Wingman Connect JA Redacted_Redacted.pdf

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition

CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION

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I. Agency and Contracting Activity.

Air Force District of Washington (AFDW)/PKH 1500 W. Perimeter Road Joint Base Andrews, MD 20762 Contracting Officer:

II. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This sole source justification is to award a new cost reimbursement (no fee) research contract on behalf of AF/A1Z, Integrated Resilience Directorate, to the University of Rochester (UOR) for the purpose of applied research in force resiliency.

This is a new action and there is not an existing contract/order that does this work.

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

The United States Air Force (USAF) Integrated Resilience Directorate (A1Z) is the Air Force's lead agency for the research, development, analysis, and evaluation of interpersonal and self-directed violence prevention programming across the USAF.

The USAF needs to increase force resiliency using evidence based prevention programming in order to equip Airmen with the skills and resources needed to maintain and increase positive mental-health outcomes in the face of high mission demands. Force resiliency is our Airmen's ability to adapt to changing conditions and to prepare for, withstand, and rapidly recover from disruptions, and prevention is any action, program, strategy, or policy aimed at stopping violence before it occurs (AFI 90-5001).

This award will enable the UOR team to adapt their existing prevention program Wingman-Connect (W-C) into an AF training program for force resilience.

The UOR shall update the evidence-based W-C program so that it aligns with existing Air Force Comprehensive Airman Fitness & Resilience concepts and language and incorporates skills from the current USAF Resilience Skills Training Course while ensuring integrity and fidelity to the tested W-C model, consistent with Resilience Training Program (RTP) goals and requirements. The UOR will establish procedures, assets, tools and feedback systems to prepare and support USAF facilitators in delivering W-C with fidelity at scale, promote awareness and adoption of the program and science of W-C to USAF personnel across the force. Provide a process to collect available data and information regarding the efficacy of RTP components and performance measures that comprise the Air Force Resiliency Training Program. They will also perform an analysis of current and historical data in order to provide an assessment of the current state of Resilience across the USAF, as well as an evaluation of underlying trends in performance in order to identify issues and to focus further detailed analyses.

When identified by A1Z, the UOR will provide analysis on specific areas of concern for consideration in the development of the new Resilience Training Program.

The period of performance for this contract will consists of 42 months (29 September 2022 - 28 March 2026). The total estimated cost is $6.2M, per the Independent Government Estimate. The requirement will be funded with Air Force RDT&E, 3600 appropriations. The CLIN will be Cost Reimbursable.

The Government intends to obtain Government Purpose data rights in items, components, or processeses developed exclusively at Government expense IAW DFARS 227.

IV. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited above.

The UOR was awarded as grant (W81XWH-14-1-0322), "Peer-Led Suicidal Prevention: Promoting Healthy Family Role Transitions for Military Personnel in September, 2018 through the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Fort Detrick, Maryland. The scope of this grant was to adapt the evidence-based Sources of Strength program for young, enlisted Air Force personnel to create W-C that increased healthy peer and mentor relationships during technical training, belonging and purpose, and skills to maintain balance. The UOR tested the intervention using a randomized trial design to assess impact on reducing relationship disruptions, fitness, behavioral and emotional problems, including suicidal ideation, over a 6-month period.

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IAW FAR 6.302-3(a)(2)(ii), the continuation of this effort is to establish or maintain an essential engineering, research, or development capability to be provided by an educational or other nonprofit institution or a federally funded research and development center. The UOR Network Health Research Program is capable of acquiring the services of experts to support the research done to continue to develop the W-C program. This subject matter expert (SME) team possesses an unique combination of capabilities and expertise that would be impossible to replicate without years of effort and enormous expense. Specifically, they created the W-C program and are the only Research and Development team with direct experience with it and have proven ability to collaborate with USAF leaders and base operators to accomplish training and prevention objectives.

The W-C program is the first non-clinical suicide prevention program to show empirical evidence of reducing depression, suicide risk, and increasing social connection and job performance. With significant modification and adaptation, this program can also increase force resiliency factors such as stress management, well-being, shared strengths, shared purpose, and group cohesion; all important social and psychological factors for dealing with mission stress and high performance standards.

In summary, any of the above-named, required capabilities would be difficult or impossible to find in another contractor.

Taken together, these capabilities are literally unique and would require years of effort and enormous expense to replicate.

Moreover, these duplicative costs would not be recoverable through the benefits of competition.

V. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under

FAR 5.202 applies.

A Request for Information was published on August 8, 2022 with a closing date of August 14, 2022 and no responses were received. One company, Interactive Advantage, registered as an interested vendor on SAM.gov but did not submit any information regarding its capability to meet the requirements. Interactive Advantage is a for profit company and not a non-profit educational institution performing pure or applied social science research therefore not determined by the Contracting Officer to be an interested party to this acquisition.

Pursuant to FAR 5.202(a)(10), the contracting officer is exempted from publicizing an advance notice for this effort due to use of FAR 6.302-3 as a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition. However, in accordance with 10 U.S.C 2304 (I)(1) (A), as implemented by FAR 6.305, the approved justification will be made publicly available through SAM.gov within 14 days after contract award.

VI. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will determine the anticipated cost to be fair and reasonable through cost and price analysis techniques in accordance with FAR 15.404-1. The Contracting Officer intends to conduct cost and price analysis to determine whether the estimate is reasonable but also to provide valuable understanding of the project and ability of the contractor to perform the work.

Certified cost and pricing data will be requested as required by FAR 15.403-4 (a) (1) for prime contracts over $2 million awarded after July 1, 2018 for which none of the exceptions for certified cost and pricing apply.

The Contracting Officer will examine: (1) certified cost or pricing data provided in the offeror's proposal, (2) the program office's technical analysis of the offeror's Basis of Estimates (BOE), and (3) inputs from the Forward Pricing Rate Agreements, if available. The Contracting Officer expects to be able to determine that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

VII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

As stated above in section V, and RFI was Market Research and analysis was posted and results were evaluated. No additional market research was conducted because this contract will be awarded non-competitively. The authority for this proposed award is not based on a determination that the UOR is the only responsible source, rather that the Government

11 Jul 2022 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION Page 4 of 411 Jul 2022 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION Page 4 of 4 desires to maintain an essential research, development, and scientific and engineering expertise in core competencies areas important to the DOD with a nonprofit institution as authorized by 10 U.S.C 2304(c)(3) and implemented by FAR 6.302-3.

VIII. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

N/A

IX. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

See Section V.

X. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

The Government intends to obtain Government Purpose Rights in terms, components, or processes developed exclusively at Government expense IAW DFARS 227. Therefore, once final testing and validation of the W-C program are complete and the program becomes standardized, the administration of the program may be competed.

XI. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my signature above, I certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my responsibility, is both accurate and complete.