Sources Sought
Laboratory Support Services
Department of Defense · Washington Headquarters Services (WHS)
AI summaryThe Department of Defense (Washington Headquarters Services), for the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA), is asking firms about Laboratory Support Services, solicitation HQ0034-26-SS-1019SAM. The work is scientists, historians and field archaeologists who help identify missing U.S. service members. This is a sources sought notice: market research, not a request for offers. Most work is at DPAA sites in Hawaii and Nebraska, with worldwide field support. A Secret facility clearance and cleared staff are expected. The response due date is November 9, 2026, 10:00 AM Eastern. More in the summary
Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact
AI summary Beta
The notice looks incomplete: Part of the draft PWS was left out when read: the later technical position descriptions and some general requirements. Its appendices (labor details, historical data, mission support request form) and the DD 254 security form are referenced but were not in the text. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Department of Defense (Washington Headquarters Services), for the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA), is asking firms about Laboratory Support Services, solicitation HQ0034-26-SS-1019SAM. The work is scientists, historians and field archaeologists who help identify missing U.S. service members. This is a sources sought notice: market research, not a request for offers. Most work is at DPAA sites in Hawaii and Nebraska, with worldwide field support. A Secret facility clearance and cleared staff are expected. The response due date is November 9, 2026, 10:00 AM Eastern.
Who can bid (6)
- No set-aside is stated. DPAA asks all kinds of sources to respond: large and small businesses, 8(a), HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned, woman-owned and economically disadvantaged woman-owned.
- A Secret facility clearance, held and kept through the contract (draft PWS Part 4.2; the DD Form 254 sets the security requirements for the work)
- Staff DPAA identifies as needing it must hold a Secret clearance: at proposal submission per the sources sought notice, and at time of award per the draft PWS
Show all 6Show fewer
- Key personnel (Program Manager, Contract Leads, anthropologists) available immediately at award and approved by the Contracting Officer and the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR)
- Contract Leads must live at their duty location, Hawaii or Nebraska; the leads hold doctoral degrees and 8 to 10 years of related experience
- GSA Schedule contract numbers appropriate to the work are requested with the response
How to submit: Email to Jeanelle Joseph (Jeanelle.joseph.civ@mail.mil) with a copy to Rashida Webb (Rashida.d.webb.civ@mail.mil). Subject line: "RFI Response for DPAA Laboratory Support Services". No hard copies.. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (8)
From the version posted Oct 23, 2026.
- Serious: Secret facility clearance and cleared staff. A firm without a Secret facility clearance, or without cleared staff, may not be able to take part.
- Serious: Key personnel must live in Hawaii or Nebraska. Contract Leads need doctoral degrees and years of related experience, and must reside at their duty location.
- Worth checking: Clearance timing differs between documents. The notice says cleared staff must be in place at proposal submission; the draft PWS says at time of award. Ask which applies.
Show all 8Show fewer
- Worth checking: Period of performance differs between documents. The notice lists a 12-month base and four option periods; the draft PWS lists a 1-month phase-in, an 11-month base and two option years.
- Worth checking: Worldwide field deployments. Archaeologists deploy up to 140 days a year to remote or austere sites, and the contractor must meet vaccine and entry rules for each country.
- Worth checking: Large, multi-part response. The $113 million scope needs a GSA labor category crosswalk, a small business sourcing table and past performance from the last 3 years.
- Minor: Format rules can cause rejection. Deviations from the 10-page, font and content-order rules may lead to the response being rejected.
- Minor: NAICS code not settled. SAM.gov lists 621511; the notice says four codes may apply (621511, 541380, 541620, 541715) and asks respondents to recommend one.
Read from the notice and 2 attachments. Show which files.
- Sources Sought Draft PWS.pdf (read)
- Sources Sought Notice_Laboratory Support Services_Final.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Laboratory Support Program (the main requirement): forensic testing and analysis in anthropology, odontology (teeth), chemistry, DNA, isotopes and data science, plus case coordination
- Research Support Program: historical research, archaeological analysis and map-based (geospatial) analysis for recovery and disinterment missions
- Field Support Program: forensic archaeology and field laboratory services at recovery sites worldwide, with recovery plans, cost estimates and reports
- Key personnel: a Program Manager, Contract Leads and anthropologists, plus many technical roles listed in the draft performance work statement (PWS: the document that describes the work)
- Supplemental support, estimated at no more than about 90 days for laboratory work and about 48 days for research
- Quality control plan, monthly status and funds reports, and a Field Support Handbook
- Staffing that keeps 90% of positions filled at all times
- Contract type
- Draft PWS: firm-fixed-price level of effort (FFP-LOE: a set price for a set amount of labor) with a time-and-materials line for travel and materials under a not-to-exceed amount
- Period of performance
- Notice: 12-month base period plus four 12-month option periods, with start in the 3rd quarter of fiscal year 2027 (FY27). Draft PWS: 1-month phase-in, 11-month base year and two 12-month option years.
- Place of performance
- Mostly DPAA laboratories in Hawaii (Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam) and Nebraska (Offutt Air Force Base); worldwide remote work for field support; some work in Virginia and Washington, D.C.
