Sources Sought from DEPT OF THE NAVY • DEPT OF DEFENSE. Place of performance: United States. Response deadline: Mar 06, 2026. Industry: NAICS 541715 • PSC R499.
As DoD CMMC rollout expands, approximately 80%+ of DoD solicitations are expected to include cybersecurity/CMMC requirements, including many non-tech scopes.
Awarded-market signal for NAICS 541715 (last 12 months), benchmarked to sector 54.
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REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
1.1 The purpose of this contract is to obtain the services of engineers, physical scientists (i.e. astronomers and physicists), project specialists, and instrumentation experts and to provide short-term (normally at least one year) technical support, research analysis, and operations and maintenance support for United States Naval Observatory operations, research and development activities.
2.00 SCOPE
2.0 The contractor services shall fall within the scope of work delineated herein. Services to be furnished under this contract shall be set forth in individual Tasks Orders. It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to organize, furnish, and supervise a working force which, within the limitations of the provisions of the proposed contract, is capable of effectively performing the work as established in paragraph 3.0 and further defined in the individual Task Orders and supporting PWS’s. It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to assure that all qualified personnel possess the specialized education and experience specified in the labor categories and as identified in the task order issued. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) promptly with hiring status and changes of personnel for each Task Order.
The Government may provide technical instruction and additional information on the specified scientific research projects, including the amplification of the specifications of a particular piece of work and the furnishing of relevant information needed for performance. This includes filling in details that support possible avenues or methods of approach and/or outlining alternative solutions. In no instance will either Navy civilian or military personnel exercise supervision of contractor personnel.
1.3 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ) or promise to issue an RFQ in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Navy is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFQ, if any is issued.
The Contractor shall provide personnel for technical and analytical support in the disciplines of physics, astronomy, astrophysics, aerospace, instrumentation and electrical engineering, and IT/computer sciences. Work shall be in accordance with tasks such as the following as ordered on individual task orders for specified scientific research projects.
Services to be furnished under this contract shall be set forth in individual Tasks Orders. It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to organize, furnish, and supervise a working force which, within the limitations of the provisions of the proposed contract, is capable of effectively performing the work as established in this section and further defined in the individual Task Orders and supporting PWS’s. It shall be the responsibility of the contractor to assure that all contractor professionals possess the specialized education and experience specified under personnel qualifications in Section 4.0 of this document and as identified in the task order issued. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) promptly with hiring status and changes of personnel for each Task Order.
The Government may provide technical instruction and additional information on the specified scientific research projects, including the amplification of the specifications of a particular piece of work and the furnishing of relevant information needed for performance. This includes filling in details that support possible avenues or methods of approach and/or outlining alternative solutions. In no instance will either Navy civilian or military personnel exercise supervision of contractor personnel.
4.0 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS
The Contractor will be required to provide the labor categories identified below that possess the appropriate education requirements for each class
5.0 SECURITY
5.1 All contractors under this contract will be required to obtain and uphold a SECRET Security Clearance when the need to know is deemed required for specific task orders.
5.2 Access to Personally Identifiable Information (PII) will be required and training related to PII will be required and provided by the government.
5.3 USNO security requirements automatically limit employment to U.S citizens and resident aliens.
5.4 Employees will be required to submit a Standard Form 87A (SF-87A) Fingerprint Card, and receive a favorably adjudicated background investigation. Any determination that is "other than favorable," or "undetermined" will render any employee ineligible for access to the United State Naval Observatory.
6.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE
The primary place of performance for contractors working on specific USNO tasks orders will be at the United States Naval Observatory, 3450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC, 20392-5420. However, in rare cases, contractors may work at a different work site, which will be specified in the task order. Telework may be permitted depending on the requirements outline in the task order.
7.0 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS
Access to IT systems requires candidate to in process with the USNO Security Manager and Information Assurance Manager upon arrival at USNO and shall out-process prior to their departure at the completion of the individual's performance under the contract. Completion and approval of a System Authorization Access Request Navy (SAAR-N) form is required for all individuals accessing Navy Information Technology resources. The SAAR-N shall be forwarded to the USNO Security Manager to the candidate accessing any Navy IT system. When required to maintain access to required IT systems or networks, the Contractor shall ensure completion of annual Information Assurance (IA) training, and maintain a current requisite background investigation. The Contractor's Security Representative shall contact the Command Security Manager for guidance when reinvestigations are required.
8.0 INFORMATION ASSURANCE/INFORMATION SECURITY
Contractor shall protect DoD sensitive unclassified data regardless of the location or ownership of the transport media, including, but not limited to mobile computing devices and removable storage media, whether Government furnished or contractor owned/leased. Contractor shall comply with all current information assurance and information security policies, procedures, and statutes applicable to DoD information technology, including the July 3, 2007 DoD CIO Policy Memorandum on Encryption of Sensitive Unclassified Data at Rest on Mobile Computing Devices and Removable Storage Media.
9.0 IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
All Contractor personnel performing under this Performance Work Statement shall identify themselves as Contractor employees to avoid creating any impression that they are Government officials. Such identification shall be made in all meetings attended, when answering Government telephones, on all e-mails and when working in other situations where their Contractor status is not obvious to third parties. They must also ensure that all documents or reports produced by Contractors are suitably marked as Contractor products or that Contractor participation is appropriately disclosed
10.0 GOVERNMENT PROPERTY
The following Government items shall be made available for employees who work on-site at USNO in accordance with FAR 45.000(b)(5): office space and office furnishings together with equipment and supplies necessary for the performance of the work will be provided. Equipment may include access to such items as computers, department and laboratory instruments, and supplies.
11. REPORTS AND DELIVERABLES
Management Reports. The following report shall be required as a minimum:
Monthly Task Detail Report. To include delivery order numbers, work sponsor names and codes, begin/end dates of tasks, names of employees on each task, total hours remaining and hours allotted on each task, and a year to date total of money and hours used thus far on the contract. This report shall be due no later than the 10th day of each month.
The deliverables required to be submitted will be assessed against the specifications for the deliverables detailed in specific task orders.
All travel requirements shall be accomplished in accordance with the Joint Travel Regulations. Travel in performance of this contract is estimated at $TBD. inclusive of any indirect charges including G&A. All travel requirements related to this PWS are accounted for in the Government’s estimated travel cost of $TBD Travel will be reimbursed in accordance with the Joint Travel Regulations and Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 31.205-46. The Contractor shall request travel funding in writing to the Contracting Officer, at least 30 business days prior to any travel. Travel is subject to preapproval by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR).
6.0 Responses
Request Responses by Friday 06 March 2026, 1:00pm EST. The response shall be submitted via e-mail only to the Government Point of Contract (POC): Michael Stoutenger, Program Analyst, michael.j.stoutenger.civ@us.navy.mil Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing to the POC. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted via telephone. The Government does not guarantee that all questions received will be answered.
The RFI should address the following:
1. Capability Statement/Ability to meet specifications
2. Previous similar experience
3. PWS suggestions
4. Company Information. Name, mailing address, phone number, CAGE/and or DUNS, business size status and e-mail of designated point of contact
Files size/type shown when available.
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