In This Week's Newsletter:

• Happy Holidays from Hinz!

• Opportunity Spotlight of the Week: Army MAPS

• Four To Follow: Four Interesting Pursuits

• The Interesting Section: Fun Santa Facts

Happy Holidays from Hinz!

As the year winds down, thank you for being such an essential part of this community.

The People, Processes and Technology of our work across Federal, State, and Local BD, Capture, P2W, Proposals, and Pricing truly makes this the most fascinating industry to work in.

We are all fortunate to do what we do, even in a year this complex, changing, challenging and sometimes confounding.

Farewell, 2025!

May the weeks ahead bring you rest, joy, and time well spent with the people who matter most. Here’s to new beginnings, renewed energy, and exciting opportunities in the coming year.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy New Year.

Opportunity Alert – Army MAPS

Contact Katie: [email protected]

Department of the Army, Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services (MAPS). 

On December 19, 2025, the Contracting Office released a modification of the Government’s intent to proceed forward with the MAPS acquisition, merging the RS3 and ITES-3S contracts. The industry day, both in-person and virtual, is scheduled for January 28, 2026, with registration closing by 5:00 PM ET on January 23, 2026. In-person is limited to two people per company at the Myer Auditorium in Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. Estimated release for the Final RFP of this $50B IDIQ is April 2026, with an award timeframe of August 2027. Reach out to Hinz Consulting for any Capture, Graphics, Price to Win, or Proposal support and continue to monitor SAM.gov for any updates in the procurement timeline.

Four to Follow

1. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Secure Access File Exchange (SAFE) Modernization. On December 22, 2025, the Contracting Office released an RFI for interested vendors to provide a white paper response showcasing their solution to enhance scalability, strengthen security, improve accessibility, increase file size capacity, and empower user control. Questions on this RFI are due no later than 4:00 PM ET on January 6, 2026. Responses are due no later than 4:00 PM ET on January 13, 2026. The contract value and competition type are currently unknown. The final RFP is estimated for release around April 2026 with a projected award timeframe of October 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for any changes to the procurement timeline.

2.  US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Army Special Operations Forces Training Support Services. USSOCOM has the need for a contractor to provide exercise management, subject matter expertise, and role players to support field and situational training exercises that enhance realism and adaptability for students. The final RFP for this $120M IDIQ is estimated for release in June 2026 with a potential award date of October 2027. The competition type for this IDIQ is currently unknown. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for more information.

3. Department of the Army, Information Technology Services and Support for Product Lead (PL) Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Enterprise Systems and Services (ALTESS). The Army requires support for Hewlett Packard and Dell servers and workstations, Cisco UCS, thin clients, Linux and Microsoft Windows Server editions, Oracle Servers, and VMware virtualization products. The estimated time for final RFP release for this $130M opportunity is January 2026 with an award set for April 2026. The competition type is currently unknown. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for further movement on this effort.

4. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Engineering Services and Science Capability Augmentation II (ESSCA). On December 19, 2025, NASA published the Virtual Industry Day content, providing an interested parties list and updated procurement schedule. The final RFP release for this $1.8B Full and Open IDIQ is now January 30, 2026, with proposals due March 11, 2026. The current date for contract award is September 30, 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for further information or updates to the procurement timeline.

Fun Santa Facts

• Santa has many names, including Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, and Father Christmas, depending on the country.

• Santa’s modern image as a jolly, bearded man in a fur-trimmed suit was strongly shaped by 19th-century American cartoonist Thomas Nast, who drew influential Santa illustrations for Harper’s Weekly starting in the 1860s.

• He is most often shown in a red-and-white suit, a look that became especially popular after Coca-Cola’s holiday ads in the 1930s.

• Santa traditions differ by country; for example, Italian children look for La Befana, a kind witch who brings gifts, and children in the Netherlands celebrate Sinterklaas, who arrives by steamboat from Spain.

• The idea of flying reindeer may come from northern legends and from how fast and powerfully real reindeer can move through snow and his reindeer are usually listed as Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen, with Rudolph added later in 1939 by Robert L. May.

• The tradition of children leaving out milk and cookies for Santa in the United States is believed to have become popular during the Great Depression, as a way to teach kids about generosity and showing gratitude even in hard times.

• January 26-28th: National Small Business Conference in Nashville, TN

• February 1-4th: National Conference of Regions in Washington DC

• March 16-17th: 2026 Air Force Contracting Summit in Reston, VA

About Hinz Consulting

Hinz Consulting provides services across the full business development cycle:

• Proposals

• Capture

• Price To Win

• Competitive Intelligence

• Strategic Pricing

• Production

• AI Services

• Training

• BD Transformation 

• Process/Methodology 

• Tools and Template

• Small Business