USSOCOM Blast Exposure Monitoring (BEMO) System Assessment Event

Author: RJB

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Purpose: SOFWERX, in concert with USSOCOM Program Executive Office (PEO) SOF Warrior (SW), will host a Blast Exposure Monitoring (BEMO) System Assessment Event to identify solutions to blast overpressure exposure recognition, which occurs with heavy weapon system use, breaching and other dynamic training environments.

Executive Summary

Who: SOFWERX

What: USSOCOM Blast Exposure Monitoring (BEMO) System Assessment Event (AE) 27 May 2020

When: Assessment Event: 27 May 2020 (Submit NLT 19 April 11:59 PM EST)

Where: CLICK LINK EMBEDDED: Blast Exposure Monitoring (BEMO) System

Why: The Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is seeking to identify solutions to blast overpressure exposure recognition.

How: Submissions to the Assessment Event (AE) open. 19 April is the deadline for submissions to be received for review. Submissions will be reviewed by Government Stakeholders and evaluated for their potential to satisfy the Warfighter’s needs. Submit your technology and be considered for Phase 3 attendance.

*An award under 10 U. S. Code, Section 2371b may result in the further award of a follow-on production agreement without additional competition based on successful prototype completion. The Government may make this follow-on production award even if all successful prototype criteria are not fully met during the prototype project.

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Background: This effort is in direct response to the increasing interest from the public and private sectors resulting in section 734 of the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which requires the Secretary of Defense to conduct a longitudinal medical study on blast pressure exposure of members of the Armed Forces during training and combat. Currently, exposure to blasts relies on subjective measures and self-reporting, which results in very limited identification and quantification of exposure to blast that actually occurs. The overall goal is to keep the Warfighter safe, healthy and highly optimized. Part of operator health and optimization is to understand current blast exposure levels in training and mitigate any unnecessary exposure without degrading the quality of training. Our knowledge of the effects of blast exposure is severely limited by a lack of objective blast exposure monitoring (BEMO).

Why Should You Participate? USSOCOM seeks to enter into non-FAR based agreements with industry partners whose solutions are favorably evaluated by USSOCOM PEO-SW subject matter experts. As such, the Assessment event is considered competitive in the same manner as a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) or Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO), and solutions will be evaluated independently of one another primarily for technical merit. This serves dually as notification of the intent to research the feasibility of an agreement under 10 U. S. Code, Section 2371b and/or Section 2371b(f), and as notice of pre-solicitation activities IAW FAR 5.204.

Event Overview:

Completed Phase 1: 01 April – SOFWERX will conduct a Collaboration Event (CE) focused on PEO-SW’s five areas of interest outlined above. During this event, Warfighters will interact and inform Industry, Academic, Laboratory and Non-Traditional partners to further communicate operational needs and/or desirements. Participation in the event is not mandatory, however, it is designed to provide insights to ensure potential offerors understand the problem set(s) and increase the likelihood of matching technologies with Warfighter needs. If you do not wish to participate in the Collaboration Event, you are free to submit your technology for review for the Assessment Event (AE). The CE will be conducted at SOFWERX in Tampa, Florida. RSVP to attend the CE, NLT 18 March 2020.

Phase 2: 02 April to 19 April – Submissions to the Assessment Event (AE) open. 19 April is the deadline for submissions to be received for review. Submissions will be reviewed by Government Stakeholders and evaluated for their potential to satisfy the Warfighter’s needs discussed during the 01 April event. To submit your technology and be considered for Phase 3 attendance, please follow the submission instructions near the bottom of this webpage after 02 April. Favorably evaluated submissions will receive an invitation on or about 24 April.

Phase 3: 27 May – During the AE, invited participants will be allotted a one-on-one session with the USSOCOM PEO-SW evaluation panel to pitch, demonstrate and/or discuss their solutions. The forum will include a Q&A portion, and discussions may continue outside of the event. Solution brief evaluation criteria will be outlined in the event invitation. If the USSOCOM evaluation panel favorably evaluates a solution brief, negotiations for Phase 4 may immediately begin. Selectees will also be afforded the opportunity to showcase their capabilities in an open, expositional forum for other Government partners that may be interested in their capability.

Phase 4: Successfully negotiated awards may fall under any combination of these categories:

– Other Transaction Agreements under 10 U.S. Code, Section 2371 or 2371b* (prototyping/production follow-on)

– Procurement contract for experimental purposes 10 U. S. Code, Section 2373

– Business to business research and development agreement as a sub-award (15 U.S. Code, Section 3715)

– Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (15 U.S. Code, Section 3710a)

How You Can Participate

Review additional information regarding the Blast Exposure Monitoring System:
- Review the Statement of Objectives for the BEMO System: Click Here to Review
- Review USSOCOM Collaboration Event Briefs: Click Here to Review
- Collaboration Event Q&A Transcript: Click Here to Review (o/a 06 April)
Download the White Paper Template: Click Here to Download
Download the Pricing Sheet Template: Click Here to Download
Submit White Paper and Pricing Sheet: Click Here to Submit (NLT 19 April)