In This Week’s Newsletter:
- Opportunity Spotlight of the Week: USSOCOM EMAPS3
- Four To Follow: Four Interesting Pursuits
- Pricing Insights: Department of State Allowances
- Capture Corner: Attack Strategy
- Tool Time with Tyler: Vultron Internal Review
Opportunity Alert – USSOCOM EMAPS3
Contact Katie: katie.clatterbuck@hinzconsulting.com
US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Enterprise Machine Learning Analytics and Persistent Services 3 (EMAPS3).
USSOCOM seeks EMAPS 3 support, including project management, transition, operations, global logistics, cyber operations, and C5ISR functions. The contractor will also deliver training and system transition services. According to the July 2025 FEDSIM/APEXes (AAS Client-Based Acquisition & Procurement Centers of Excellence) First Friday, the Industry Day for this $2.5B effort is scheduled in Q1 FY 2026. An estimated release date for the final RFP is March 2026, with a projected award timeframe of March 2027. Contact Hinz Consulting for support with Capture, Proposal, and Price-to-Win.
Four to Follow
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Traveler Processing and Vetting Software 2 (TPVS 2.0). CBP requires software application support services for the TPVS suite, which involves application development, modernization, enhancements, operations, maintenance, and specialized equipment integration for over 60 applications/systems. This $100M Full and Open/Unrestricted effort is anticipated to be released under the GSA MAS with the following tentative schedule: Draft RFP release in early September 2025, final RFP in late September 2025, proposals due in late October 2025, Oral Presentations in November 2025, and award by March 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov and eBuy for further updates and schedule changes.
- Department of the Navy (DON), Tactical and Remote Command Control Communications, Computers, Cyber, and Intelligence Edge Systems TARCES. On July 24, 2025, the Contracting Office issued an Advance Notice to release Industry Day Presentation Slides, Attendee list, and Industry Day Questions from the TARCES Pre-Solicitation Conference held on June 26, 2025. This $200M effort is anticipated for release under SeaPort NxG on or around December 2025, with an estimated award date of May 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov and your SeaPort portal for any changes to this opportunity.
- DHS, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Outcome-Based Delivery and DevOps Services IV (ODOS IV). USCIS requires a contractor to participate in a team-based DevSecOps approach to deliver mission-critical functionality and business value frequently, cost-effectively, and securely. This $400M Small Business Set-Aside opportunity is anticipated to be released via the GSA MAS on August 6, 2025, with a projected award date of January 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov and eBUY for more information.
- Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Long Term Integration Support 4 (LTIS4). IRS requires support to modernize individual taxpayer accounting and implement a modernized data distribution platform. This SDB Set-Aside, a $390M opportunity, is scheduled for release via GSA MAS in Summer 2025, with an expected award date no later than July 16, 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov and eBUY for further updates.
Department of State Allowances
Contact Tom: tom.hudgins@hinzconsulting.com
The Department of State Office of Allowances is responsible for developing and coordinating policies, regulations, and procedures related to government allowances and benefits for U.S. Government employees (non-government employees of firms also use this data).
Allowances are essential tools in pricing, compliance, risk mitigation, and workforce management for contractors performing work overseas under U.S. government contracts. The office’s primary functions include:
- Establishing foreign allowances based on cost of living and housing expenses.
- Calculating hardship differentials, danger pay and living quarters allowances to ensure appropriate compensation for employees assigned to foreign locations.
- Setting maximum per diem rates for various areas abroad to ensure compliance with federal regulatory standards.
This office plays a crucial role in ensuring that U.S. Government civilian employees receive adequate compensation for the costs and hardships associated with their international assignments.
Allowances are all based on various elements and can be loaded in different ways:
Post-Hardship Differential: compensates employees for service in foreign areas where environmental conditions differ substantially from those in the continental United States, warranting additional compensation as a recruitment and retention incentive. It is a percentage of basic compensation and varies by location. The percentages as detailed in the link above represent maximums. Since this is tied to pay, it can be treated as labor, loaded with Fringe, overhead, and general and administrative (G&A) expenses.
Danger Pay: provides additional compensation for employees serving at designated danger pay posts. Like Hardship, it is a percentage of compensation and can be treated similarly.
Living Quarters: serves to help employees defray the annual cost of suitable, adequate living quarters for themselves and their families at a foreign post where government-leased or -owned housing is not provided. This is shown as an annual amount. These costs are typically classified as Other Direct Costs (ODCs) and are charged at the applicable G&A indirect rate. Adding a fee is up to the client to decide, as not all clients will allow a fee on non-labor items.
There are many other allowances, such as Education Allowance, Post Allowance (COLA), and Per Diem, among others; however, not all locations offer the same allowances. Additionally, remember that the allowance numbers and percentages are maximums, and offerors should strive to be cost-competitive. Overall, the purpose of allowances is to offset the costs associated with working in a foreign location. Your pricing support will know how to cost and price all allowances.
Attack Strategy
Contact John: john.amoriello@hinzconsulting.com
An Attack Strategy when applying the capture methodology is designed to proactively position your organization to win a competitive opportunity – especially when you are not the incumbent service provider/vendor. This strategy focuses on shaping the customer’s perception, aligning your solution with their mission and customer goals, and thereby displacing the competition. A high-level framework for your organization’s attack strategy should consist of the following capture principles:
- Deep Customer Intelligence:
- Understand the customer’s mission, vision, priorities, goals, pain points, as well as their business and decision drivers.
- Competitive Positioning:
- Identify weaknesses of the incumbent provider, as well as your organization’s top two competitors.
- Highlight your advantages, as well as tactics and counter-tactics, to position your organization.
- Solution/Product Alignment:
- Design/develop a tailored solution that meets or exceeds the customer’s goals, mission, and requirements.
