R -- Specialized Acquisition Support Services

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Counter Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) System Program Office (SPO) is to develop and test countermeasures to combat the threat of shoulder-fired missiles against commercial aircraft. The SPO has entered into agreements with two contractor teams to study, modify, and utilize existing DoD countermeasures technologies in the civilian airline environment. The SPO needs the assistance of highly specialized individuals with significant experience in developing and administering Other Transaction (OT) Agreements as well as addressing individual issues that arise from the use of this flexible authority, including, but not limited to, intellectual property, foreign access, teaming, management, and acquisition planning. The remarkable speed at which the Counter-MANPADS program is progressing and the requirements and deadlines placed upon the program by Congress requires quick reactions and decisions by the SPO and DHS. The use of sensitive DoD technologies in the commercial environment as well as the interactions with the commercial airline industry, both domestic and foreign, have and will continue to generate highly delicate and complex issues that must be handled under the umbrella of the OT agreements. The specialized expertise and assistance is imperative to give the SPO and DHS a full understanding of the ramification of these individual issues that will arise during the course of the program and will assist the SPO and the Agency in making rapid and informed decisions. The DHS Office of Procurement Operations (OPO) intends to make a sole source award to Diane M. Sidebottom for Specialized Acquisition Support. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 USC 2304(c) (1) implement by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1 entitled “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements”.