United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) Fixed Wing Flight Training

  SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICEUnited States Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE)Fixed Wing Flight TrainingINTRODUCTION/BACKGROUNDThe Mission Installation and Contracting Command (MICC) - Fort Eustis is conducting market research to identify parties that are interested in, and have the resources to provide all personnel, supervision, as well as certain aircraft, flight simulators, and real property facilities in addition to supporting equipment and materials necessary to conduct the following US Army and US Air Force fixed wing courses: C-12 Aviator Qualification Course (C-12 AQC), C-12 Instructor Pilot Course (C-12 IPC), C-12 Aviator Refresher Course (C-12 REF), Initial Entry Fixed Wing C-12 Track (C-12 TRACK), Senior IP/Instrument Flight Examiner (FW) (FWIFE), C-12 Aviator Qualification Course (USAF) (AF C- 12 AQC), C-12 Instructor Pilot Course (USAF) (AF C-12 IPC), and the C-12 Aviator Refresher Course (USAF) (AF C-12 REF). Interested parties shall also provide other items and

non-personal services necessary to perform Fixed Wing Flight Training Support Services and Academic and Flight Simulator, Flight Training and Flight Training Support Services except for those items specified as government furnished equipment/property and services. PREVIOUS CONTRACT HISTORYThis requirement is presently supported by CAE USA, Inc., a large business contractor through Contract number W911S0-15-C-0003, a single award Firm Fixed Price contract.DISCLAIMERTHIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A “REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ)” TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. RESPPONSES WILL NOT BE RETURNED TO THE RESPONDER. NOT RESPONDING TO THIS NOTICE DOES NOT PRECLUDE PARTICIPATION IN ANY FUTURE RFQ OR INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) OR REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP), IF ANY ISSUED. IF A SOLICITATION IS RELEASED, IT WILL BE SYNOPSIZED ON THE GOVERNMENT-WIDE POINT OF ENTRY (GPE), AS APPLICABLE. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF POTENTIAL OFFERORS TO MONITOR THE GPE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMMATION PERTAINING TO THIS REQUIREMENT, AS APPLICABLE.BASED ON THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT, THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE SET-ASIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES (IN FULL OR IN PART) OR PROCURED THROUGH FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION. All Small Business Set-Aside categories will be considered. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. Respondents must submit capability statements that clearly define the firm’s ability to perform the work stated in this sources sought notice in conjunction with the DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS).This Sources Sought is issued in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 10, Market Research. It is for information, planning and market research purposes only and shall not be construed as either a solicitation or obligation on the part of United States Government. The purpose of this announcement is to help the United States Government understand the industry best practices and technical solutions capable of providing the full range of requirements described in this announcement. The US Government will use this market research information to assess the market's capability to successfully meet the United States Government requirements.PLACE OF PERFORMANCEPerformance oversight is provided by the USAACC, Fort Rucker, AL. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCEThe Government intends to make one single FFP contract award with a one-year phase in, base year and up to nine (9) option years beginning March 10, 2023.CONTRACT TYPEThe anticipated contract type is Firm Fixed Price.REQUIRED CAPABILITIESThe contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to satisfy performance requirements as defined in the draft PWS (see attached).If your organization has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information:1)  Organization name, address, Web site address, point of contact email address  and telephone number, business size, DUNS number, CAGE code, socio-economic status, and type of organizational ownership; and2)  Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort listed within this notice, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements.The Government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to:Provide services consistent, in scope and scale, with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated;Secure and apply the full range of corporate financial, human capital, and technical resources required to successfully perform similar requirements;Implement a successful project management plan that defines a management system to plan and control work efforts under this contract including hiring and retention of key personnel with the requisite experience and expertise; andProvide services under a performance based service acquisition contract.ELIGIBILITYThe anticipated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 611512, Flight Training with a Small Business Size Standard of $27.5M. The anticipated Product Service Code is U009, Education/Training – General. Businesses of all sizes are encouraged to respond, however, each respondent must clearly identify their business size in their capabilities statement.ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND SUBMISSION DETAILS (CAPABILITIES STATEMENT)A draft PWS is attached for review.Interested parties are requested to submit a capabilities statement of no more than 20 (twenty) pages in length in Times New Roman font of not less than 10 point font. The deadline for response to this request is no later than 2 pm, EST, September 4, 2021. All responses under this request must be e-mailed to:Drena McIntosh, Contracting Officer at  drena.j.mcintosh.civ@mail.mil andWilliam S. Bryan, Contract Specialist at william.s.bryan6.civ@mail.mil.Please provide a Capabilities Statement, which must address at a minimum the following items:Describe your ability to meet the requirements in the Draft PWS.Describe the type of work your company performed in the past in support of the same or similar requirements? Specify whether support was provided as a prime contractor or a subcontractor.If the intention is to compete as a Prime Contractor, describe and demonstrate your ability to successfully participate as a Prime Contractor on this requirement. Also, indicate the percentage of work you intend to perform with company resources, as well as the percentage of work you intend to subcontract, broken out by large and small business subcontractor categories.If the intention is to compete as a small-business prime, please identify what percentage of work will be performed by the small business prime contractor and all similarly situated entity subcontractors (Note: In accordance with FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting (DEVIATION 2020-O0008) “Similarly situated entity” means a first-tier subcontractor, including an independent contractor, that has the same small business program status as that which qualified the prime contractor for the award and that is considered small for the NAICS code the prime contractor assigned to the subcontract the subcontractor will perform. An example of a similarly situated entity is a first-tier subcontractor that is a HUBZone small business concern for a HUBZone set-aside).Respondents to this notice also must indicate whether they qualify as a Small, Small Disadvantaged, Women-Owned, HUBZone, or Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business concern.Please note that under a Small-Business Set-Aside, in accordance with FAR 52.219-14, the small business prime must perform at least 50% of the work themselves in terms of the cost of performance. Provide an explanation of your company’s ability to perform at least 50% of the tasking described in this PWS for the base period as well as the option periods.Can, or has your company managed a task of this nature?Can or has your company managed a team of subcontractors before? If so, provide details.What specific technical skills does your company possess which ensure capability to perform the tasks?If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements.Identify how the Army can best structure these contract requirements to facilitate competition by and among small business concerns.Please offer recommendations to improve the approach (including contract type)/specifications (including NAICS and PSC)/draft PWS to acquiring the identified services.Identify any condition or action that may be having the effect of unnecessarily restricting competition with respect to this acquisition. Provide the specific aspects that unreasonably restrict competition and the rationale for such conclusion.Upon assessment of the capability statements, if it is determined that this requirement will be an unrestricted competition, the Government intends to evaluate the Small-Business responses and conduct further market research to identify a subcontracting goal.All data received in response to this Sources Sought that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary will be fully protected from any release outside the Government.No phone calls will be accepted.All questions must be submitted to the contract individuals identified above. The Government is not committed nor obligated to pay for the information provided, and no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought.