JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION
1. Agency, Contracting Activity: Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
2. Action being approved: Non-competitive award for Iraqi police training program.
3. Commodities/Services required: Construction build-out and on-the-ground logistical and other support for the Jordan Iraqi Police Training facility; transportation, logistical, security and other on-the-ground support for 150 U.S. CivPol officers in Iraq, estimated at $100 Million.
4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition: 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(2), FAR Part 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency.
5. In accordance with provisions the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Defense and for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan Act, 2004 (P.L. 108-106), the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) has been directed to provide support to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq using these emergency supplemental funds.
6. Following the end of major combat operations in Iraq, INL was asked by the Office of Humanitarian and Reconstruction Assistance (ORHA), which later became the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), to immediately enter Iraq and begin police sector reconstruction efforts to restore law and order. INL coordinated with DOJ to conduct an international assessment of the conditions and needs of the police, prisons and courts. Because ORHA (and then CPA) was not able to support the INL team or follow-on police sector development efforts, INL was required to find a contractor capable of providing transportation, security, housing, and on-the-ground logistical support, and capable of providing for these critical needs in a hostile post-conflict environment.
In order to meet ORHA’s urgent timetable, a limited competition for this acquisition was conducted between DynCorp, and an SAIC team comprised of PAE Government Services, AECOM Government Services, and MPRI Alexandria Group. The legal authority for the limited competition was provided by a Foreign Assistance Act D&F. A pre-solicitation conference was held with AQM, INL and the competing firms on April 2, 2003, and the RFP was issued the next day. The basis for the award was “best value”, with technical merit being more important than cost or price (but as technical merit of the offerors’ proposals becomes more equal, the evaluated cost or price could become the determining factor.) Oral technical presentations were conducted on April 10 and 11. DynCorp was selected as the successful offeror among the technically qualified based upon a significantly lower proposed cost. The contract was awarded on April 17, 2003.
In the post-conflict reconstruction of Iraq, re-establishment of civilian police authority and the restoration of law and order are critical and are among the U.S. Government’s (USG) highest priorities. Without this component of the USG policy, economic development and democratization cannot take place in Iraq.
Having completed the initial phase of the effort to restore civil authority by conducting an assessment of the immediate state of affairs of Iraqi law enforcement and judicial sectors, INL is now fully involved in the implementation of the Iraqi police recruitment and training effort and is now financing the procurement of a variety of commodities and services in support of personnel in Iraq participating in activities intended to restore civilian police authority. In order to build up the police force to the desired levels over the next two years, approximately 35,000 new police must be recruited, selected and trained.
INL has deployed 23 experienced U.S. police recruitment specialists to Baghdad in November to help establish a standardized, transparent Iraq-wide police recruitment and selection process. Construction is underway to upgrade the training site in Al Muwaqqar, Jordan that, with the renovations, will be able to accommodate up to 3,000 Iraqi police cadets and 1,000 trainers and support staff at any given time. Upgrades to the facility include outfitting classrooms, and setting up firearms and driver training venues as well as lodging and messing capabilities.
New cadets entering the Jordan academy training will undergo an eight-week intensive basic police education in modern policing methods under the instruction of up to 400 senior U.S. and international police instructors trained to deliver the course developed by the DOJ’s International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP). As follow-on to the basic training, recruits will then complete a ten-month structured field-training program in Iraq that will focus on the practical application of the course work and will further develop their skills in core policing areas.
Training for an initial class of 500 Iraqi police cadets began the end of November. The next class of 500 students is expected to begin in January, and build-out of the billeting facilities at the Jordan facility for that class and the ones to follow is urgently needed to meet this timetable. INL must also deploy 150 U.S. police specialists to Baghdad in early January to begin the field training program and receive the first graduates of the basic skills program delivered in Jordan. The U.S. plans to ultimately contribute and maintain a group of up to 1,000 U.S. experienced law enforcement personnel to serve in this operation in Iraq.
Failure to complete the build-out of the Jordan training facility or support the CivPol deployment to Iraq will irrevocably harm the USG effort to restore law and order in Iraq.
DynCorp International, a contractor for INL, has already been tasked with providing logistical and procurement support for the assessment team and criminal justice personnel engaged in the first phase of our efforts in Iraq. They have also completed the first phase of the build out of the Jordan training facility to support the first class of 500 Iraqi police cadets, which began in November.
Because of the very short time-line imposed by the Coalition Provisional Authority to accomplish the recruiting and training of 35,000 Iraqi police, INL requires a contractor to meet short-fuse, unforeseeable, and in some cases, repetitive requirements to support up to 3,000 Iraqi students, up to 1,000 trainers and support staff, as well as up to 1,000 police advisors/trainers/technicians to be deployed in Iraq. To avoid an unnecessary delay in mission implementation, it makes sense to continue the projects currently underway in Jordan and Iraq using the same contractor, DynCorp, that won the competition in April.
7. The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government of the required commodities is fair and reasonable.
8. No pre-award FedBizOpps synopsis will be published for the existing contract modification. As noted in paragraph 6, above, solicitation of offers from other sources was conducted in April and is impracticable to meet short-fuse mission objectives. Furthermore, the delays involved in publication of a FBO notice pursuant to FAR 5.201 would have a detrimental effect on the Iraq reconstruction program. However, the new solicitation was published in FedBizOpps.
9. INL is in the process of re-competing all of its current CivPol requirements, including the one with DynCorp for Iraq, and expects to award the new contract in early February. This fact, along with the fairly recent competition for the required program support services for the Iraq program makes expansion of the present contract with DynCorp the most cost effective and efficient arrangement to meet the USG’s urgent, critical requirements for reestablishing law and order in Iraq.
10. As the requirement for this interim contract modification has not been advertised, no other sources have expressed interest. Competition was received for the solicitation for the contract for the present CivPol requirements that we are re-competing, and a new contract should be awarded in February 2004.
11. As stated above, INL is in the process of re-competing all of its CivPol contracts, including the one for Iraq. Therefore, the present request will enable INL to meet its obligations to the Coalition Provisional Authority until February 2004, with no break in program implementation.
12. The Requiring Office certifies that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of its knowledge and belief.
____________ /signed/
Date Robert B. Gifford
Program Manager
INL/PC CivPol Office
13. I certify that this submission is accurate, and that it contains complete information necessary to enable other officials to make an informed recommendation for approval or disapproval.
____________ /signed/
Date Michael Larson
Contracting Officer
____________ /signed/
Date Ann H. Truitt, Division Chief
Worldwide Operations Division
Approved By:
____________ /signed/
Date Vincent J. Chaverini, Jr.
Contracting Activity
Competition Advocate
____________ /signed/
Date Susan Catington
Departmental Competition Advocate
Approved By:
____________ /signed/
Date Corey M. Rindner
Procurement Executive
____________ /signed/
Date Colin L. Powell
Secretary of State