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The Government is conducting market research to identify potential sources that possess the expertise and the capabilities to meet the qualification requirements to provide the services needed to supp... The Government is conducting market research to identify potential sources that possess the expertise and the capabilities to meet the qualification requirements to provide the services needed to support the Air force Distributed Common Ground System (AF DCGS) GEOINT/Infrastructure Field Support responsibilities to included: system maintenance, administration, and management for support of the ground operations, (to include sensor management, ground system maintenance while conducting Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, and associated Information Technology (IT) Operations administrative and operational support requirements) for the Command and Control, ISR C2ISR enterprise. The level of security clearance and amount of foreign participation in this requirement has not been determined. The known sole source contractor for this effort is Raytheon Company, Dulles, VA CAGE: 04071. The document below contains a description of the GEONINT/Infrastructure Field Support requirement and a Contractor Capability Survey. The Survey allows Contractors to provide their company’s capability. If, after reviewing this document, you desire to participate in the market research, you should provide documentation that supports your company’s capability in meeting these requirements. Failure to provide documentation may result in the government being unable to adequately assess your capabilities. If you lack sufficient experience in a particular area, please provide details explaining how you would overcome the lack of experience/capabilities in order to perform that portion of the requirement (i.e., teaming, subcontracting, etc.) Identify any areas of work that your organization believes should be broken out exclusively for Small Business. Both large and small businesses are encouraged to participate in this Market Research. Joint ventures or teaming arrangements are encouraged. The requirements described within the PWS include the tasks associated with managing and providing field support for the Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Infrastructure and associated sub-systems, Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS) and associated mission application software, Mission Application Technical Support (MATS), and Logistics Liaison positions throughout the enterprise. Services are broken into the following major areas: ASARS Sensor Manager: Live airborne management of the airborne sensor and associated ground systems. Provides technical and engineering support to the Planning and Direction, Collection, Processing and Exploitation, Analysis and Dissemination (PCPAD) process. Involves comprehensive analysis, diagnostics and fault isolation for the sensor, ground components and end-to-end network. Assist with mission planning (NAV, Collection), system/mission readiness, and mission setup based on associated sensor–kit and any sensor limiting factors currently required. Provide direct mission/sensor support by constantly monitoring associated sensors, executing corrective actions within the sensor, sensor biasing, data screening/Quality Control, raw sensor data dissemination to external systems, re-tasking/adhoc sensor support, and communicating with sensor maintainers to allow quick systems restoral. GEOINT Systems Manager/Maintainer: Includes Software support, system administration, maintenance of all systems required for GEOINT (High and Medium Altitude) systems to operate/interface with multiple sensors and exploitation systems. Provides technical and engineering software and systems administration support to the PCPAD process. Involves comprehensive analysis, diagnostics and fault isolation for the sensors, associated ground components, and end-to-end network paths. This includes mission preparation (i.e. system readiness, system/mission configurations relative to the sensor or communications link being utilized), direct mission execution support (to include real-time interfacing with the operators during anomalies, providing assistance to the users with mission execution) and post-mission support in further evaluating ground anomalies, to include maintenance actions, trouble tickets, and potential Deficiency Report submissions. Technicians also provide sustainment support for system upgrades providing Subject Matter Expert (SME) assistance prior to an upgrade/time compliance (TCTO) technical order, SME and physical support during an upgrade, and post upgrade efforts (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures, Operating Instructions, identifying means to streamline sustainment, on-the-job training to Air Force Personnel). Mission Application Technical Support (MATS): MATS provides mission systems and integration support for numerous mission applications and operational requirements. MATS personnel possess strong GEOINT domain knowledge and the technical expertise to support the evolving and complex application stack at the DCGS East and West Coast Hubs in support of the Open Architecture (OA) program. MATS shall possess an understanding of the high and medium-altitude sensors, sensor products and data flow across the DCGS enterprise and within each DGS enclave and the knowledge to resolve complex problems within the OA environment. MATS shall have a strong background in system administration and software maintenance of the COTS (commercial off the shelf) software used under OA (ex. VMware, DDF, Kibana, ElasticSearch, Xplorer, Socet GXP, databases, etc.) and the ability to support the OEM specific software packages (ex. SOA ESB, Artemis brokers, UNICORN, SIRIS, IRISS, Reflex, PNC-SA, etc.). MATS shall participate and support in depth technical discussions with the OA program office and OEMs during integration efforts, root cause analysis investigation. MATS shall work closely with existing DCGS System Integration Lab (DSIL), OA Maintenance Center (OAMC) and DCGS Operations Center (DOC) enterprise support to resolve issues as part of a combined DCGS technical team. Period of Performance for this effort will be 1 October 2021 thru 30 September 2024 (3-years) Additional information about this requirement can be obtained by contacting the responsible Program Manager: douglas.frye.2@us.af.mil Contractors/Institutions responding to this market research are placed on notice that participation in this survey may not ensure participation in future solicitations or contract awards. The Government will not reimburse participants for any expenses associated with their participation in this survey. Part I. Business Information Please provide the following business