(a) This guidance establishes policy regarding major acquisition milestones for competitive sourcing competitions under OMB Circular A-76. Competitive sourcing acquisitions will consist of three major acquisition milestones, hereafter called Milestones A, B, and C. These milestones occur at key decision points in the acquisition life cycle for standard competitions conducted under OMB Circular A-76.
(b) Milestone A - Announcement and Release of Solicitation Decisions. Milestone A has two decision points: the decision to announce the competition; and, the decision to release the solicitation for proposals. The two decision points are described below.
(1) Milestone A1 - Competition Announcement Decision: The Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) will make the decision to proceed with formal announcement of the competition. The RA’s preliminary planning team will provide a decision briefing and preliminary planning report to the SPE. General Counsel (DG), J-75, the A-76 Contracting Office (DSCC-DR), the Acquisition Operations Division (J-72), and the servicing DLA Human Resources Center will advise the SPE on the RA’s readiness to proceed with announcement. The SPE will decide at the briefing, in consultation with the RA’s Commander or Director, if a competition announcement should be made, if additional information is needed before making an announcement, or if an alternative course of action should be pursued in lieu of a competition.
(2) Milestone A2 - Decision to Release the Solicitation for Proposals: The Source Selection Authority (SSA) will make the decision to release the RFP. The SSA is responsible for the review and approval of the solicitation’s performance work statement, instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents, and evaluation factors for award; as well as reviewing and approving the acquisition plan and the source selection plan. The SSA will appoint a Source Selection Advisory Council (SSAC) to review the acquisition plan, source selection plan, and RFP in order to advise the SSA on the solicitation’s readiness for release. The SSAC will be comprised of senior-level representatives from the DG, the A-76 Contracting Office (DSCC-DR), Human Resources Directorate (J-1), the appropriate Headquarters DLA business office that has oversight of the RA, J-72, J-75, Financial Operations Directorate (J-8), and the RA. The SSA will appoint an individual from the SES to chair the SSAC. The A-76 Program Manager will serve as the Acting Chair in the absence of the SSAC Chair.
(c) Milestone B - SSA Performance Decision. The SSA will make the performance decision, which per OMB Circular A-76 marks the formal completion of the A-76 competition. The SSA’s performance decision is formalized by certifying the Standard Competition Form and is based on the recommendation from the SSAC, which reviews the source selection evaluations from the Source Selection Evaluation Board, the Price Evaluation Board, and the Contracting Officer’s evaluation of socioeconomic programs proposals from commercial offerors. While the SSA may use reports and analyzes prepared by others, the performance decision must represent the SSA’s independent judgment. The performance decision serves as the basis for awarding the competition to the agency tender, commercial offeror, or public-reimbursable tender.
(d) Milestone C - Competitive Sourcing Post-Award Accountability Review. A special Integrated Acquisition Review Board (I-ARB) chaired by the DLA SPE will meet to conduct a post-award accountability review within 90 days after 1 year of full operations by the service provider (SP). I-ARB membership will be in accordance with the Defense Logistics Acquisition Directive (DLAD) (see DLAD 7-104.90 (b) and (c)). The ACO will review and report on the SP’s performance and cost of operations, as applicable, and on any approved changes to the contract or letter of obligation to the I-ARB. The ACO will make a recommendation to the I-ARB regarding continued performance by the SP. The I-ARB will take the ACO’s report and recommendations under consideration and issue a determination on corrective actions to be taken, if any.
