NOTICE OF PROPOSED CONTRACT ACTION - Extension of Sustainment for WBES

In accordance with the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(e)) and the Office of Federal Policy Procurement Act (41 U.S.C. 416), notice is hereby given for the Proposed Contract Action, described below. The U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, plans to modify Contract FA8706-08-C-0009 - Web Based E-Learning System (WBES). The purpose of the Contract modification is to extend sustainment of WBES for one year, at an estimated cost of $1M. Sustainment will consist of on-site technical support, continuation of software licenses and the purchase of spares. The WBES Contract was awarded for $9.8M on 26 June 2008 to Vangent Inc., Arlington VA. WBES utilizes commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) IT equipment, system installation has been completed. The System is used by the Royal Saudi Air Force to plan, coordinate and conduct training for their School of Command, Control and Communication (C3). It is the Government's intention to award the Sustainment extension to the incumbent Contractor, Vangent Inc. The Government position relies on the exception to full-and-open competition, cited below: FAR 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, and FAR6.302-1(a)(iii) For DoD, NASA and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be 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 - (A) Substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition..... COMMENTS: Interested parties may send comments on this Notice to the cognizant Government Contracting Officer, William Flaherty, at [email protected] or Tel. (781) 225-9272. Comments must be received prior to 3 April 2013, 5 PM EDT.