- Estimated value
- $113 million, shown as "Contract Value" in the sources sought notice
- Offers due
- November 9, 2026, 10:00 AM Eastern
- How to submit
- Email to Jeanelle Joseph (Jeanelle.joseph.civ@mail.mil) with a copy to Rashida Webb (Rashida.d.webb.civ@mail.mil). Subject line: "RFI Response for DPAA Laboratory Support Services". No hard copies.
- Page limits
- Capability statement: 10 pages maximum; the supplemental market research answers do not count toward the limit
What to include when you submit
- Use Times New Roman 12-point on letter-size paper; do not include proprietary, classified, confidential or sensitive information
- Part 1, company profile: name, address, contact person, CAGE code (a federal supplier ID), unique entity ID (UEI), business size and GSA Schedule contract numbers
- Part 1, security: facility clearance level and the number of staff holding Secret or Secret with SCI eligibility
- Part 2, technical narrative on the three critical tasks (draft PWS 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4), including working at your site versus in Government-provided space
- Part 3, a table mapping your GSA Federal Supply Schedule labor categories to the Government labor categories in draft PWS Section 1.12, with closest matches where none exist
- Part 4, past performance within the last 3 years: client, contract number, period of performance, dollar value and scope, and how it relates to DPAA laboratory support
- Part 5, whether you intend to quote if a request for quotation is issued, and whether as prime, subcontractor or team or joint venture member
- Small business sourcing: say which task areas you self-perform and which you subcontract, and fill in the sourcing table
- Small business commitment: state the minimum overall percentage of contract value you would give to small businesses
- Answer the supplemental questions: recommended NAICS and PSC codes, barriers to small business, risks, contract type, commerciality, and PWS feedback
- 8(a) joint ventures: say whether the joint venture itself or a partner holds the facility clearance
After award, you must have
- All contractor employees pass the laboratory competency tests within 90 days of start From Sources Sought Draft PWS.pdf:
Contractor employees complete the laboratory-administered competency tests within ninety (90)
Not in the notice text
- Part of the draft PWS was left out when read: the later technical position descriptions and some general requirements. Its appendices (labor details, historical data, mission support request form) and the DD 254 security form are referenced but were not in the text.
- Whether the later buy will be set aside, and whether it will use a GSA schedule, are not stated; the notice only asks for GSA Schedule numbers
- Whether and when a request for quotation will be issued is not stated
- The notice gives no evaluation factors; this is market research
- The notice does not name a current contractor
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 23, 2026
- Notice type
- Sources Sought
- Office
- Washington Headquarters Services, DC
- Product/service code
- Q301 · Reference Laboratory Testing
- Business type
- Medical & healthcare (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 621511)
- 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
The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA) conducts global research, investigation, recovery, and laboratory operations to identify and account for unaccounted-for Department of Defense (DoD) personnel from past conflicts. These efforts support the DoD personnel accounting mission. DPAA was established on January 30, 2015; however, its predecessor organizations have supported the personnel accounting mission for decades. DPAA operates a satellite laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, which opened in June 2013. DPAA also maintains permanent detachments that support host-nation access, logistics, and in-country requirements for investigation and recovery operations. These detachments include Detachment 1 in Bangkok, Thailand; Detachment 2 in Hanoi, Vietnam; Detachment 3 in Vientiane, Laos; and Detachment Europe in Miesau, Germany. DPAA Scientific Analysis (SA), also referred to as the DPAA laboratory, is a large and diverse forensic skeletal laboratory staffed by forensic anthropologists, archaeologists, and odontologists. The laboratory performs scientific analysis to support the identification of missing personnel. In 2003, the laboratory became the second Federal laboratory to achieve accreditation under the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) International Standards Program. Laboratory accreditation supports the DoD Defense Forensic Enterprise program and is consistent with DoD Directive 5110.10, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). DPAA regional directorates, including the Indo-Pacific (IP) Directorate and Europe-Mediterranean (EM) Directorate, conduct complex historical research and archaeological analysis in support of recovery, investigation, and disinterment missions. The regional directorates plan and execute field investigations and recovery operations worldwide. The Partnerships and Innovations Directorate supports these global field operations. This contract supports DPAA laboratory and regional-directorate requirements necessary to advance the Agency’s mission of accounting for as many missing service members as feasible each year. DPAA’s planning objective is to maintain the capacity and capability to account for 200 or more individuals annually.
Similar open opportunities
- Reference Laboratory TestingThe VA's Network Contracting Office 2, for VISN 2 South, plans a requirements contract for reference and esoteric (specialized, send-out) laboratory testing for five VA medical…
- RFP-797-FSS-04-0001-R3: 621II Medical Laboratory Testing & Analysis ServicesThe VA National Acquisition Center runs a standing (always open) Federal Supply Schedule solicitation, 621 II, for reference laboratories that perform medical lab testing.
- Emergent Reference Lab TestingThe VA (Network Contract Office 7, for the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, SC) is running a sources sought notice for an outside lab to test urgent or…
- Blood Donor Panel Testing for Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC)
- NWI Offsite Pathology ServicesThe VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System wants an outside laboratory to do clinical and anatomical pathology testing, autopsies and specimen courier pickups for the Omaha…