USAFA Cadet Falconry Program

The 10th Contracting Squadron, United States Air Force Academy has a Firm-Fixed Price sole source contract (FA7000-12-C-0015) for the USAFA Falconry Program with Colorado Falconry Services (small business) to provide a Master Falconer. This notice is for the purpose of exercising option year two with a period of performance from 1 October 2013 through 30 September 2014 and the remaining outyears which include option year three (period of performance 1 October 2014 through 30 September 2015) and option year four (period of performance 1 October 2015 through 30 September 2016). The Master Falconer Advisor is required in support of USAFA mission requirements and in compliance with Department of Defense (DOD) Directive 3216.1, Federal Title 50, and Colorado Division of Wildlife regulations. The Master Falconer must possess a Colorado Falconry License and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service propagation permit. The Master Falconer must also provide the oversight, advisory, teaching, and mentoring services necessary to operate the USAFA Cadet Falconry Program. This procurement is for the acquisition of a sole source, commerical item in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13. The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) is 812910 and the size standard is $7M. a. Only one person and no other will satisfy the current USAFA requirements. b. Colorado Falconry Services has the only Master Falconer in the Colorado Springs area that holds a propagation permit for the required birds of prey. c. Colorado Falconry Services has the only Master Falconer in the area that has consistently bred falcons successfully for eighteen out of the last twenty years. d. Colorado Falconry Services currently has no violations recorded against their falconry permit. e. Services required include: providing oversight, advisory, teaching, and mentoring to Cadet Falconry Program; interacting with cadets and the daily handling, feeding, and training of USAFA's falcons; attending daily falconry practices from 1530-1800 Monday through Friday excluding federal holidays and cadet breaks; assisting in preparation for state nad federal inspections twice per year; artifically inseminating falcons and assisting in the raising of falcon eyasses (young); regularly coping falon beaks and talons as required. f. Colorado Falconry Services also must have Master Falconer available to travel with the cadet falconers in support of USAFA Falconry Program. This synopsis is for notification purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation for bids or proposals. DO NOT submit a bid/quote at this time. Any offerors believing they can provide the Master Falconer services described above may provide evidence for consideration. Evidence must support the offeror's claim they can provide this service. All qualified sources may submit a response that will be considered by this agency if received in a timely fashion. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether a competitive procurement can be conducted. A determination not to compete this proposed procurement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Responses must be received NLT 3:00 p.m. MST on 2 September 2013. Responses received after this will be considered late in accordance with FAR 52.212-1(f) and will not be evaluated. The Government does not intend to pay for any information provided under this announcement. Contractors must have a current registration with the System For Award Management (SAM) at http://sam.gov/. Questions should be addressed to the Primary POC: Brittany Henry, Contract Specialist, (719) 333-8930 or brittany.henry@us.af.mil. Alternate POC is Diana Myles-South, Contracting Officer, (719)-333-8650 or diana.south@us.af.mil. 5352.201-9101 OMBUDSMAN (APR 2010) (a) An ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the party to another official who can resolve the concern. (b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions). (c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, concerned parties may contact the USAF Academy Ombudsmen, Kelly Snyder 8110 Industrial Drive, Ste 103 USAFA, CO 80840 Telephone number 719-333-2704 FAX 719-333-9103 Email: kelly.snyder@usafa.af.mil Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the MAJCOM/DRU or ARISRA level, may be brought by the concerned party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (703) 588-7004, facsimile number (703) 588-1067. (d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency. (e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the Contracting Officer. (End of clause)