Deployed Contract Crew Launch and Recovery Support

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE IS FOR INFORMATION AND PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CLOSES 27 JAN 2016. The Government is seeking industry input from all sources at this time to identify interested sources for this potential requirement and determine if any resultant acquisition should be competed as a total small business set-aside under the auspices of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19. Small Business concerns are highly encouraged to respond to this request. The anticipated applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 488190, Other Support Activities for Air Transportation, with a size standard of $32.5M. Air Combat Command, Acquisition Management and Integration Center (ACC AMIC), Langley AFB VA, is in the process of determining the acquisition strategy to obtain core pilot and sensor operator services and functional check flight support for the Air Combat Command Contract Crew support to deployed Launch and Recovery Elements (LRE). The contractor shall provide appropriately cleared and aircraft qualified MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predator pilots and sensor operators for LRE at various U.S. Central Command OCONUS sites. MQ-1 and MQ-9 LRE operations will include aircraft preflight (to include weapons); ground operations; launch, bore sight as required; system checks as required; Remote Split Operations (RSO) handoff; RSO recovery; and landing. Contractor pilots and sensor operators shall provide safe and orderly operation of aircraft for test, ground operations, launch and recovery flight operations, Functional Check Flight (FCF) operations in accordance with USAF Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), current Air Force Technical Orders, as well as local air traffic control, flight test and appropriate FAA/ICAO procedures. A minimum Top Secret security clearance is required for all contractor employees. Projected manning (ESTIMATE ONLY, subject to change): Four MQ-9 Pilots and Sensor Operators to launch and recover MQ-9 aircraft at one OCONUS base, 7 days per week, 9 hours per day. Four MQ-1 Pilots and Sensor Operators to launch and recover MQ-1 aircraft at one OCONUS base, 7 days per week, 8 hours per day. The period of performance will cover 1 Base Year, and 4 One-Year options. The Government expects to make an award on or about 01 Nov 2016. This acquisition will be issued as a Request For Proposal (RFP) on or about March 2016. Please note this is an estimated posting time and it is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor the Federal Business Opportunity website/FedBizOpps for all subsequent postings. A determination regarding the set aside status for this effort has not been made. This is not a formal Request for Proposal (RFP), and no contract will result from this notice, nor does it commit the Government to any acquisition for these services. Interested businesses, including small business concerns, should submit a capabilities package (which shall be no more than 7 pages total) outlining their key business abilities relevant to the performance of this requirement. Small businesses should address the questions found in Attachment 1 to this notice. All companies are encouraged to respond and submit the requested information to this office. Further, we are conducting market research to determine whether or not this requirement should be procured as commercial versus non-commercial based on the information contained in capability statements. The information acquired from such market research will also be used to determine whether the requirement is a commercial acquisition. Please provide all responses/packages via email to First Lieutenant Cassie Hardcastle, ACC AMIC/PKB, (757) 764-5259, cassie.hardcastle@us.af.mil. The Government plans to consider all information submitted in response to this sources sought notice and use the internet and e-mail as the primary means of disseminating and exchanging information. Please include the following information about your organization in your response and/or capability statement (limit to seven pages): Name of Organization Address Telephone Number Point(s) of Contact E-Mail Addresses Size of Business: ________Small _________Large Status of Business: SBA 8 (a) Business Development Program Concern: _________ Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zone Concern Small Disadvantaged Business Concern: _________ Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern: _________ Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern: _________ Women-Owned Business Concern: ___________ Please address the following questions in your capabilities package: 1. What industry standards exist for the type of work outlined in this synopsis? 2. Submit evidence that your company has the requisite accounting, purchasing, property, insurance, and funds management capabilities to support this effort. 3. Identify any contracts (with contract numbers and awarding agency names) that you have previously worked on that are similar in scope to the LRE requirement. 4. Do you have the capability to provide previously qualified MQ-1 and MQ-9 LRE crews? 5. What qualifications standards are required when hiring crew members? 6. What methods exist to maintain LR qualifications currency once contract crew members return from deployment? 7. Identify any approaches to integrate contractor crews with active duty crews including supporting additional duties. 8. Identify any areas of responsibility or operating locations that your company is restricted from supporting. IF A SOLICITATION IS ISSUED IT WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT A LATER DATE, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement. The ACC AMIC/PKB points of contact for subject requirement are 1Lt Cassie Hardcastle, Contract Manager (757) 764-5259, and Ms. Christin Lockhart, Contracting Officer (757) 574-9154.