This legislation requires the Secretary of Defense to establish a five-year Arsenal Workload Sustainment Pilot Program within 90 days of enactment. The program's primary goal is to sustain and enhance the workload at Department of the Army arsenals, recognizing their critical role in the nation's organic industrial base and their importance for national defense and mobilization capabilities. Under the pilot program, the Secretary of Defense must provide specific procurement preferences. A 20 percent price addition will be applied to bids from non-public partners in public-private partnerships that do not utilize an Army arsenal, thereby favoring those that do. Further preferences are granted to partners that engage with the Army's Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence and ensure at least 25 percent of partnership activities are performed by Department of Defense employees. Additionally, the bill mandates a comprehensive report from the Secretary of Defense to Congress within one year. This report must detail the workload achieved at arsenals, assess their potential for future procurement needs, project expected workload over the future-years defense program, and identify necessary capital investments to maintain operational capacity and compliance.
This legislation requires the Secretary of Defense to establish a five-year Arsenal Workload Sustainment Pilot Program within 90 days of enactment. The program's primary goal is to sustain and enhance the workload at Department of the Army arsenals, recognizing their critical role in the nation's organic industrial base and their importance for national defense and mobilization capabilities. Under the pilot program, the Secretary of Defense must provide specific procurement preferences. A 20 percent price addition will be applied to bids from non-public partners in public-private partnerships that do not utilize an Army arsenal, thereby favoring those that do. Further preferences are granted to partners that engage with the Army's Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence and ensure at least 25 percent of partnership activities are performed by Department of Defense employees. Additionally, the bill mandates a comprehensive report from the Secretary of Defense to Congress within one year. This report must detail the workload achieved at arsenals, assess their potential for future procurement needs, project expected workload over the future-years defense program, and identify necessary capital investments to maintain operational capacity and compliance.