T--The USAG Grafenwoehr and Bavaria Military Community public affairs office has a requirement for a public affairs reporter position.

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. General: The purpose of the Grafenwoehr PAO reporter contract is to assist the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr Public Affairs staff by providing articles and accompanying photos, as required by the Public Affairs Officer. Background: The USAG Grafenwoehr and Bavaria Military Community publication, The Bavarian News, serves the unique community of the Bavaria Military Community in Grafenwoehr, Vilseck, Hohenfels and Garmisch, Germany. USAG Grafenwoehr's largest tenant units are the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command, whose headquarters are in Grafenwoehr; the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, headquartered in Vilseck; and the 94th Engineer Brigade, headquartered in Hohenfels. These tenant units give the installation a wide variety of readers. The USAG Grafenwoehr PAO staff concentrates on items of communitywide interest rather than duplicating information that can be found in other publications. Scope of Work: The Grafenwoehr PAO reporter (hereinafter referred to as the contractor) shall perform the following: Duties and responsibilities: 1. Research, interview subject matter experts, write and edit news articles, features and articles and take accompanying photos (75%). a. The contractor shall receive story leads from the Bavarian News managing editor, but will develop his/her own story leads and obtain approval from the managing editor, and then research the story, interview subjects and write and edit articles and take photos prior to the submission deadline. b. Work involves driving to various nearby locations and working nights and weekends as required by the public affairs office. Work shall be accomplished according to the point of contact's instructions when given specific assignments. All stories and photos will conform to the journalistic standards of the Associated Press (AP) and the Department of Defense. 2. Take photos to support stories on activities within the Grafenwoehr Military Community (Main Post and Rose Barracks). a. The contractor shall use a digital camera to capture accompanying pictures to best support the assigned articles for maximum impact. Photographs must be high quality and suitable for publication. b. The contractor shall ensure all stories and photos submitted to the managing editor are in accordance with AP and DO journalistic principles and newspaper commercial industry standards. 3. Routinely upload stories to Bavarian News website and ensure content remains fresh and timely under the supervision of the managing editor (10%). 4. On occasion, shoot and produce short videos of local community events (10%) and upload those videos to the Bavarian News site and garrison website. 5. Attend meetings to discuss coverage and performance of duties weekly or as required by the USAG Grafenwoehr Public Affairs Office (5%). Professionalism and Work Products: 1. The contractor will present him/herself in a professional manner at all items, to include appearance and behavior. 2. The contractor is prohibited from drinking alcohol while performing services and blood alcohol level must be zero percent (0%) while on duty. 3. The contractor is not allowed to subcontract any portion of this work without the written prior consent of the USAG Grafenwoehr Public Affairs Officer. 4. The contractor will complete the work assignments independently and in a timely manner. Work products will be presented in the format specified by the PAO. Work products will be professional in appearance and content, and forma to the quality of workmanship maintain by the office of the PAO. 5. The US. Government is the sole owner of the contractor's work produced for the execution of this contract. All work completed while fulfilling the contract automatically become property of the U.S. Government. Contract will not sell or attempt to sell work completed with any other publication or institution. 6. Sensitive information obtained by the contractor while executing his/her duties under the contract will not be discussed with or released to individuals who do not have an official need to know. The contractor shall maintain strict confidentiality regarding personal information of staff and public affairs topics. Location and Work Schedule: 1. The contractor will work from home to complete his/her assignments. In addition, the contractor may work at the following location as space / resources are available: USAG Grafenwoehr Public Affairs Office Bldg. 500, Grafenwoehr Lager 92655 Grafenwoehr, Germany 2. The contractor will also be required to travel to locations within the general area, including but not limited to the geographical extent of the USAG Grafenwoehr. 3. The contractor will primarily work during the normal public affairs office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, but may be required to work American holidays, as well. The number of weekly hours will depend on the requirements of the newspaper and be adjusted accordingly. On average, the contractor will submit approximately eight to 12 stories per month. The contractor must be available to work two evenings and one weekend per month as directed by the PAO. 4. The contract will be available for work on Germany holidays, and in some cases when required, American holidays. Absence from work on American holidays is not monetarily compensated. Property and Physical Security: 1. Government-furnished property: a. The government will provide to the contractor the following property for use in connection with this contract: i. Sharing of office equipment and supplies as needed and available. ii. Camera (shared with staff). b. The government property made available under this contract shall be for use only in the performance of the contract. The contractor must familiarize him/herself with the proper care and use of government property. Inventory of property will be prescribed by relevant regulation. A complete inventory of all property furnished or purchased by the government will be taken by the contractor, witnessed by the contracting officer or his/her representative, and reconciled with the installation property books. The contractor shall be responsible for the safeguarding of all assets that are in the contractor's possession to include but not limited to contractual records, equipment and supplies called for in performance of this contract. The contractor will be liable for all property shortages resulting from contractor negligence. c. The contractor shall establish and implement methods to ensure the physical security of all government property and facilities. Methods established shall be in accordance with locally directed physical security and internal control procedures. The contractor is to comply with all force protection security measures, to include inspection of personal belongings. d. The contractor shall comply with local safety requirements and ensure all reasonable efforts are made to protect all persons from harm and government property from damage. 2. Contractor-furnished property: The contractor is not required to furnish any property or materials relevant to this contract but shall be responsible for receiving, caring for, accounting for and returning government-furnished property. The government will not be responsible in any way for damage due to fire, theft, accident or other disaster to the contactor's supplies, materials, equipment or personal belongings brought into the building or onto the grounds. Administrative Information: 1. The name and address of the POC/activity director is as follows: Public Affairs Officer USAG Grafenwoehr Public Affairs Office Unit 28130 APO AE 09114 Tel: 475-7113, Civ. 09641-83-7113 2. Invoices are to be submitted to the POC listed above. The contractor will submit an original invoice to the POC within two working days after the end of each month. The POC will verify and certify the invoice and forward it to DFAS, or when required return to the contractor for revision, within five working days of receipt. The contractor will maintain work time records, which will be reviewed by the POC. Monthly invoices and payments will only be made on actual number of hours worked. Evaluation Factors: 1. Offerers must be highly skilled and have minimum three years experience writing and taking photographs for a commercial or Army newspaper and be able to cover and produce news stories, features, stand alone photos under intense deadline pressure. Writing and taking pictures for a newsletter or similar product that is not commercially or professionally produced will not suffice as fulfilling this requirement. 2. Offerers must have experience using Photoshop, writing in accordance with Associated Press (AP) and Department of Defense style, and be familiar with producing video shorts and the associated software (such as Final Cut Pro or iMovie). 3. Offerers must provide a resume and three samples of their written and photographic work to demonstrate their professional experience, applicable knowledge and skills. Noncompliance will result in rejection of the offer. 3. Offerers must not have exhibited failure to deliver services on deadline during a previous contract. Noncompliance will result in rejection of the offer. This is a firm-fixed-price acquisition with two option periods. Basic period of performance: 01 March 2013 - 30 September 2013. 1st Option Period: 01 October 2013 - 30 September 2014. 2nd Option Period 01 October 2014 - 30 September 2015. More information on this requirement / solicitation and to submit offer can be found on the following link https://acquisition.army.mil/asfi/solicitation_search_form.cfm Submit all offers to MAJ Phuong Nguyen at contact@example.gov