B -- JOINT TEST & EVALUATION

Notice Date

December 4, 2000

Contracting Office

Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AAC -- Air Armament Center, AAC/PK, 205 West D Avenue, Suite 433, Eglin AFB, FL, 32542-6864

ZIP Code

32542-6864

Solicitation Number

F08635-01-R-0001

Response Due

December 20, 2000

Point of Contact

Chris Slayton, Contract Specialist, Phone (850)882-4603 ext. 4526, Fax 850-882-5757, Email slaytonc@eglin.af.mil -- Vicky Dawson, Contracting Officer, Phone (850)882-4141 ext. 4635, Fax (850)882-5757, Email

E-Mail Address

Chris Slayton (slaytonc@eglin.af.mil)

Description

JOINT TEST AND EVALUATION PROGRAM REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) sponsors the Joint Test and Evaluation (JT&E) Program to conduct tests and evaluations and provide information required by Congress, OSD, the Unified Commands, and DOD components relative to joint operations. Congress established the JT&E program in 1972 after a Presidential Commission concluded that the Department of Defense (DOD) had no capability to conduct test and evaluation in a joint environment. Responsibility for the program falls under the Director, Strategic and Tactical Systems (D, S&TS), Dr. George Schneiter. The Deputy Director, Developmental Test and Evaluation (DD, DT&E/S&TS), Mr. Richard Lockhart, directs the program. The JT&E Program Manager is Ms. Loretta Bloomer. The JT&E program is composed of three separate but closely related activities. These phases include the nomination, coordination, and consideration of the nomination for inclusion in the JT&E program, a Joint Feasibility Study (JFS) to determine the need and feasibility of approved nominations, and the execution of those approved nominations that show potential for significant improvements in joint capabilities. The objectives of the JT&E program are as follows: (a) Assess Service system interoperability; (b) Evaluate joint technical and operational concepts and recommend improvements; (c) Validate testing methodologies that have multi-Service applications; (d) Improve Modeling and Simulation (M&S) validity with field exercise data; (e) Increase joint mission capability, using quantitative data for analysis; and (f) Provide feedback to the acquisition and joint operations communities The JT&E program integrates the expertise of the Defense science community and the experience of our warfighters to investigate and solve complex joint operational problems. The program applies rigorous test and evaluation methodology to provide timely solutions applicable to the joint military community. The competitive nature of the JT&E nomination process ensures that the most important and operationally relevant projects are chartered. Each Service screens its nominations and then competes with the other Services for selection as a feasibility study and eventually for charter as a JT&E. The responsive decision cycle of the JT&E program, new nominations each year, one year to complete a Joint Feasibility Study (JFS) and three to four years to complete a JT&E, gets timely, test-based results into the hands of the warfighter. Additionally, a completed JT&E produces such legacy products as Joint Publications, multi-service tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) manuals, and technical reports delivered to designated organizations as well as a database of all field test data. The Congressional concerns that initiated the JT&E program are especially valid today. Effective joint operations are no longer the aggregate of the Services' stand-alone warfighting capabilities. CINCs rely on the integration of Service capabilities, a task that each Service cannot address individually. With its rigorous methodology, organizational flexibility, and responsiveness, the JT&E program is uniquely prepared to assist decision makers in solving these difficult problems. Contractor's chosen to participate in the JT&E acquisition will be required to provide support to both joint feasibility studies and execution activities. The JFSs and JT&Es are conducted at various locations throughout the United States. The nature of the activity and the preferences of the Service/Activity which nominated the JFS or JT&E will dictate its location. Additionally, Test and Evaluation (T&E) is an integral part of the JT&E program as a whole. Many T&E activities are precursors to Joint Tests. As equipment is developed and tested, interoperability problems, lack of tactics, techniques, and procedures, and joint issues become known. These problems are best addressed in the JT&E program. Additionally, the JT&E program results in legacy products and recommended requirements for military equipment which spawn a need for traditional test and evaluation. Therefore, any contractor responding to the RFI should also have T&E experience. At any given time, there may be as many as ten different activities (JFSs and JTEs) being supported in a wide variety of locations. Typical contractor support includes: (1) Conduct of test and evaluation feasibility studies and Feasibility Study Reports (FSR), (2) Development of Program Test Plans (PTP), (3) development of data management and analysis plans, (4) Modeling and simulation expertise, (5) Field test execution, to include test planning and set up, (6) Test execution, (7) data collection (including data authentication), on-site analysis by subject matter experts, full range of logistics, resource and administration support to the JT&E, and preparation of test and evaluation reports and briefings of final JT&E results. Administrative, resource, logistics and management support to the chartered organizations will be required. PROPOSED ACQUISITION STRATEGY: The JT&E acquisition team anticipates award of Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA) through the General Services Administration (GSA) to satisfy the DD, DT&E/S&TS JT&E requirements for five years following expiration of the current JT&E contracts. The team has done extensive market research which includes issuance of a sources sought synopsis on 28 Mar 2000, one-on-one meetings with Industry, placement of a Power Point presentation on the Electronic Posting System (EPS), numerous searches on the GSA