ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- The next Arnold Engineering Development Complex Facility Support Services contract is set to be awarded around this time next year.
To give potential bidders greater insight into the requirements of the AEDC FSS III contract and a closer look at Complex operations, members of Team AEDC recently hosted an Industry Day event at Arnold Air Force Base, headquarters of AEDC.
“The purpose of Industry Day is to enable information sharing and promote open communication between the government and interested contractor entities regarding an upcoming procurement action,” said AEDC Services Acquisition Branch Chief and FSS Program Manager Nicole Tracey. “It is intended to help potential offerors understand what the government is seeking to acquire, and it also serves as a market research tool that we, on the government side, will use to refine the acquisition strategy.”
FSS reaches not only Arnold AFB but also the geographically separated AEDC units of Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 in White Oak, Maryland, and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at Moffett Field, California. The FSS II contract, or the second FSS contract awarded since the Complex began awarding bids for services contained in the FSS requirements, is currently in effect at AEDC. The FSS III contract – the subject of the recent Industry Day – will be awarded in the summer of 2027.
“The FSS III contract will provide a number of services crucial to enabling AEDC to perform its core mission of development test and evaluation,” Tracey said.
Most of these services, Tracey added, focus on physical security and public and occupational safety across five functional areas. The FSS III contractor will be required to provide:
- Security Services. This includes running the Base Defense Operations Center, patrols, managing installation access control points and resource protection.
- Command and Control. This includes running the AEDC Operations Center, which serves a Command Post-like function to provide timely communication, test resource tracking and emergency management across the Complex.
- Fire and Emergency Services. This includes emergency response, including ambulance services; fire prevention and education; confined space and technical rescue; and hazardous material offensive operations.
- Environmental Management. Contractor personnel will work to ensure AEDC maintains compliance with environmental laws and regulations while fostering stewardship of Arnold AFB’s natural and cultural infrastructure.
- Safety. This includes occupational safety, safety awareness, mishap investigations, hazard abatement and tracking, safety inspections and safety training.
“These functional areas are vital to the protection and safety of our installation,” said AEDC Contracting Officer Erica Anglin.
Industry Day, which was held July 21-22, was attended by multiple companies with experience in executing contracts with requirements similar to those included for FSS III.
On the first day of the two-day event, interested companies were briefed on the history of AEDC and its mission. They were also given an overview of the FSS contract history, dating back to the initial contract awarded in 2015. Also discussed were some of the FSS III acquisition plans being considered by the Source Selection Office, the group stood up for the purpose of evaluating submitted bids and determining the contract awardee.
Government subject matter experts from Team AEDC were also present to provide potential offerors with detailed overviews of the FSS functional area requirements.
“We want potential offerors to come away with a deeper understanding of our requirement; of what we need, why we need it and the processes we will implement to procure it,” Tracey said. “We also want to impress upon them that their inputs are valuable to us as well. Open dialogue and transparency between the government and industry is critical to a successful procurement.”
The second day included one-on-one roundtable discussions between government teams and the attendees in the morning and a windshield tour of Arnold AFB in the afternoon.
“We want industry to feel that their time here was worthwhile by learning about AEDC and the requirements through intentional presentations and meaningful conversations,” Anglin said. “Feedback throughout the acquisition process is valuable as it helps support the decisions we make.”
The FSS II contract will end on Nov. 30, 2027. It is anticipated the FSS III contract will be awarded in July 2027 and, once it is, the awardee will have a 90-day phase-in transition period prior to the start of contract execution on Dec. 1, 2027.
The FSS III Industry Day event was announced via a posting on the Systems for Award Management, the official U.S. government website where businesses, nonprofits and other entities must register to bid on federal contracts. The announcement provided a description of the event and contact information for interested parties to register to attend.
Industry Day events are not all that uncommon at Arnold, as AEDC typically holds at least one for each service contract-specific procurement. For example, an Industry Day was held for the most recent Base Communications and IT Services contract prior to bid solicitation. Three separate Industry Days were held for the most recent Test Operations and Sustainment contract prior to the release of the Request for Proposal.
“AEDC conducts different Industry Day events related to the procurement of a wide array of capabilities, well beyond the events related to specific service contract acquisitions,” Tracey said.
Tracey referred to the source selection process, which includes requirements development, market research, acquisition development and proposal evaluation, as a “team sport.” The Contracting Execution Directorate at Arnold AFB, or PZ, generally takes the lead on Industry Days events, partnering with the appropriate requirement owners and often with the AEDC Program Management Acquisition to plan, organize and conduct the events.
The Source Selection Office stood up for service contract acquisitions is comprised of a procuring contracting officer, a contract specialist, a source selection advisor from the Contracting Execution Directorate at Arnold AFB, a program manager and deputy program manager, a cost/price analyst from the AEDC Financial Management Division, and a legal advisor from the AEDC Staff Judge Advocate.
“It is the responsibility of the SSO to organize and conduct Industry Days for a specific service contract,” Tracey said.
The SSO receives support from subject matter experts representing various AEDC organizations, depending on the specific requirements involved in the acquisition.
“The Industry Days are a collaboration between the requirement owner and PZ,” Anglin added. “Together, we work to conduct market research to have the government’s requirement met.”