1. Introduction
A. US Special Operations elements of the US Department of Defense will host the 2025 Joint Innovation Medical Symposium (JIMS) 3-6 Nov 2025 at Fort Bragg, NC. The goal of the JIMS is to create partnerships between Special Operations Forces (SOF) and industry to accelerate SOF's technical advantage in the medical arena. For this event, we are primarily interested in Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) proposals.
2. Proposal Submission
A. To submit a proposal, begin by establishing an account on https://vulcan-sof.com/ if you have not already done so.
B. Once you have an account, go to the JIMS Vulcan Call located at https://vulcan-sof.com/login/ng2/submission?collectionUuid=6f1de8d6-9eb2-42e1-aa92-bb0dcd390c9d.
C. There you will find a document describing the medically related Technical Interest Items (TIIs) we are asking you to propose against and detailed instructions for submitting your proposal. Assistance is available at contact@vulcan-sof.com.
D. Upon closure of the Vulcan Call, every proposal submitted will be thoroughly assessed both individually and in open forum by multiple SOF medical, operational, technical, and programmatic Subject Matter Experts. All feedback will be captured, collated, and provided back to you through Vulcan. Once every submission has been evaluated, selected vendors will receive an invitation to the
JIMS event. It is our goal that every submitter will view this experience as valuable regardless of whether they are invited to attend the event of not. The deadline for submitting proposals is 2359 28 Sep 25.
3. Event Attendance
Vendors selected and willing to attend the JIMS event will be broken into two groups and assigned a date. On the given date, each vendor will be given a specific amount of time (to include questions) to provide a private overview brief of their capability to a group of SOF, Service, and Department of Defense (DOD) medical professionals. In addition, each vendor will be provided space for
a vendor booth for their corresponding day. You may tour the vendor booths each day, as this offers a chance for collaboration between vendors. However, for the vendor briefs, only the presenting vendor and government representatives will be allowed to attend.
4. Partnering
This final step formalizes partnerships for those proposals selected as a result of the private briefings. The pre-signed overarching United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) CRADA will be presented to industry for signature, and work will begin to translate the industry proposal into a detailed bilateral Individual Work Plan (IWP) to be signed by both industry and
USSOCOM. CRADA overview here: https://www.socom.mil/SOF-ATL/Pages/crada.aspx
5. CRADA Proposal Philosophy
The SOF enterprise desires to inform and influence industry's internal investment decisions in areas that address SOF interests. Many in Industry have expertise, capacity, funding, and a desire to better understand and invest in those interest areas. Industry can benefit from the insight, foresight, and facilities of an experienced SOF team to make better decisions faster. SOF can
offer a level of intimacy with the User community that will ensure meaningful feedback in a timely manner. Additionally, SOF can provide facilities not otherwise available to test and demonstrate capabilities, sponsorship at formal test and exercise venues, and government equipment (range time/ground and air mobility platforms/ flight time/ ammunition) coincident to demonstrating the utility of the capability. This construct uniquely enables rapid teaming to achieve the goals of both partners.
6. Administrative Submission Guidelines
A. All submissions must be UNCLASSIFIED. Specific submission instructions for JIMS are available at the Vulcan submittal site listed in paragraph 2.B. above. Vulcan is a web interface tech scouting tool used by the U.S. government. It is designed to simplify the discovery, sharing, assessment, and adoption of technologies. We will use Vulcan to support this event exclusively. All proprietary information is safeguarded in accordance with FAR 3.104 and 18 U.S.C. 1905.
B. This event is voluntary and for collaboration purposes only in accordance with FAR 15.201(e). This is NOT a Broad Agency Announcement, solicitation, or request for contractual offers and does not constitute a commitment of government funding. Respondents will not be reimbursed for any travel, labor, information, etc., they provide in conjunction with this Special Notice.
C. JIMS participants include contractor consultant/advisors. All are SETA-like arrangements bound by procurement integrity laws, and Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA). The Government ensures the safeguarding of proprietary data.
D. Intellectual Property (IP) While some government contracts can impact Industry's IP, this collaboration model imposes no long-term impacts and preserves and protects Industry's exclusive ownership of their intellectual property.
7. International Involvement
There may be FVEY (AUS, CAN, NZL, UK & US) military, government partners, who are interested in the capabilities being demonstrated at the JIMS event. All participating international partners will be required to sign NDAs prior to attending. Respondents, who wish to share their technologies with foreign partners are ultimately responsible for complying with all International Trafficking in Arms (ITAR) /Export Administration Regulations (EAR) requirements associated with their
equipment. Before declaring their ITAR/EAR status, respondents to this RFI should verify the ITAR/EAR status of their technology by visiting the US Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (ITAR) website at https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/ddtc_public and the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security website at https://www.bis.gov/ for more information on Export Administration Regulations (EAR). USSOCOM organizers will segregate submissions to restrict access as necessary to assist in protecting ITAR/EAR related technology demonstrations. FVEY releasable
submissions will be judged on merits and not on respondents' ITAR or REL capability.
Background
The US Special Operations elements of the US Department of Defense will host the 2025 Joint Innovation Medical Symposium (JIMS) from November 3 to November 6, 2025, at Fort Bragg, NC. The goal of JIMS is to foster partnerships between Special Operations Forces (SOF) and industry to enhance SOF's technical advantage in the medical field. The event primarily seeks proposals for Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs).
Work Details
Vendors interested in participating must first establish an account on the Vulcan platform. After account creation, they can access the JIMS Vulcan 'Call' to find documents detailing medically related Technical Interest Items (TIIs) for proposal submission. Proposals will be evaluated by SOF medical, operational, technical, and programmatic Subject Matter Experts. Selected vendors will be invited to present their capabilities at the JIMS event, where they will have designated time slots for private briefings with SOF and DOD medical professionals. Each vendor will also have a booth for collaboration opportunities. Following these briefings, partnerships will be formalized through a pre-signed CRADA with USSOCOM, leading to the development of a detailed Individual Work Plan (IWP). The symposium aims to inform industry investment decisions aligned with SOF interests and facilitate rapid teaming for mutual benefit.
Period of Performance
The contract activities related to the symposium will occur from November 3 to November 6, 2025.
Place of Performance
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
