Anti-Terrorism Force Protection (ATFP)Support

02 APRIL 2015



CLARIFICATION QUESTION

ANTITERRORISM FORCE PROTECTION – N00189-15-R-0016



QUESTION: Confirm that the submission date has now changed from 20 Apr to 17 Apr.



ANSWER: The submission date has not changed from 20 Apr to 17 Apr 2015. I wrote the wrong date. This announcement will close at 02:00 p.m. (EST) on 20 April 2015.





QUESTION: Based on the update Volume III Price Proposal amended. Labor mix and level of effort is not required. Can offerors propose solutions that do not utilize the 17,647 hours labor category worksheet provided on Friday?



ANSWER: Offerors are required to submit pricing by labor category in accordance “Volume III Price Proposal†of the solicitation as amended 02 April 2015.

This pricing requirement reverses the previous amendment submitted on 31 March 2015. A pricing spreadsheet is included as Attachment II to this amendment.





QUESTION: Can you please clarify the last statement in the Ordering section that says: “f. Pricing. All labor categories and rates used to price task orders shall be in accordance with Attachment II of the contract.†Attachment II is still listed as the Consolidated QASP and per the guidance given today we will not submit labor categories and rates.



ANSWER: Attachment II of the solicitation is the Consolidate QASP. Section f. of the solicitation is referring to an attachment to the resultant contract.





QUESTION: Is it your intent to issue a new Combined Synopsis and PWS that reflect all the changes that are in effect, particularly regarding the labor categories?



ANSWER: The combined synopsis-solicitation has been amended (Last revision 02 April 2015) to reflect all of the changes that are in effect.

It is included as Attachment I. The PWS will not be revised as there have been no specific issues presented.











This FFP is soliciting services through CLINS based on tasks listed in the Performance Work Statement. The government has also provided the attached amendments to the 27 March update that describe 8 labor categories and associated levels of effort (labeled “Required Hoursâ€). Since the FFP CLINS described tasks to be accomplished vice LOE, two questions arise:

QUESTION: Are the labor categories and their associated levels of effort a government estimate or a requirement? And,

ANSWER: The labor categories and their associated levels of effort are a Government estimate.



QUESTION: If they are required, will the government provide a match between the level of effort and each task?

ANSWER: A match between the level of effort and tasks are provided as Attachment III to this amendment.







The modification to the pricing (by task order) without any provision of the current status of outstanding task orders under work by the incumbent (referenced 2012/2013 Hostile Intent Study) gives them a considerable advantage to potentially undercut bidders on labor hours.

QUESTION: As an LPTA RFP, how are you ensuring that there is sufficient information for comparison technical capability and pricing of bids?

ANSWER: In accordance with the solicitation, technical proposals must include a management and technical plan and a staffing plan which will be evaluated for technical acceptability.



QUESTION: Can you provide a copy of the Hostile Intent Study?

ANSWER: Government studies will not be provided.



QUESTION: As the pricing is now based on completion of the Task Orders – to adequately plan manpower usage to the government’s benefit, can you provide a timeline for each of the Task Orders?

ANSWER: Pricing is based on labor category and level of effort.

Each task will have a one year work statement issued that will include all expectations and due dates.



QUESTION: What is the projected start date for each of the Tasks?

ANSWER: The projected start date for each task is on/about 12 July.





QUESTION: While the labor categories and hours have been removed – can you confirm the qualification and experience information for SMEs still valid?

ANSWER: Labor categories and man-hours are included as Attachment III to this amendment. The qualification and experience information for the SMEs are still valid.

CLARIFICATION QUESTION

ANTITERRORISM FORCE PROTECTION – N00189-15-R-0016



QUESTION: Can the government please clarify how it would like the pricing submitted, by labor category or by Task and if will it update the RFP if pricing is to be based on labor categories?

ANSWER: The Government requires the pricing submitted by Task in accordance with the original solicitation. The pricing will not be based on labor categories. Disregard the labor category pricing spreadsheet. The combined synopsis-solicitation has been amended and is attached. Amended information is as follows:

- CLINS 0001 through 0050 is amended to remove references to the pricing spreadsheet.

- Volume III Price Proposal amended.

Labor mix and level of effort is not required.

- This announcement will close at 02:00 p.m. (EST) on 17 April 2015.

CLARIFICATION QUESTION

ANTITERRORISM FORCE PROTECTION – N00189-15-R-0016



QUESTION: Please provide guidance as to where to locate the pricing spreadsheets identified/referred to in each CLIN.

ANSWER: The pricing spreadsheet is attached.



QUESTION: What types of labor categories does the government require?

ANSWER: Labor categories are listed on the attached pricing spreadsheet.



