52 exercises as a single, unified support element based upon the NGB's training schedule at large?

NGB Answer: Contractor personnel will not be allocated based on specific FEMA region nor will they be expected to perform Task 1 through Task 6 for every FEMA region.

12. Is this a new contract? Or is there an existing JELC contract being supported by another company? If so, can you tell me who is currently supporting this contract?

NGB Answer: Please see the answers to questions #1 and #2 of this question set.

13. Regarding the requirement for a Secret Facility Clearance - must that Clearance be held by the proposal submitter (Prime), or can the Clearance be held by the company who may subcontract?

NGB Answer: The Secret Facility Clearance must be held by the prime contractor in accordance with the DD254.

If subcontractors are proposed, the subcontractor must have a Secret Facility Clearance in accordance with the DD254 as well.

14. Is it the Government's intent that the Contractor have access to all required Information Technology Systems on Day One of Period of Performance such as DRRS, JYIMS, JLLIS, ARTIMS, etc. or is a Phase-In Transition Plan desired for this effort?

NGB Answer: Contractor personnel requiring access to these systems will apply for access upon the award of the contract. The NGB, however, does not anticipate the process for access to be lengthy or inhibit performance of services.

15. At the Post Award/Kick Off briefing, will the Government be able to provide all of "the requirements of exercises during: command post exercises (CPX), field training exercise (FTX), staff and table top exercises (TTX) at the national, regional, state, local and unit levels?" so the Contractor can support all known requirements?

NGB Answer: The event requirements for the specific exercises are planned real-time during the JELC cycle for event execution. The Government has outlined the performance requirements of the contractor to support the events within the performance work statement.

16. Could the Government please define the required Points of Contact required 96 hours before proposal submission that are required in order to minimize an error in the Cost and Price submission? Does this include Prime and Subcontractors?

NGB Answer: Please see the edit made to Section M, paragraph 3. The Government has clarified that the Government POCs regarding this situation are those found in Section L, Paragraph 1.15. Should a prospective subcontractor find any errors, they should make every effort to notify the prospective prime offeror first. The prime offeror should then notify the Government.

17. Who will the Project Lead report to: a JITEC military representative or an NGB J37 military representative?

NGB Answer: The contracting officer’s representative (COR) will be the primary point of contract for the contractor’s project lead or technical representative.

18. Is the contractor required to have experience on DRRS, JTIMS, JLLIS and ARTIMS or will they just be ensuring that pertinent exercise tasks related to those systems are completed by others?

NGB Answer: It is not a requirement for contractor employees to have experience utilizing these systems, because access can be granted with a Secret Clearance and there is a minimum learning curve in understanding these systems. However, it is upon the contractor to ensure that contractor employees have the skills and capabilities to use everyday computer systems.

19. Please clarify "adequate work force" with regards to personnel working in the government facility. This is requested due to the execution of exercises that may occur at the same time for a prolonged period of time (ie: up to 4 weeks) which could result in all contractors being TDY at the same time.

NGB Answer: The intent with this statement in the performance work statement is that the contractor must have an adequate work force in order to perform the services, but not necessarily having the number of personnel proposed at the Government facility at all times. For example, should a contractor employee be on TDY for a couple of weeks, the contractor is not expected to fill the desk at the Government facility. In addition, how the contractor intends to utilize their work force in times of extensive or unexcused leave (such as an employee on extensive sick leave) is at the discretion of the contractor as long as the services of the contractor are being completed.

20. Is there a requirement to provide a travel estimate in the Pricing Proposal?

NGB Answer: The Government has provided a travel dollar estimate for all offerors to use in Attachment 3 – Price Model. All offerors are expected to use this estimate. Since many of the travel requests are determined real-time, it is difficult for industry to estimate during solicitation phase the amount of trips per year as well as the destination. The Government has utilized historical travel actuals from prior performance of these services in order to develop an estimate.

21. Please confirm when the name of the Contract Manager (CM) and the alternate shall be designated in writing to the Contracting Officer?

NGB Answer: The purpose of the contract manager is for the Government Contracting Officer and the Contracting Specialist to have a counterpart with the authority to act on behalf of the contractor in regards to all contracting activities. Historical performance has shown that a vast majority of industry consider a contract manager to be an indirect cost element. A contract manager is required, at the latest, at the time of contract award.

22. The PWS paragraph numbers change from 1.4.14.6 directly to 1.5.15.2; is this an error or is data missing from this section?

NGB Answer: This was a Microsoft Word automation error when the PWS was incorporated into the Government’s contracting writing system. Please see the amended PWS which corrects this error. No information was missing was a result of this error.