information for your company/institution and for any teaming or joint venture partners: Company/Institute Name: Address: Point of Contact: CAGE Code: Phone Number: E-mail Address: Web Page URL: Government Proposed North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code Based on the Government proposed NAICS Code, state whether your company is: Small Business (Yes / No) Woman Owned Small Business (Yes / No) Small Disadvantaged Business (Yes / No) 8(a) Certified (Yes / No) HUBZone Certified (Yes / No) Veteran Owned Small Business (Yes / No) Service Disabled Veteran Small Business (Yes / No) System for Award Management (SAM) (Yes / No) A statement as to whether your company is domestically or foreign owned (if foreign, please indicate the country of ownership). Please ensure data is in a readable electronic format that can be received through a firewall. Attachments shall not to exceed 10 MB per email. Multiple emails are acceptable. Part II. Capability Survey Questions Please provide answers to the following questions: 1. Describe your capabilities and experience with regard to the requirements of this effort. Does your company have TS/SCI personnel on staff, and if so, how many? Does your company possess individuals with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to provide software support, system administration, and maintenance of GEOINT based systems? Is your company familiar with the Air Force Planning and Direction, Collection, Processing and Exploitation, Analysis and Dissemination (PCPAD) process? Provide examples of successful application/interaction with PCPAD. Does your company have any experience with live airborne management of an airborne sensor related to associated ground systems? Does your company have experience with military related mission planning with regards to Intelligence based missions or operations? Describe your relevant past experience (Government and Commercial) in the following areas: a. Familiarization with Intelligence community policies, standards, IT security controls. b. Familiarization with ISR sensors. Describe your hiring strategy to meet the DoD 8570.01M Certification Requirements for Information Assurance Training. How familiar is you company and personnel with NSA/CSS, Intelligence Community, and DoD directives, policies and operating procedures? Is your company familiar with the Air Force Configuration Management protocol for weapon system support? If needed, does your company have personnel available to travel for temporary assignments in support of ISR sensor maintenance/management requirements? a. Does your company have experience and the ability to place employees in overseas (possibly austere) locations? Amendement 1 - Industry Day Market Research Purposes Interested parties are highly encouraged to attend the Robin's Command and Control Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C2ISR) GEOINT/Infrastructure Industry Day that is scheduled for December 8th, 2020 at 9:00am EST. Please see attached Industry Day invitation and PWS for further clarification. Amendment 2 - Industry Day Market Research Purposes This amendment hereby changes the response end date to December 4, 2020. Amendment 3 - Industry Day Market Research Purposes This amendment hereby provides questions to those interested parties that will be attending the GEOINT/Infrastructure Industry Day on December 8th, 2020. The Government will be setting aside an allotted time for purposeful dialogue at the end of the presentation. Any additional questions from contractors at the Industry Day Presentation, this does not apply to one-on-one sessions, will be amended into this RFI for public display. 1. Do you have the capability to analyze, interpret and develop procedures from raw GEOINT technical data and turn them into useable and maintainable semi-formal technical procedures? 2. Do you possess the ability to obtain upwards of 180 TS/SCI cleared/GEOINT skilled personnel for performance on day one of contract award? 3. How would you alter the Government’s approach to facilitate competitive support of GEOINT mission support requirements? 4. Are you able to provide skilled personnel experienced with implementing, validating and verifying completion of Government provided Time Compliance Technical Orders? 5. Are you able to obtain personnel with the skills necessary to support DCGS assigned mission threads during execution of mission operations? 6. Are you able to obtain personnel with the skills required to make recommendations for improvements of Operating Systems, virtualization services, patching strategies, hardware and software asset management and network management using existing Air Force processes and DCGS approved COTS software data systems? 7. Is your company capable of providing informal or On-The-Job-Training (OJT) to AFP when issues are elevated from military to field personnel to resolve? 8. What problems do you foresee with the current strategy that would prevent you from achieving a 99.5% Operational Availability Without Delay for Air Force DCGS GEOINT capability. Amendment 4 This amendment hereby provides questions and answers to those interested parties that were interested in the GEOINT/Infrastructure Industry Day that was held on December 8th, 2020. In addition to questions and answers, this amendment hereby provides the Industry Day Attendee List and Redacted Industry Day Slides. Amendment 5 - Clarification to Industry This amendment hereby gives clarification to the intricacies of the “GEOINT/Infrastructure Field Support System Maintenance” effort and reflects the Air Forces’ updated position. GEOINT/Infrastructure comprises the following sub programs: -GEOINT/Infrastructure and associated sub-systems (Legacy) -Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASARS) & associated mission application software -Mission Application Technical Support (MATS) positions -Logistics Liaison Positions (Previously covered under GEOINT/Infrastructure and associated sub-systems) -Data and Dissemination Systems Managers – Centralized DSMC duties (Previously covered under GEOINT/Infrastructure and associated sub-systems) GEOINT/Infrastructure and associated sub-systems (Legacy) will need a period of performance of 5 years to continue the full sustainment of legacy requirements as Open Architecture (OA) continues to be developed to fully realize the transition to OA. As for all other non-legacy components of this effort (ASARS, MATS, Logistics Liaisons, Data and Dissemination Systems Managers), the Air Force will be soliciting the incumbent contractor for data to be used in a foreseeable competitive environment and/or organic method. Once developed and received (approximately 18 to 24 months after solicitation), non-legacy requirements will be de-scoped and acquired under alternate acquisition strategies.