QUESTION: How many of each labor category does the government require?

ANSWER: The Government requires one for each labor category. See the attached pricing spreadsheet.



QUESTION: Will the government accept a mix of FTE and PTE?

ANSWER: See the attached pricing spreadsheet for labor requirements.



QUESTION: Will the government accept CPARS in lieu of Past Performance Questionnaires?

ANSWER: The Government will review CPARS in addition to Past Performance Questionnaires.



QUESTION: Is the government requiring the submission of resumes as part of the proposal requirements?

ANSWER: The Government is not requiring the submission of resumes.



QUESTION: SCA Equivalent Rate CLAUSE.

The last page of the solicitation includes ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.222-42 (page 67) which is typically a Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires and guidelines for the expected category of employees for the contract. Can the government provide the information that appears to be missing?

ANSWER: ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.222-42 is deleted from the Combined Synopsis-Solicitation.



QUESTION: The uploaded documents have provided major changes / additions to the RFP. Will there be an extension to the submission date to accommodate?

ANSWER: No additional extension to the submission date is anticipated.

ANTI-TERRORISM FORCE PROTECTION

CLARIFICATION QUESTIONS – N00189-15-R-0016





QUESTION: Personnel Qualifications. The Technical response requires a staffing plan – there are NO qualifications or experience standards provided, what will be the basis for being technically acceptable for staffing? The Evaluation Criteria (pp. 20-21) states that we will be evaluated on “the vendor’s capability to identify the personnel who will be staffed for all functions to be assigned to fulfill the PWS to accomplish the effort.†Can the government provide the expected qualifications and experience standards required to be technically acceptable?

ANSWER: See Attachment I.



QUESTION: Pricing/Personnel.

For an LPTA solicitation, typically there are clearly defined levels of effort so that all offeror’s responses can be compared based on the same criteria and level of effort. There are no position descriptions or levels of effort (hours etc…) identified for pricing the tasks to make a realistic comparison of responses. As LPTA solicitations are based on clearly defined levels of effort for non-complex commercial services, can the government clarify the positions requested, the qualifications, and the expected level of effort? Does the procurement of complex Antiterrorism Exercises and program analysis truly fall under “non-complex†services?

ANSWER: The procurement of complex Antiterrorism Exercises and program analysis truly falls under “non-complex†services.

See Attachments I and II.



QUESTION: Pricing.

ORDERING for Task Orders states in f. (page 63) that… “All labor categories and rates used to price task orders shall be in accordance with Attachment II of the contract.†Attachment II is a QASP. Can the government provide the labor categories for adequate pricing comparison?

ANSWER: See Attachment I and II to this amendment.



QUESTION: Place of Performance. The source sought identified that three (3) persons would work onsite at USFF. Can you provide clarification of the Place of Performance and on site vs off site requirements?

ANSWER: Three personnel will be working on site. One person each, for the Nuclear Weapons Support, Non-Lethal Weapons, and Defense Critical Infrastructure Program tasks.

The remaining personnel will work off site at a place supplied by the contractor. A terminal will be provided on-site for any work requiring “Secret†level access to the computer network.



QUESTION: Evaluation Criteria. If having or providing no past performance is considered “acceptable†in the LPTA evaluation, what utility does past performance provide (page 22)?

ANSWER: Past performance evaluation is required per FAR 15.304. Having no past performance is not considered “acceptableâ€. Per FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iv), offerors without a record of past performance or past performance information is unavailable may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance.



QUESTION: QASP.

The QASP (Attachment II) states that acceptable performance for documents is: “Documentation reviewed and presented to meet acceptance. 95% require no more than two review cycles to finalize.†In the development of briefs, IPRS and new documents, the typical review cycle at USFF for planner, O-6/GS-15 and Flag-level review routinely will exceed “two cycles†– can you clarify this QASP metric?

ANSWER: Two review cycles are interpreted as two submissions of a product for review. To meet the 95%, a product must be in a finalized state within two submissions. Products must meet a high standard to be acceptable for O-6/GS-15 and Flag-level review.



QUESTION: Task Orders. As the contract will be task order driven, are each of the provided task areas considered complete task orders? Many have been in work for several years, can the government provide a summary of the status of ongoing task orders so that non-incumbent contractors can accurately gage the level of effort to continue support without duplication of effort? As an example, the Hostile Intent and Small Arms Task Orders have been ongoing for 2-3 years – (REF from 2012 RFP TOs):

ANSWER: The Small Arms and Hostile Intent Determination tasks are currently executing a Limited Objective Experiment (LOE) to determine proficiency levels of sailors in a simulator environment as it relates to small arms and hostile intent determination training.

