Calhoun International, LLC (W50NH9-21-R-1AOG)

B-421047 Nov 14, 2022 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Calhoun International, LLC, of Tampa, Florida, protests the issuance of a task order to Preting LLC, of Springfield, Virginia, under request for task order proposals (RTOP) No. W50NH9-21-R-1AOG, issued by the Department of the Army for human intelligence (HUMINT) operations support services for the United States Army Operations Group (AOG). Calhoun contends that the evaluation of its proposal and resulting award decision were improper. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Calhoun International, LLC File: B-421047 Date: November 14, 2022 John S. Vento, Esq., and Gregg E. Hutt, Esq., Trenam Law, for the protester. Antonio R. Franco, Esq., Katherine B. Burrows, Esq., Lauren R. Brier, Esq., and Patrick T. Rothwell, Esq., PilieroMazza PLLC, for Preting LLC, an intervenor. Captain Natalie W. McKiernan, Lieutenant Colonel Seth B. Ritzman, Captain Dmitrius McGruder, and Andrew J. Smith, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Louis A. Chiarella, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that the agency’s evaluation of protester’s technical proposal was improper is denied where the protester fails to establish it was competitively prejudiced by the alleged evaluation error. DECISION Calhoun International, LLC, of Tampa, Florida, protests the issuance of a task order to Preting LLC, of Springfield, Virginia, under request for task order proposals (RTOP) No. W50NH9-21-R-1AOG, issued by the Department of the Army for human intelligence (HUMINT) operations support services for the United States Army Operations Group (AOG). Calhoun contends that the evaluation of its proposal and resulting award decision were improper. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The AOG conducts HUMINT operations worldwide in support of the Army’s HUMINT requirements: it supports commanders from the tactical to strategic and Army levels, including units involved in combat operations worldwide. Agency Report (AR), Tab 6, RTOP amend. 1, attach. 7, Performance Work Statement (PWS) at 1-2. The purpose of the PWS here is to obtain HUMINT operational support for AOG, including in the areas of target development, collection and source management operations, analytical operations, training, and other related support services. Id. at 2. The RTOP was issued on March 1, 2022, to small-business holders of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Solutions for Intelligence Analysis 3 (SIA 3) indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, pursuant to the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 16.5. AR, Tab 5, RTOP amend. 1 at 1; Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1-2. The solicitation contemplated the issuance of a cost-plus-fixed-fee task order for a base year with four 1-year options. RTOP amend 1. at 3. In general terms, the solicitation requires the contractor to provide 78,720 hours annually (or 41 full-time equivalent employees) in specified labor categories in HUMINT operations support.[1] Id. at 31; attach. 7, PWS at 6. The RTOP established that task order award was to be made on a best-value tradeoff basis, considering the following two evaluation factors: staffing and transition plan; and cost/price (cost). RTOP amend. 1 at 51, 53. The staffing and transition plan factor was comprised of two subfactors in descending order of importance: staffing plan, and transition plan. Id. at 53. While each subfactor would be evaluated and assigned an individual rating; the agency would also derive an overall adjectival rating for the factor based on the assessment of the two subfactors. According to the RTOP, the staffing and transition plan factor was significantly more important than the cost factor. Id. Four offerors, including Preting and the incumbent Calhoun, submitted timely proposals by the RTOP’s April 14 closing date. COS at 3. An Army source selection evaluation board (SSEB) evaluated offerors’ technical proposals using an adjectival rating scheme with available ratings of: outstanding, good, acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable. RTOP amend. 1 at 53-54. A separate cost evaluation team assessed offerors’ cost proposals for reasonableness, realism, completeness, and balance. Id. at 55. The SSEB completed its evaluation on June 13, with the final evaluation ratings and evaluated costs of the Preting and Calhoun proposals as follows:   Preting Calhoun Staffing and Transition Plan Outstanding Good Staffing Plan Outstanding Good Transition Plan Good Good Evaluated Cost $51,060,246 $51,115,852   AR, Tab 10, Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD), Sept.