By 
On July 8, the U.S. Air Force released an update to the Mission Partner Environment (MEP) acquisition. The Air Force is expanding the project’s scope and has released a second RFI. A virtual Industry Day will also be held on July 15.
The Secretary of the Air Force Concepts, Development, and Management Office (SAF/CDM) is continuing its market research and actively seeking Industry input to support requirements definition and acquisition strategy decisions for the Mission Partner Environment (MPE) acquisition(s). This posting is a continuation of the Government’s Industry engagement and is the third announcement concerning the subject MPE effort. The first announcement was a Request for Information (RFI) posted to beta.SAM on 4 Feb 20, with a revision to that announcement posted 17 Feb 20 and shown in Attachment 1. The second announcement was the status update posted to beta.SAM on 2 Jun 20 as shown in Attachment 2.
SAF/CDM is becoming increasingly aware of Industry efforts to obtain information and insight from various personnel and organizations. These attempts include requested meetings with individuals of influence and recommending solutions to meet perceived needs for a requirement that is not yet fully defined. These actions are counterproductive to competition and the acquisition process, and only delay our ability to get the final acquisition package out to Industry.
Our Mission Partners (MP), to include Combatant Commands (CCMD), work directly with the Mission Partner Capabilities Office (MPCO) in SAF/CDM to fulfill MPE mission needs and address requirements. The Acquisition Team is working diligently to provide pertinent documentation to Interested Parties and obtain Industry’s comments and feedback regarding the acquisition. Answering/addressing individual requests will only slow this process and hinder timely release and dissemination of documentation and information. Furthermore, the Government is committed to leveling the playing field by avoiding unfair access and minimizing competitive advantage of one party over another. Inappropriately seeking/gaining pre-solicitation information could inadvertently disqualify potential bidders from participation
This announcement is issued for the purpose of communicating the MPE acquisition status to and obtaining additional input from Industry, to include:
- Status update since the last posting
- Information on a planned Industry Day and opportunity for One-on-One meetings
- An additional round of RFI questions
- An MPE Acquisition Update briefing (FOUO; to be requested by Interested Parties)
- Requirements documents for legacy system contracts/task Orders (TO) (Performance Work Statements (PWSs) or Statements of Work (SOWs)) (FOUO; to be requested by Interested Parties)
SAF/CDM intends to use information gathered from these interactions to gain an awareness of capabilities, further solidify Interested Parties, and to support formulation of an acquisition strategy. Early Industry involvement in creating a properly scaled enterprise solution is critical to the success of this contemplated acquisition, with the goal of providing SAF/CDM and its customers with superior and cost-effective technical service support through the MPE.
Full information is available here.
Source: SAM