Based upon the findings of the current LOE the contractor will be asked to update the associated instructions/programs and complete the tasks detailed in the PWS. Reference paragraphs 4.1.1, 4.1.6.3, 4.1.6.5, and 4.1.6.11.



QUESTION: Can you tell me if there is an incumbent contractor currently performing work for this requirement? If so, could you please provide their company name and contract number?

ANSWER: There is an incumbent contractor. Contract Number: N00189-12-D-0040



QUESTION: Pricing. The EVALUATION CRITERIA states that this will be awarded based on LPTA (page 19), however in several places the solicitation states “The government reserves the right to award a contract to other than the lowest priced vendor…†(page 63) Additionally, in the PRICE section, states the price will be “evaluated on the basis of price reasonableness.â€(page A – Can you confirm the acquisition strategy? Is the intent to make the selection based on LPTA for a four star staff support?

ANSWER: The source selection process will be LPTA.





QUESTION: The solicitation states that PDF files are not acceptable for the price quote. Are PDF files acceptable for the Technical and Past Performance Volumes?

ANSWER: Yes.



QUESTION: Does a cover page and table of contents count against the 30-page limit for Technical Volume and 6-page limit for Past Performance Volume?

ANSWER: No.



QUESTION: On page 66 of the RFP, in note (5) to Volume III Price Proposal within the Instructions to the Vendor, it is stated that the “basis of the award will be the total overall price for the Base Period and all two option periods.†Is the word “two†actually meant to be “four?â€

ANSWER: The word “two†was meant to be “fourâ€. The solicitation has been revised.



QUESTION: On page 66 of the RFP the Vendor is directed to include a completed RFP Section “Schedule of Supplies/Services.†Does this refer to the section of the RFP that begins on page 1 under the phrase “Contract Line Items as follows:†and ends on page 18?

ANSWER: Yes.



QUESTION: The Past Performance Information Form (Attachment V) does not completely align with what the government is requesting, i.e.

missing a block for “contract type,†and missing separate blocks for Contracting Officer and COR contact information. Can the vendor adjust the form to meet these requirements listed in the Solicitation ADDENDUM INSTRUCTIONS TO THE VENDOR?

ANSWER: Yes.

Solicitation N00189-15-R-0016 for Anti-Terrorism Force Protection Services is hereby amended as follows:





Page 66, Paragraph (4): Questions may be submitted no later than 27 March 2015.



(4) In order to ensure that all questions submitted by potential vendors are answered prior to the solicitation closing date, all questions concerning the solicitation should be submitted via email to the contracting point of contact (ricky.jennings@navy.mil) no later than 27 March 2015. The Government reserves the right not to respond to any questions received concerning this solicitation after the questions receipt date above. Accordingly, vendors are encouraged to carefully review all solicitation requirements and submit questions to the Government early in the quote timeframe.





Page 66, Paragraph (5): The basis of the award will be the total overall price for the Base period and all option periods.





(5) The Vendor’s price submission shall include a complete and signed solicitation form, and if applicable, an executed copy of Amendments. To be considered awardable, the vendor shall quote on each line item. Those unable to propose on each line item will not be considered. The basis of the award will be the total overall price for the Base period and all option periods. The vendor’s quote will be evaluated on the basis of price reasonableness in accordance with FAR Subpart 13.106-3. A competitive range may be established to determine the multiple awardees, and outliers of this range may not be eligible for award.





Page 67, Paragraph 2:



This announcement will close at 02:00 p.m.

(EST) on 20 April 2015.

This is a COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION for commercial items prepared in accordance with the information in FAR Subpart 12.6, using Simplified Acquisition Procedures under the test program for commercial items found at FAR 13.5, as supplemented with the additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; a written solicitation will not be issued. PAPER COPIES OF THIS SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE. This combined synopsis/solicitation SHALL be posted on both FEDBIZOPPS and NECO (https://www.neco.navy.mil/).



The RFQ number is N00189-15-R-0016. This solicitation documents and incorporates provisions and clauses in effect through FAC 2005-80 and DFARS Publication Notice 20150226.

It is the responsibility of the contractor to be familiar with the applicable clauses and provisions. The clauses may be accessed in full text at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/ and http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/dfarspgi/current/index.html. The NAICS code is 541611 and the Small Business Standard is $15M. The proposed contract is set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small business concerns. Offers from other than Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small business concerns will not be considered. The Small Business Office concurs with the set-aside decision.



The NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk requests responses from qualified sources capable of providing operational and program support of Anti-Terrorism Force Protection in accordance with the attached Performance Work Statement.



PLEASE SEE ATTACHED COMPLETE COMBINED-SYNOPSIS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.