23. The PWS paragraph number 5.3 is missing; is this an error or an oversight?

NGB Answer: This was another Microsoft Word automation error when the PWS was incorporated into the Government’s contract writing system. For the purposes of ensuring a timely response to questions and to minimize other potential numbering errors, the Government has incorporated Section 5.3 as a “Reserved” within the PWS. It is not the intent of the Government to have any work to support this PWS paragraph. Please see the amended PWS.

24. The word "Figure" appears before this paragraph number [5.6.4], is this an error?

NGB Answer: This was an administrative error. Please see the amended PWS for the correction.

25. Please define the data request for "fringe benefit plan in detail"; is this a statement of the general corporate fringe benefit offerings to each employee or a definition of the finances of the fringe benefits per employee? Does the NGB require the same fringe benefit detail from each subcontractor?

NGB Answer: The offeror is required to submit information for their fringe benefit plan in order to satisfy FAR 52.222-46. This is more geared towards the general corporate fringe policies, such as how many leave days are expected for each employee. The Government does not require the financial calculations of the pools and bases for fringe. The offeror may incorporate general information about the subcontractor’s fringe packages, but the Government understands that the disclosure of this information may be restricted. In the end, it is the responsibility of the prime contractor to ensure that their subcontractors have a fringe policy in place that will limit the risks involved with retention and maintaining a fully trained workforce.

26. Does the NGB require all resumes of all proposed personnel from the prime contractor and the subcontractor?

NGB Answer: The Government requires a resume of all proposed personnel, to include the prime and all subcontractors.

27. With regards to Desired Qualifications of Contractor Employees, Can the Government clarify or provide minimum requirements for each key personnel position with regards to Education Requirement and Desired Years of Experience?

NGB Answer: Outside of what has already defined in the PWS, there are no other education requirements or desired years of experience. The Government is relying on industry to review the requirements of the PWS, and propose a solution that will provide the Government with the overall best value.

28. There are only two “KEY” personnel required in the submission. Are there any others besides?

NGB Answer: The Government has not specifically identified key personnel within the solicitation.

29. Are there are signed “Letters of Commitment” and if there are, are NDA’s required as well?

NGB Answer: Letters of commitment are not required for this solicitation.

30. The Government does not specify the competition type in the RFP. Can the Government please verify that this is a 100% SDVOSB set-aside per the posting on FBO?

NGB Answer: The Government has set aside 100% of this requirement to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, with the supplementation of FAR 52.219-14 LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTING (NOV 2011). The Government’s intent can be found in Section I, Clause 52.219-27 “NOTICE OF SERVICE-

DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE (NOV 2011).

31. Based on a review of the solicitation’s CLIN structure and PWS, we note that there is only very limited information provided regarding the personnel requirements of this procurement, such as the very generic “Desired Qualifications” in paragraph 1.4.14.3 , 1.4.14.3.1. These basic skills are necessary for a wide variety of positions. However, the PWS provides no specific information about personnel requirements, including: position titles or descriptions, task-specific required personnel qualifications, key personnel, correlation of positions to tasks, and number of baseline full-time equivalent. This information is fully known to the incumbent and would be known by any proposal-submitting contracting team on which the incumbent would be a member. In the interests of fair and open competition, and because Staffing Approach and Proposed Personnel are major elements of the Technical Factor, will the Government publish and provide the above information to all eligible bidders?

NGB Answer: The Government is relying on industry to review the requirement based on their core competencies and to provide solutions that are the best value to the Government. The Government does not want to limit the solutions from industry by arbitrarily setting position titles and the number of positions. For the purposes of transparency, the Government has provided historical actuals in question #4 of this question set. In terms of employee qualifications, it is imperative of the offeror to review the requirements of the PWS and propose personnel they believe have the knowledge and experience to perform the tasks and deliverables.

32. The requirement for past performance having taken place within three (3) years of the closing date of this RFP is very restrictive for a Small Business. Will the Government consider expanding this requirement to five (5) years?

NGB Answer: The Government has clarified the solicitation to change recency to five (5) years.

33. Ref: Additional Note for Invoicing – note 2 RFP reads: The contractor is authorized partial delivery payments for services under labor CLINS only. The Contractor may, on a monthly basis, invoice the lesser of 1/12 the total CLIN price or this amount minus the value of any nonconforming services. Specifically, the contractor shall not invoice for the value of any services not performed due to uncompensated employee absences such as leave without pay, extended military leave and position vacancies. This effort is to be awarded as a FFP contract, the above clause reads more like a T&M contract. Could the government please explain expectations and procedures to meet the note above, specifically how do they want invoices handled for vacancies? And we to account for them on a daily basis or is there some margin for turnover?

