Federal Proposal Skills

Real session, run 2026-10-04 with Claude Sonnet on a real Navy task order RFQ (N0018926R3109, 30 pages plus a 3-page quality plan). No company facts were supplied. A government employee's name and a local file path are shortened here.

The compliance matrix is written and validated: 307 rows, 26 flagged items. Status is draft because amendments are unconfirmed.

State: shred steps 1 to 8 of 8 done.

Files

1. Matrix and format register: pursuits/n0018926r3109/10-compliance-matrix.md
2. Your source text, copied in: pursuits/n0018926r3109/source/sol.txt and qasp.txt
3. That folder is not in a git repository. It will hold pricing and competitor material, so keep it out of version control.

Counts

• Requirements by source: L 83, M 32, Section C 96, QASP 18, SF33 8, A 27, B 18 (one per CLIN), E 1, F 6, G 11, I 5, J 2. Total 307.
• By basis: 218 obligations on you (shall, must, will, required), 18 should or may, 65 statements of what the Government will or may do, 6 information.
• Flags: 6 conflicts, 7 gaps, 13 ambiguities. 11 are High. Every flag has a suggested CO question.
• Volumes: I Non-Price (Performance Approach 10 pages, Past Performance 4 pages). II Price (no limit).

What matters most for a bidder

1. Eligibility and clock. Only firms that sent Step One (due 24 Sep) and were found viable can quote; others are disqualified. The quote is due Monday 12 Oct 2026, 12:00 PM, by email only to the Navy contact named in the RFQ. The SF33 says local time and A.1.7 says EST, and EST is not in effect on that date. Plan to 12:00 PM Eastern daylight time.
2. Two minimum ratings decide eligibility before price is compared. Performance Approach must rate Acceptable. Past Performance must rate Satisfactory Confidence, or Unknown/Neutral if you have none. Non-price outweighs price. Pages over the limits are excluded, and wording such as "will comply with the performance work statement" is called inadequate.
3. The RFQ contradicts itself where it costs you. Section L requires you to address Task 3.1 and Task 3.2, and Section C has only 3.1. M wants quoters to "explicitly detail how their experience will be leveraged" and L never says where. L requires a Past Performance Information Form that is not in the package. SF33 block 12 defaults to 60 days and Section A requires 270.
4. The work. A 24/7 on-site watch at SEOC Building 111, Washington Navy Yard, SECRET, mission essential through weather and holidays, with "zero unmitigated gaps." Section A calls the services unclassified and puts performance at contractor locations. No headcount or hours are given, and extra hours need approval. Performance starts 1 Nov 2026, 20 days after the quote closes. The incumbent is CSA Global LLC.
5. Price. 18 CLINs: FFP labor for a base year, four option years and a 6-month option (66 months). Travel and ODC are set by the Government ($219,659.62 and $38,427.57 across all periods), loaded with your indirects, not-to-exceed. Evaluated price is the sum of all CLINs. The Government intends to award without exchanges and may hold exchanges only with the likely best-value quoter.

Open items

Do now

1. Confirm your firm sent Step One and holds the Step Two invitation. Check for amendments; none were supplied and the matrix assumes none.
2. Get the DD254 (Attachment 1) and the Past Performance Information Form. Neither is in source/.
3. Decide who raises Flags 1 to 10 with the CO. The formal question window closed 22 Sep 2026, so these go as late inquiries.

Later
4. There is no win strategy file, so the theme column is omitted. No company facts (FCL, CAGE, UEID, SeaPort status, past performance) were supplied, and none were assumed.
5. The SeaPort MAC base text and the DoD source selection tables are not in the package.

Confirm every deadline and dollar figure above against the live solicitation and any amendment before relying on it.

Next: open the matrix, read the Summary, then Flags 1 to 10.

From the matrix file

Three of the 307 rows, as written:

Four of the 26 flags, as written: