Notice of Contract Action (NOCA)

This announcement constitutes a Notice of Contract Action (NOCA) by the United States Air Force, Air Force Material Command (AFMC), Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, and Networks (C3I&N), C3I Infrastructure Division (AFLCMC/HNI) Hanscom AFB, MA. It is the Government's intent to execute, by means of other than full and open competition, a modification to extend the Period of Performance for the existing Performance Base AFNet Requisite Engineering Support (ARES) Task Order (TO) FA8771-04-D-0005 RS71 awarded to NCI Information Systems, Inc. The modification is estimated to be greater than $5,000,000.00. Based on TO modification P00015, dated 15 July 2013[AEB1] , the ARES services period of performance will end on 14 July 2014. Upon expiration of the ARES TO, the Air Force will risk a break in critical support services to the AFNet systems fielded by AFLCMC/HNI. AFLCMC/HNI intends to extend the contract services by executing a 6-month modification to the current ARES TO. The 6-month period will be executed as a base period of 3.5-months, 15 July 2014 thru 31 October 2014, with an option period of 2.5-months, 1 November 2014 thru 14 January 2015. The extension from 15 July 2014 - 14 January 2015 will provide sufficient time to permit completion of the in progress solicitation and award of the competitive follow-on ARES II contract and avoid a gap in critical support services to the AFNet systems fielded by AFLCMC/HNI. This extension will solely provide for additional Firm Fixed Price services. ARES services several programs/projects throughout AFLCMC/HNI, the following is only a partial listing: Host Base Security System, Voice Protection System, Situation Awareness, Server Consolidation Environment, AFNet Engineering Services, Automatic Call Distribution, Enterprise IT Service Management, Various AFNet Trainings, Comm Vault, Assured Compliance Assessment Solution, and Base Information Transport Infrastructure. This TO provides disciplined systems/specialty engineering and technical support using established Government, contractor, and industry processes that encompass the practices and requirements necessary to manage the complex and evolving nature of the AFNet at numerous locations in the continental United States and overseas. The authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 USC 2304(c)(1), implemented as follows: FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(B) - Services may be deemed available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's requirements. Parties may identify their interest; accompanied by supporting literature to the Contracting Officer. Please direct all interest, questions and concerns regarding this NOCA via email to Mr. Lawrence Ganski, Contracting Officer, at contact@example.gov, +1 (555) 000-0000 no later than 12:00 PM Eastern Time, on 11 April 2014. No telephone responses will be accepted. All information received from responsible sources will be considered. The determination to conduct a competitive procurement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Contracting Officer. This NOCA is for planning purposes only and does not constitute a Request for Proposal nor does its issuance restrict the Government as to the only acquisition approach. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this notice nor will the Government compensate a respondent for any costs incurred in developing the information provided to AFLCMC/HNIK. An AFLCMC/XZC Ombudsman is available to consider and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. Before consulting the Ombudsman, concerned parties should first address their concerns, issues and disagreements, and/or recommendation to the listed Contracting Officer above for resolution. The AFLCMC/XZC Ombudsman, located at Hanscom AFB, MA, serves as the Ombudsman for all of AFLCMC, including its GSUs. The Ombudsman hears concerns about specific issues in acquisitions, communicates those concerns from industry or Government personnel, and assists in the resolution of those concerns. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes, nor does the Ombudsman diminish the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. When approached with an issue or query, the Ombudsman independently assesses the situation and provides a response or initiates a resolution, and when requested, will maintain confidentiality as to the source of the inquiry. The AFLCMC ombudsman can be contacted at: AFLCMC/XZC Ombudsman 9 Eglin St., Bldg 1606 Hanscom AFB, MA 01731 Telephone: +1 (555) 000-0000 Email: contact@example.gov [AEB1]Are we required to state how the current PoP arose? Would we be able to use the date of contract award instead?