Solicitation
Education Service Support Contract (ESSC)
Department of Defense · Department of the Army
AI summaryOnly businesses eligible under the Small Business Administration's Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program can bid. The Army (MICC-Fort Knox) wants a contractor for administrative support to the Army Continuing Education Division (ACED), part of the Adjutant General Directorate, at Fort Knox, Kentucky. It is a firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price, whatever the work costs) contract: 1-month phase-in, 11-month base, and four 1-year options. The response due date is November 20, 2026, 9:00 AM Eastern. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
The notice looks incomplete: Parts of the documents were attached but not read: about 24,000 characters in the middle of the solicitation and about 70,000 in the middle of the PWS, so offer submission instructions, how to send an offer, and some task details may be missing. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Only businesses eligible under the Small Business Administration's Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program can bid. The Army (MICC-Fort Knox) wants a contractor for administrative support to the Army Continuing Education Division (ACED), part of the Adjutant General Directorate, at Fort Knox, Kentucky. It is a firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price, whatever the work costs) contract: 1-month phase-in, 11-month base, and four 1-year options. The response due date is November 20, 2026, 9:00 AM Eastern.
Who can bid (6)
- Be eligible under the SBA Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program; the notice is a WOSB set-aside under FAR 19.15
- Propose a program manager, an alternate program manager and a financial analyst who meet the PWS minimums, with resumes and signed letters of intent in the offer
- The program manager must be employed by the prime contractor (the firm that holds the contract)
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- Do not pay more than 50 percent of the amount the Government pays to subcontractors that are not similarly situated small businesses (limitations on subcontracting)
- Provide a written plan with the offer for continuing essential contractor services in a crisis
- Comply with DFARS 252.204-7012 and the NIST SP 800-171 security controls (rules for protecting sensitive defense information) on your own computer systems
Things to watch (10)
From the version posted Oct 16, 2026.
- Serious: WOSB set-aside. Only businesses eligible under the SBA Women-Owned Small Business Program can bid, and the contractor must keep to the 50 percent subcontracting limit.
- Serious: Three named key people needed with the offer. An offer fails if any resume or signed letter of intent is missing, unsigned, or does not confirm availability, or if a person misses the PWS minimums.
- Worth checking: Part of the solicitation and PWS was not read. Offer submission instructions, the question deadline and any site visit are not in the text read, because the middle of both documents was left out.
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- Worth checking: Lowest price wins among acceptable offers. Price decides the award once the technical and past performance factors are rated acceptable, so a high price loses even with a strong technical offer.
- Worth checking: Half the staff must work onsite at Fort Knox. The program manager, alternate and office operations staff are onsite, and the rest telework on a recurring basis.
- Worth checking: Conflict-of-interest plan and nondisclosure agreements. The contractor must keep an organizational conflict of interest (OCI) mitigation plan and have every assigned person sign a nondisclosure agreement before touching Government financial data.
- Worth checking: Security, background checks and cybersecurity rules. Staff need background checks, a Common Access Card and installation access, and the firm must meet DFARS 252.204-7012 cybersecurity rules.
- Worth checking: Wage rates are checked against a wage determination. Pay for non-exempt positions can be checked against the Department of Labor Service Contract Act wage determination (number 2015-4681 in the attachment name), so price labor at or above it.
- Minor: Deliverable deadlines after award. The program manager's name is due 5 business days after award, the QCP draft, and records must be produced within 2 hours of a request.
- Minor: Two different Fort Knox addresses. The solicitation lists the service site as 1600 Spearhead Division Ave, Building 6434, while the PWS says work is at 199 6th Avenue, Building 1109B; ask which governs.
Read from the notice and 3 attachments. Show which files.