World Wide Web (WWW) site, meetings and telephone communications with GSA Service Acquisition Center personnel who manage GSA Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) and meetings with various Government Contracting Officers who have experience with use of GSA MASs. Market research revealed that the JT&E requirements could best be met by use of BPAs awarded utilizing GSA MASs and administered by the Contracting office at Eglin AFB. After approval of the JT&E acquisition strategy, the acquisition team plans to downselect to approximately ten to fifteen contractors. The following criteria for consideration will be used during the downselect process: (1) A contractor must have shown interest in participating in the JT&E program. Currently, forty-three contractors have shown an interest in the program by participating in one-on-one conversations with the JT&E acquisition team. Any additional contractors who are interested in participation in one-on-ones with the JT&E team should contact Chris Slayton, Contract Specialist,850-882-4141 X 4526, christopher.slayton@eglin.af.mil, Grisselle Nusimow, Contract Specialist, 850-882-4141 X 4528, grisselle.nusimow@eglin.af.mil, or Vicky Dawson, Contracting Officer, 850-882-4141 X 4635, vicky.dawson@eglin.af.mil. Topics to be discussed at these meetings include the requirement, associated risks, contracting strategies, organizational conflict of interest, financial arrangements and schedule. Marketing presentations are highly discouraged. Companies are limited to three individuals. Representatives must be authorized to speak for their company concerning all the issues mentioned above. If your firm is interested in participating, please request a date and time from the individuals mentioned previously. Firms responding to this synopsis should state whether they are a Small Disadvantaged Business, a Small Business or a Small, Disadvantaged Woman Owned Business as defined by FAR 52.219-1, 52.219-2, and NAICS Code 54171, with a size standard of $20M. (2) A contractor must be on both the GSA's MAS for Professional Engineering (PES 871) and the MAS for Information Technology (IT 70). This criteria applies only to the prime contractors associated with a particular team. The team concept is clarified to mean the traditional prime-subcontractor relationship. (3) A contractor's GSA rate schedule must be condusive to the JT&E requirements. This criteria includes the skill categories, the qualification requirements and the educational requirements set forth in the GSA multiple award schedules. The JT&E team must ensure that the required talent pool is accessible through a contractor's GSA structured labor rates. (4) A contractor must have significant and relevant test and evaluation experience in an acquisition involving two or more services. Currently, the JT&E acquisition team contemplates a downselect of up to fifteen contractors who meet the four criteria stated above. A pre-solicitation conference will be held for those who are downselected. In conjunction with the conference, a GSA training session will be offered to all in attendance at the conference. Issuance of multiple Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA) is anticipated. It is anticipated that three to six BPAs will be issued to support the JT&E program. Consideration will be given to small and/or small, disadvantaged women owned businesses, as well as large businesses. The schedule for award of the BPAs is contingent upon approval of the JT&E acquisition strategy; therefore, no actual dates will be released with this RFI. REQUEST FOR QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/RECOMMENDATIONS: The JT&E acquisition team requests that you submit any questions or comments you may have concerning the aforementioned acquisition strategy to Chris Slayton, Grisselle Nusimow or Vicky Dawson. We especially solicit your comments and/or recommendations in the following areas no later than 20 Dec 2000: (1) Are there any other GSA multiple award schedules you would recommend that we establish BPAs against? (2) Does our proposed acquisition strategy present any significant challenges that you perceive to be difficult for the acquisition team to overcome? (3) Is our downselect criteria adequate and clearly stated? Also, given that infrastructure support to this program, i.e., logistics, resource management, etc., and other non-technical requirements require a high degree of experience vs. formal education, are your GSA rates, skill categories, and qualification requirements condusive to meeting the JT&E requirements? (4) Given your experience with the GSA, do you perceive any schedule impacts with our proposed acquisition strategy? (5) Do we need to offer more training opportunities to Industry? (6) Any JT&E material requirements, such as instrumentation, equipment, targets, and other large dollar items, that are not currently on your GSA schedules must be added to your current schedule by modification. Before this can occur, these items must be priced out and determined to be fair and reasonable. Does this fact present significant challenges? (7) Internally within your organization, are there any significant "pros and/or cons" associated with our proposed strategy? An Ombudsman has been appointed to address concerns from offerors or potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. The Ombudsman does not diminish the authority of the program director or Contracting Officer, but communicates contractor concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations to the appropriate Government personnel. When requested, the Ombudsman shall maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals or in the source selection process. Matters of a routine or administrative nature concerning this acquisition should not be addressed to the Ombudsman but rather to the Contracting Officer, Contract Specialist or the technical point of contact identified above. For any other concerns, interested parties may call the AAC Ombudsman, Fr. Mario J. Caluda at 850-882-5558.

Web Link

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Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001206/BSOL003.HTM (D-339 SN5079H4)