NGB Answer: Under normal FFP procedures, a contractor would only be allowed to invoice for work at the end of the period of performance. However, it is also appropriate to offer small businesses intermittent payments in order to maintain cash flow. The purpose of this language is what is directly stated, that the contractor shall not invoices for the value of any services (ie the tasks listed in the PWS) not performed. The Government’s intent is not for a daily employee time tracker, and for the contractor to not amend the invoice based off a time tracker.

The Government will conduct a monthly status report prior to the acceptance of the receiving report and invoice.

Question Deadline: 01 July 2016 12:00 EDT.

If services are not being rendered in accordance of the contract, the Government does reserve the right to seek contract adjustment under FAR 52.246-4.

34. (2) Ref: RFP para 1.4.4 Place and Performances of Services and 1.7 of Instructions to Offers: :

PWS read (in part): ….1.4.4 Performance shall be at Arlington Hall Station, Building 2 or Joint Interagency Training and Education Center (JITEC) Administrative Offices, St Albans West Virginia…..

1.7 (in part):….The contractor shall specify the city, state, and country in which the work will take place. This is necessary so that the appropriate DOL rates can be provided. Where multiple places of performance apply, provide a separate wage determination for each place of performance that is required under this RFP. In order to properly bound and bid this effort, could the government provide a break out by number, position, and labor category of the positions that will be located at each location?

NGB Answer: Please see the answer to questions #4 and #7 of this question set.

35. Information Assurance (IA)/Information Technology (IT) Training: PWS read: All contractor employees shall complete the DoD IA Awareness Training before issuance of network access and annually thereafter. All contractor employees performing services involving IA/IT functions shall comply with DoD and Army training requirements in DoDD 8570.01, DoD 8570.01-M and AR 25-2 within six months of the start of contract performance. In accordance with DoD 8570.01-M , DFARS 252.239.7001 and AR 25-2, contractor employees performing services supporting IA/IT functions shall be appropriately certified upon contract award. The baseline certification as stipulated in DoD 8570.01-M shall be completed upon contract award. h t t p s : / / i a .s i g n a l .

a r m y . m i l / D o D I A A / d e f a u l t.asp. This paragraph states that 8570 baseline certifications are not to be provided until contract award. Since this is a FFP contract with the contractor paying training costs, could the government bound this requirement by stating, pre-award, what the specific 8570 requirements will be. This will enable contractors to get an accurate picture of costs associated on this effort.

NGB Answer: The IA/IT training is an online training that all contractor employees need to complete prior to receiving network access. The magnitude of this training is not extensive, and can be completed within a couple of hours. Unless the contractor employees are performing IA/IT functions, which should not be applicable in this case, the online IA/IT training is all that is required.

36. Ref: 5.2.4.4 JELC HRF/CERFP related tasks - Training Venues PWS reads: The contractor shall provide and update on a monthly basis the status of training venues that are suitable to achieve NGB J37 training objectives.

Will the government provide a baseline document to use as a reference starting point?

NGB Answer: The Government does not have a template for the contractor to utilize, and it’s up to the contractor’s core competencies to meet the deliverable of this requirement.

37. (5) Ref 5.4.3 Task 5 PWS reads: The contractor shall participate in a minimum of fifteen working groups and provide data regarding identified NG-CRE gaps and shortfalls. The contractor shall provide an executive summary or analysis that is required by the working group. What is the workload requirements and expectation after the fifteen minimum is reached? Is there a maximum number we can or should use for workforce planning?

NGB Answer: Historical performance has shown that there is an average of 15 working groups per year with minimum deviation. The Government is providing this data in order for the contractor to use for workload planning. The Government has changed the word “minimum” to “average” for clarity.

38. Section 4.0 page 72 and Section M para 2.3 - PWS reads in part: (pg 72) “Recency as it pertains to past performance information, is a measure of the time that has elapsed since the past performance reference occurred. Recency is generally expressed as a time period during which past performance references are considered relevant. A time period of five (5) years prior to the closing date of this solicitation is considered recent performance information and data.” Section M: “The Government will only review past performance information that has occurred within three (3) years of the closing date of this RFP.” Could the government please clarity what the time limit is for the recency criteria for this opportunity?

Question Deadline: 01 July 2016 12:00 EDT.

NGB Answer: The Government’s intent is for a recency period of five (5) years, and the solicitation has been edited to confirm this intent.