W9133L24CA014 JnA_Redacted.pdf

CUI//SP-PROCURE

DEPARTMENT OF ARMY

FAR SUBPART 13.5 SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL

ITEMS – SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

1. Contracting Activity: National Guard Bureau (NGB) Operational Contracting Division (NGB-AQ), 111 South George Mason Dr., Arlington, VA 22204-1382.

2. Description of Action: Service contract under FAR 13.5 procedures. Firm Fixed Price with Cost Reimbursable (No Fee) Lines for travel, Operations and Maintenance Funds.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: This is a requirement for DRMKT Preventative maintenance and training to twenty-eight (28) Force Support Squadron (FSS) locations throughout the Air National Guard (ANG). The period of performance with be for a one-year base period plus four option years.

4. Authority Cited: 41 United States Code 1901 as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.501(a)(1)(ii), sole source (including brand name) under the authority of the simplified procedures for certain commercial items.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: The Disaster Relief Mobile Kitchen Trailer’s (DRMKT) contents, located at the 28 subject locations, are systems that include items patented by Babington Technology. As a result, Babington is the ideal sole source provider for this specific requirement to provide lifecycle support, training and depot-level maintenance for these systems.

This requirement is made up of two individual lines of effort : 1) Routine preventative maintenance by both operator and depot; and, 2) Adequate training provided by the manufacturer to ANG Force Support (FSS) members for the system’s operation (in accordance with the Manufacturer’s Operation Manual). The DRMKT is relatively new to the deployable inventory, and valuable data can be earned by the manufacturer and across the FSS community regarding best practices and lessons learned, to include system resets after redeployment.

This DRMKT requirement is commercially available to the marketplace. However, due to Babington’s multiple patents on the certain critical sub-systems for the DRMKT, as well as their current unwillingness to partner with authorized resellers, no alternative vendor can provide the requisite services associated with this requirement.

Babington is also the author of the operation and service manuals in which the Government is requesting training on in this contract requirement. The Government will not have their requirement satisfied by awarding a contract to another vendor to perform services on a system in which they have no knowledge of the copyrighted material.

Furthermore, training provided by a third party would be no more beneficial to the Government than allowing FSS members to self-train and maintain their systems. On

These series of discussions concluded in findings supporting that there is only one (1) source that can perform this work, the manufacturer, Babington Technology. While the task of preventative maintenance is not inherent to only one vendor, the task of training on proper use of the equipment per the operations manual is a highly specialized task that can only be satisfied by Babington Technology as the sole proprietor of the equipment.

An Intent to Sole Source posting was issued to SAM.GOV on 16 July 2024, referencing the sources sought posting in question. The posting closed with zero responses from industry.

a. Effective competition. N/A, sole source.

b. Subcontracting competition. N/A, Babington Technology is listed in SAM as certified small business concern.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will perform analysis of capabilities provided by the market in the future prior to future determinations to sole-source. The Government will conduct a series of sources sought postings to the Governmentwide Point of Entry as well as informal interview and review of published price lists throughout the various tools available such as Multiple Award Contracts, GSA schedules, and applicable mandatory sources for support, if applicable. Finally, the Government will conduct reviews of any past performance history of similar contract requirements to verify any increase of capability among other vendors.

8. Market Research: The Government’s requirement has been promulgated by the inability of the ANG Force Support enterprise to maintain operational proficiency of the Babington Technology DRMK-Ts. Due to manpower turnover, there has been a considerable increase of inexperienced personnel in reference to operating and maintaining the DRMKTs among 28 different Wings throughout the Air National Guard.

As a solution, the Air National Guard Readiness Center seeks contract support to perform annual maintenance as well as provide recurring training among Force Support personnel at these locations. This service requires a high degree of knowledge and familiarity with Babington Technology’s patented DRMK-Ts. This contract will be for the acquisition of preventative maintenance as well as on the job training on the use of the DRMKTs per the manufacturers operator’s manual. The preventative maintenance requirement represents a service commonly used for “purposes other than governmental”, as described in FAR Part 2.101 and FAR 12.102. These services include, but are not limited to, preventative measures in oil changes and temperature of the vehicles, low-pressure combustion engineering, and heating & cooling appliances within the vehicle. These are services readily available to the commercial marketplace.

Additionally, Mobile Kitchen Trailers are provided to the commercial marketplace.

These mobile kitchens can be procured for use of civilian food trucks, turnkey kitchen rentals and more. Vendors such as Mobile Kitchen Solutions, Craftsmen Industries, Inc.

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.

Date ________

Domestic Operations Analyst (A1XR)

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.

Date _______

Domestic Operations Analyst (A1XR)

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. This compdetermination will be made using price analysis. As a part of this basis, certified cost or pricing data will be required.

Date:

Contracting Officer

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

Date: __

Contracting Officer

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of the DRMKT Maintenance and Training Services requirement for another than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 1901 as implemented by FAR 13.501, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Date

Command Advocate for Competition