Military department supplements: Air Force, Army and Navy

The DFARS lets the military departments write their own rules on top. Departments and agencies and their component organizations may issue acquisition regulations as necessary to implement or supplement the FAR or DFARS 1.

The Air Force supplement is the Department of the Air Force Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DAFFARS), which establishes uniform policies and procedures for the Department of the Air Force implementing and supplementing the FAR and the DFARS 2. It applies to all Department of the Air Force acquisitions as defined in FAR part 2, except where expressly excluded 3.

The Army supplement, the AFARS, implements and supplements the FAR, the DFARS and the DFARS Procedures, Guidance and Information (PGI) to establish uniform policies for Army acquisition 4, and it says it does not restrict the exercise of good business judgment or stifle innovation 5. The Navy Marine Corps Acquisition Regulation Supplement (NMCARS) applies to all Department of the Navy activities in the same manner and to the same extent as specified in FAR 1.104 and DFARS 201.104 6.

Name check: you will still meet "AFFARS", an earlier name for the Air Force supplement, in older documents and conversation. Search for both names when you look for a cited section.

Supplements keep the numbering logic you learned in the last lesson. Department and component supplements must parallel the FAR and DFARS numbering, except that their supplemental numbering uses subsection numbers of 90 and up instead of 70 and up 7, and department or agency supplemental provisions and clauses use four-digit numbers in the 9000 series 8.

The Air Force also publishes mandatory procedures beside its supplement. DAFFARS Mandatory Procedures are companion resources arranged by parts that correspond to the FAR parts, and supplements to the DAFFARS and its mandatory procedures are prohibited 9. When an Air Force solicitation cites an "MP" number, it is pointing you at one of those procedures.

Check 1

An Air Force solicitation includes clause 5352.201-9101. What does the -9101 suffix tell you?It is a department or agency supplemental clause: those use four-digit numbers in the 9000 seriesIt is a DFARS clause: all DoD clauses use the 9000 seriesIt is a FAR clause that the Air Force renumberedIt is a local clause with no regulatory basis

A clause worth knowing: the Air Force ombudsman

The DAFFARS tells contracting officers to insert a clause substantially the same as DAFFARS 5352.201-9101, Ombudsman, in all solicitations, including draft solicitations, and contracts 10. Under that clause, interested parties must first take their concerns, disagreements and recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution 11.

Know what the ombudsman is not. The ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes 12, and consulting one does not alter or postpone the timelines for other processes, including bid protests and requests for debriefings 13.

Practice, from the buyer's side of the table: the ombudsman is for a concern the contracting officer has not resolved, such as an evaluation approach in a draft RFP that two readers interpret differently. Put the concern to the contracting officer in writing first, keep your own protest and debriefing dates in your calendar, and do not expect the conversation to reach the evaluation itself.

Check 2

Your team thinks the evaluation criteria in an Air Force draft RFP are unclear. Under the ombudsman clause, what comes first?Raise the concern with the contracting officer for resolutionAsk the ombudsman to sit on the evaluation boardAsk the ombudsman to extend the protest deadlineSkip the contracting officer and write to the program manager

A check on new burdens

Supplements have limits. Under DFARS 201.304, a new requirement for a certification by a contractor or offeror may not be included in a department, agency or component procurement regulation unless the conditions that section sets are met 14. If a supplement seems to ask you to certify something new, read the cited section and ask the contracting officer what authorises it.

Practice: when a solicitation cites a supplement section you do not recognise, read it on Acquisition.gov at the citation given, note the change number or date of the version you read, and ask the contracting officer in writing before the question deadline if it seems to conflict with the FAR or DFARS.

Worked example. Contractor F answers an Army solicitation that cites an AFARS section on delivery reporting and a 52xx.2xx-9xxx clause. It reads both on Acquisition.gov, records the AFARS change number in its clause list, and finds that the clause asks for a monthly report its earlier Air Force work did not. It prices the reporting effort instead of assuming the two departments ask for the same thing.

Check 3

Which statement about department supplement numbering is accurate?Department supplements parallel FAR and DFARS numbering but use 90 and up for their supplemental subsectionsDepartment supplements use their own numbering with no link to the FARDepartment supplements use 70 and up, the same as the DFARSDepartment supplements may only be cited by title, never by number

Indented paragraphs are invented worked examples. Tool links open Bids2Bank and need a free account.

Military department supplements: Air Force, Army and Navy

By the end you can

A third layer under the DFARS

A clause worth knowing: the Air Force ombudsman

A check on new burdens

Military department supplements: Air Force, Army and Navy

By the end you can

A third layer under the DFARS

A clause worth knowing: the Air Force ombudsman

A check on new burdens