Homeland Security Issues EAGLE RFP The Homeland Security Department has released the final RFP for its EAGLE IT services contract, a partial small business set-aside. Pre-proposal conferences have been set for Oct. 18 in Washington, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Registration is first-come, first served; go to www.affirm.org. EAGLE, short for Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions, is a multiple award contract designed to handle the vast majority of DHS’s $6 billion in annual spending on IT services, department officials said. Small and large businesses will be evaluated on separate tracks. The number of awards is not specified in the synopsis. “The EAGLE program will strongly encourage teaming throughout the life of the contracts,” the synopsis says. Many industry representatives had questioned the teaming aspects of the contract at Set-Aside Alert’s two forums on EAGLE and its companion, First Source. The final First Source RFP should follow shortly, according to Kevin Boshears, director of DHS’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. The First Source multiple award contract for IT hardware is a total small business set-aside. Companies may propose in one or more of EAGLE’s five functional service categories: Infrastructure Engineering Design, Development, Implementation, and Integration, NAICS 541512; Operations and Maintenance, 541513 and 811212; Independent Test, Validation, Verification, and Evaluation, 541512; Software Development, 541511 and 518210; and Management Support Services, 541611. DHS officials have said they hope to make awards in the first quarter of calendar year 2006.