- Leverage differentiators that set your organization apart from the competition (technical innovation, speed to value, and references similar in size, scale, scope, and complexity).
- Shaping the Opportunity:
- Influence the RFP before it is released.
- Deliver Customer Engagement, White Papers, Capability, and Executive Briefings.
- Customer Engagement & Advocacy:
- Build trust with key decision makers.
- Establish executive alignment.
- Utilize internal stakeholders favorable to your organization to influence the buying process.
- Demonstrate commitment to the mission and business outcomes.
- Price-to-Win Strategy:
- Develop and deliver a competitive, compliant price with compelling value.
Vultron Internal Review
Contact Tyler: tyler.harper@hinzconsulting.com
Our Experience with Vultron
In our ongoing “Tool Time” series, we recently shared an interview with Vultron’s leadership team. Now, we’re following up with a detailed internal review based on Hinz Consulting’s practical use of the platform. Our proposal experts tested Vultron in real-world scenarios, evaluating its strengths, limitations, and overall fit for modern proposal development. Below, we break down key findings aligned with our review questions, offering balanced, actionable insights for teams considering this AI-driven tool.
Vultron stands out as a promising AI-native platform for proposal development, particularly in accelerating drafts and enhancing visibility across the bid lifecycle. Its customer-centric evolution, driven by user feedback, positions it well for continued growth. Upcoming features, such as expanded business development support, add to its appeal. That said, success requires thoughtful onboarding, data preparation, and hygiene to navigate its complexities. For proposal professionals seeking efficiency gains without overhauling their entire stack, Vultron is worth exploring.
What Vultron Does Well
Vultron addresses several core challenges in proposal management, starting with accelerated document search across vast knowledge libraries. Users can upload established repositories or ad-hoc files for quick, context-aware retrieval, saving significant time on information hunting. It also excels at generating high-quality “first drafts” for proposals, providing a robust starting point that reduces manual drafting efforts without claiming full automation.
Additionally, the platform enhances early engagement and progress tracking by offering visibility from business development through to proposal writing. This allows teams to monitor opportunity status, context, and key details across phases. The user-focused interface, with multiple navigation options and transparent labeling, accommodates different work styles, making it accessible and easy to use.
The primary benefits include substantial time savings in research and drafting, improved responsiveness to opportunities, and better situational awareness throughout the proposal lifecycle. For organizations dealing with complex federal or commercial bids, these features can streamline workflows and reduce the cognitive load on proposal professionals.
The Most Significant Impact on Process, Efficiency, and Quality
Vultron’s most notable impact lies in speeding up the time-to-first-draft. By delivering context-driven answers and integrating strategic elements like win themes early on, it helps teams move beyond compliance to create more compelling submissions. This results in fewer bottlenecks during information gathering and review cycles, fostering smoother transitions from business development to proposal execution.
On the efficiency front, the tool promotes collaboration and alignment across teams, reducing rework and enabling faster iterations. In part, quality improvements stem from its ability to support advanced refinement. A savvy user can incorporate strategic insights from earlier stages of Business Development. Overall, users reported more streamlined processes, with enhanced draft quality leading to higher proposal effectiveness and reduced timelines. This is critical in competitive bidding environments.
Challenges Encountered During Use
While Vultron offers strong capabilities, our team noted several hurdles during implementation. Onboarding was a key challenge: the initial training focused more on walkthroughs versus hands-on practice, leading to a steeper learning curve for new users. Features like “document shredding” for compliance matrices proved complex on first use, with options (e.g., by paragraph or sentence) not always intuitively explained, requiring trial and error to master.
Collaboration also presented limitations. For example, while multiple team members can review and edit documents, real-time simultaneous editing is not supported, which can slow down group workflows. Some capabilities, such as applying content to multiple compliance requirements, were unclear without deeper guidance, highlighting a need for more comprehensive documentation and support resources. These issues underscore the importance of investing time in setup and training to leverage the platform fully.
How Vultron Integrates with Other Systems
Vultron currently connects seamlessly with SharePoint for document management, allowing easy access to shared repositories. Export options to Microsoft Word and Excel further support standard proposal workflows, enabling users to pull content into familiar tools for final edits.
Broader integrations such as with collaboration platforms or advanced APIs are limited at this stage. This makes Vultron best suited for environments already centered on Microsoft ecosystems, which is most of us in this industry. The company has indicated roadmap plans for expanded compatibility. For now, it’s a solid but not exhaustive integration solution, ideal for teams prioritizing core document handling (versus extensive third-party connectivity).
Data and Training Required for Optimal Use
With clean data hygiene and role-specific onboarding, Vultron’s potential as a drafting and search powerhouse is significantly amplified, turning it into a reliable partner for proposal teams.
Therefore, to get the best results from Vultron, a well-structured content library is essential. Organizations should invest upfront in organizing folders logically to avoid redundancy and ensure efficient searches. Clear hierarchies that mirror real workflows make this easier to maintain.
Training is equally critical: we recommend hands-on, phased sessions that go beyond overviews, focusing on feature-specific practice and tailoring to your team’s unique processes. Please avoid long, all-in-one trainings; instead, you can just opt for shorter, daily modules to build proficiency gradually.
Final Reflections
Vultron is a fast-growing AI platform for proposal development, helping teams speed up drafts and improve bid visibility. It’s shaped by user feedback and adding new features like business development tools. To get the most value, teams need solid onboarding and clean data. For those seeking efficiency without replacing their whole stack, Vultron is worth a look.
- August 18th: Premier Navy Procurement Expo in San Diego, CA
- August 18th: Small Business Expo in San Diego, CA
- August 25th: National Homeland Security Conference in DC
- August 26th: 2025 Navy Summit in McClean, VA
