USAFA Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Support Services

Added: Aug 26, 2015 11:59 am This synopsis is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation for bids or proposals. Do not submit a bid/quote at this time. This is a pre-solicitation notice and draft solicitation posting for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS) Support Services at the U.S. Air Force Academy, CO 80840.

The purpose of this contract is to provide necessary qualified support to the USAFA SUAS program. The contractor will provide USAFA with the needed concurrent support for administrative, logistical, RQ-11 maintenance, flying operations supervision and aircrew records management support (ARMS) together with ground and flight instruction for SUAS. The primary SUAS in operation at USAFA is the RQ-11 Raven. Additional Group 1 and 2 SUAS may be adopted in the future as the SUAS program evolves. The contractor must have appropriate staffing with primary responsibility and experience of maintenance/logistics, and ARMS with RQ-11 qualification desired. At a minimum, contractor will be required to provide adequate personnel to simultaneously support up to three separate flying sites while operating the Air Operations Center (AOC). Contractor is required to provide personnel qualified in the RQ-11 as an instructor in order to meet contract requirements. The contractor shall furnish all labor, management, supervision, vehicles, supplies, equipment, and transportation, except as provided as Government-Furnished Property, to fulfill all requirements of the Performance Work Statement (PWS), dated 31 Jul 2015.

The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) is 611512 and the small business size standard is $27.5 million. This acquisition is a 100% 8(a) small business set-aside. It is anticipated the solicitation will be issued electronically in early Sep 2015 on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) web page at https://www.fbo.gov/. Due date for receipt of proposal will be indicated in the solicitation document when it is released. Once the solicitation is posted on FBO, it is incumbent upon the interested parties to review this site frequently for any updates or amendments. It should be noted that paper copies of documents will not be provided. All proposals are to be submitted by U.S. Mail or other courier delivery services company only. No proposals will be accepted by email or fax.

Offerors must be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) or may not be considered for award. Registration can be accomplished at https://www.sam.gov. As of 1 January 2005, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires the use of Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) in Federal solicitations as part of the proposal submission process. Representation and Certification are to be accomplished at https://www.sam.gov. Registration requires applicants to have a DUNS number from Dun and Bradstreet and can be obtained at http://www.dnb.com/.

This will be a competitive Best Value Source Selection in accordance with FAR Parts 12 and 13 using the tradeoff source selection process between non-cost factors and cost/price. This approach allows the Government to accept other than the lowest priced proposal or other than the highest rated proposal to achieve a best-value contract award. The following evaluation criteria will be used to evaluate proposals:

(i) Technical;
(ii) Price;
(iii) Past performance

Once an offeror's proposal is determined technically acceptable, the relative importance of each factor is as follows: past performance is approximately equal to cost or price

A site visit is scheduled for this acquisition. The anticipated date and time for the site visit is 15 September 2015 at 7:45 AM Mountain Time, however, this date may changed based upon release of the solicitation. A firm date will be set when the solicitation is released through FBO.

5352.201-9101 OMBUDSMAN (APR 2014)

(a) An ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the party to another official who can resolve the concern.

(b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions).

(c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, concerned parties may contact the USAF Academy Ombudsmen:
James Anderson
8110 Industrial Dr.
USAFA, CO 80840
Telephone number 719-333-2074
email: james.anderson.72@us.af.mil 

Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the MAJCOM/DRU level, may be brought by the concerned party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (703) 588-7004, facsimile number (703) 588-1067.

(d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency.

(e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the Contracting Officer.
(End of clause)