- IB08_Solicitation - W9124D27RA006_RELEASED.pdf (read)
- IA02_PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT_ESSC_14 SEP 26_Final (002).pdf (read)
- WAGEDETERMINATION_2015-4681.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Program management (PWS 5.1): a program manager and alternate, process improvements, meetings and standard operating procedure reviews. PWS means performance work statement, the document describing the work
- ACED office operations (PWS 5.2): shared mailbox, phone inquiries, visitors, mail, scanning refund checks and processing taskers (tracked assignments)
- ArmyIgnitED support (PWS 5.3): review and assign messages in the Army's tuition assistance system; historical workload was 62,778 per year
- Army Personnel Testing support (PWS 5.4) and Joint Services Transcript support (PWS 5.5): test-site updates, score reports, and resolving transcript cases (historical 19,356 and 42,104 per year)
- Finance support for refunds and recoupments (PWS 5.6), led by a financial analyst; historical workload was 47,435 per year
- Monthly status reports, an annual roll-up report, and answers to Government data requests within four business hours for priority and one business day for routine requests (PWS 5.7 and 5.8)
- Quality control plan (QCP: how you check your own work): draft 15 days after award, final 30 days after award. Also a Contractor Consolidated Plan, draft 15 days after award (PWS 5.9)
- Work at Fort Knox with 50% of staff onsite and 50% telework on a recurring basis
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (FFP), non-personal services
- Period of performance
- Phase-in: March 4, 2027 to April 3, 2027 (1 month). Base: April 4, 2027 to March 3, 2028 (11 months). Four 1-year options, the last ending March 3, 2032. About 5 years if all options are used, plus a possible extension of services under FAR 52.217-8 (priced as 6 months for evaluation)
- Place of performance
- KY, USA (SAM.gov). The PWS says 199 6th Avenue, Building 1109B, Fort Knox, KY 40121
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA): the lowest total evaluated price among offers rated acceptable on all non-price factors. No trade-offs between price and other factors
- Offers due
- November 20, 2026, 9:00 AM Eastern
What they'll judge offers on
- Factor 1, Technical Approach (rated acceptable or unacceptable): Subfactor 1, Technical Execution Plan (a workable method for every task in PWS 5.1 through 5.9); Subfactor 2, Key Personnel Documentation (resumes and signed letters of intent for the program manager, alternate program manager and financial analyst)
- Factor 2, Past Performance (acceptable or unacceptable; no record counts as acceptable): recent and relevant work, judged from the offer and sources such as the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)
- Price: not scored; judged fair, reasonable and balanced. Total evaluated price adds the phase-in, base, all four options, and 50% of Option Year 4 for a possible extension
What to include when you submit
- Complete the blocks the Standard Form 1449 (SF 1449: the form you sign and return as your offer) assigns to the offeror: 12, 17, 23, 24 and 30
- Technical proposal: give a workable method for every task in PWS paragraphs 5.1 through 5.9
- Send resumes and signed letters of intent for the program manager, alternate program manager and financial analyst. Each must show the person meets the minimum experience, education and certification in PWS 1.5.6.1.1, 1.5.6.2.1 and 1.5.6.3, and that the person is available
- Put the program manager's name in the technical proposal
- Price only the phase-in, base and four option periods
- Include a written plan for continuing essential contractor services during a crisis, covering up to 30 days or until normal operations resume
- Past performance: the Government uses what is in the offer plus other sources such as CPARS; the number of references is not in the text read
- Complete the offeror representations and certifications, including small business program representations
After award, you must have
- Staff need a favorable FBI fingerprint check and a started National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI, a basic background investigation) before getting access to Government systems From IA02_PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT_ESSC_14 SEP 26_Final (002).pdf:
Contractor personnel supporting this contract shall have a favorable Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Not in the notice text
- Parts of the documents were attached but not read: about 24,000 characters in the middle of the solicitation and about 70,000 in the middle of the PWS, so offer submission instructions, how to send an offer, and some task details may be missing
- How and where to submit the offer, any page limits, the question deadline, and whether a site visit is held
- Past performance details: how many references to send and what counts as recent and relevant
- The Service Contract Act wage determination 2015-4681 is attached, but its rates could not be read here; check the file on SAM.gov
- The Government's estimate or budget is not given
- The size standard for NAICS 611710 and any named incumbent are not stated
Eligibility and how to respond
- Only women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) certified by SBA can bid as the prime contractor. Not certified yet? Apply for WOSB certification (SBA). More open women-owned set-asides under NAICS 611710
- How and where to submit is in the notice text and its attachments on SAM.gov.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 16, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- W6QM MICC-FT Knox, Fort Knox, KY
- Product/service code
- R699 · Support – Administrative: Other
- Business type
- Education & training (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 611710)
- 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
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
- Open WOSB set-aside contracts
Terms on this notice: Solicitation, WOSB (women-owned small business), Set-aside
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The requirement is to provide administrative support services required by Army Continuing Education Division (ACED) in the O ice of the Adjutant General directorate (TAGD) and it subordinate agencies at Fort Knox, Kentucky. This work includes, but is not limited to, any function, which is necessary during the processing of educational benefits and programs beginning upon initial receipt or contact, research and review required regulations, records, and law; developing a recommendation on the disposition for government approval, preparing responses for signature, releasing disposition to required agencies or claimants, and other related services as further defined in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). Please see all attached documents.
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