Sources Sought
SAF/SA Campaign Analysis Support
Department of Defense · Department of the Air Force
AI summaryThis is a sources sought notice, not a solicitation. The Air Force's Office of Studies and Analysis (SAF/SA), buying through FA7014 AFDW PK, asks industry for capability statements and comments on a draft performance work statement (PWS) for Campaign Analysis Support using its STORM war-simulation software. The response due date is November 16, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern. Work is mainly at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and needs Top Secret cleared U.S. citizens and a Top Secret facility clearance. More in the summary
Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Department of the Air Force who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact
AI summary Beta
This is a sources sought notice, not a solicitation. The Air Force's Office of Studies and Analysis (SAF/SA), buying through FA7014 AFDW PK, asks industry for capability statements and comments on a draft performance work statement (PWS) for Campaign Analysis Support using its STORM war-simulation software. The response due date is November 16, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern. Work is mainly at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and needs Top Secret cleared U.S. citizens and a Top Secret facility clearance.
Who can bid (4)
- A Top Secret facility clearance, shown in the Industrial Security Facility Database when the proposal is submitted and kept for the life of the contract.
- All staff must be U.S. citizens with a current Top Secret clearance and eligibility for Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI, a tighter intelligence category).
- No foreign nationals may work on the classified or unclassified parts of the contract.
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- Key personnel: Senior Campaign Analyst needs a Master's degree and 12 years of campaign analysis and modeling experience; Mid-Level needs a Bachelor's and 10 years; Junior needs a Bachelor's and 3 years.
Things to watch (10)
From the version posted Oct 16, 2026.
- Serious: Top Secret facility clearance needed at proposal submission. A business without its own Top Secret facility clearance already in place cannot take part. Getting one takes sponsorship and time.
- Serious: U.S. citizens with Top Secret/SCI clearances only. Every worker must be a U.S. citizen with a current Top Secret clearance and SCI eligibility, and foreign nationals are barred, so the staffing pool is small.
- Worth checking: Clearance levels differ between sections. Section 2.3 asks for a minimum of Secret for analysis and help desk staff, but the clearance section requires Top Secret for all personnel. Ask which governs.
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- Worth checking: Facility near the Pentagon and on-site staff. Off-site staff must work from a facility within about an hour of the Pentagon, and analysts must be on site at the Pentagon during business hours, so a business far from Washington, DC has a local presence problem.
- Worth checking: Fast response times and after-hours coverage. Routine requests need contact within 1 hour and urgent requests within 30 minutes. An after-hours person must reach the Pentagon within 4 hours of notice.
- Worth checking: Fully ready within 30 days of award. Staff must be trained, cleared and ready to start work after a 30-day start-up period, with transition from any incumbent.
- Worth checking: Kickoff meeting timing differs: calendar days or business days. The kickoff section says no later than 10 calendar days after award, while the deliverables table says 10 business days after award. Ask the contracting officer which governs.
- Minor: Draft requirements may change. The PWS is a draft (version 1) put out for industry comments, so tasks, staffing and terms can change before any solicitation.
- Minor: Contractor provides training space at its own cost. The contractor must arrange and pay for the training location for courses of up to 15 students.
- Minor: Key personnel vacancy limit. More than one key position vacant for over 14 calendar days in a performance period counts as unacceptable performance.
Read from the notice and 1 attachment. Show which files.
- Campaign Analysis Support PWS (STORM) - Draft.docx (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Campaign analysis support: run the Synthetic Theater Operations Research Model (STORM), build and update model and scenario databases, write study reports and briefings, and run models during war games
- STORM software engineering: change code approved by the Configuration Control Board (CCB, a Government panel), deliver alpha, beta and final releases on physical discs, and handle security reviews and Risk Management Framework (RMF) paperwork
- Analysis toolkit software engineering: build and maintain the pre-processing and post-processing tools used with STORM
- User community support: a help desk, a STORM user group website, an annual user group meeting, minor bug fixes and software installation
- Training: a 5-day introductory course twice a year (up to 15 students), a 3-5 day advanced course each year, plus extra, executive and international courses on request
- General support: same-workday quick reaction support, conference and working group support, monthly status reports and a monthly staff roster
- Staff the work with on-site senior, mid-level and junior campaign analysts, and an off-site program manager, principal configuration architect and help desk representative
- Provide transition-in and transition-out plans and a quality control plan (QCP, how you check your own work)
- Contract type
- Not stated. The draft PWS refers to task orders and to labor-hour surge line items. It is a sources sought notice, so no award terms are set yet.
- Period of performance
- Transition period of an estimated 6 months, a 1-year base, three 1-year options (Option I, II and III), and a final option of an estimated 6 months (listed in the PWS as '-8 Option'). About 5 years in total if all are used.
- Place of performance
- The primary place is the Pentagon, Washington, DC. Off-site staff work from a contractor facility within about an hour of the Pentagon. SAM.gov lists DC, USA.
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- Offers due
- November 16, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern
What to include when you submit
- Send a capability statement for the draft Campaign Analysis Support (STORM) PWS.
- Include comments on the draft PWS and any recommendations or suggestions on the PSC and NAICS codes.
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. The draft PWS mentions transition from "the incumbent Contractor (if applicable)" but gives no name or contract number.
Not in the notice text
- How to send the capability statement and comments (email address or portal) and who to contact are not given in the notice or the draft PWS.
- The set-aside, contract type, Government estimate and number of awards are not stated.
- The draft PWS refers to Attachment 1 (SAF/SA memo on the contract travel request process), a DD Form 254 (security classification form) and non-disclosure agreements that are not in the documents read.
- The dollar limit of the labor-hour surge line items is not given.
- How offers will be evaluated is not stated, since this is a sources sought notice.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside. Any business can reply: this is market research, and no bid is being taken yet.
- To respond, send a short reply to the contracting contact near the top of this page. No price is needed.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 16, 2026
- Notice type
- Sources Sought
- Office
- FA7014 Afdw PK, Andrews AFB, MD
- Product/service code
- DA01 · IT and Telecom – Business Application/Application Development Support Services (labor)
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541330)
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
Terms on this notice: Sources sought notice
Full notice text from SAM.gov
AF/SA seeking Industry feedback on attached CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS SUPPORT Synthetic Theater Operations Research Model (STORM) Performance Work Statement. Air Force is seeking maximum competition and innovative solutions. Please provide capability statements, comments, as well as any recommendation/suggestions to the PSC/NAICS.