ARMY AL&T
PARTNERING FOR READINESS
Army veteran Joel Nededog, right, and fellow Skookum employees issue equipment and process returns on an AbilityOne contract at the JBLM central issue facility in July 2023. (Photo by Cade Martin, SourceAmerica)
T
he Army looks to its industrial base for innovative products and services, efficient development and fielding, cost savings and other aspects of best value to meet warfighter needs. At the same time, Army acquisition supports socioeconomic objectives
such as veterans’ employment and other economic opportunities for under- served communities. Te AbilityOne Program is helping the Army meet its procurement needs while making a difference in the lives of veterans and others with disabilities.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 60% of working-age Americans with disabilities are not actively participating in the labor force. AbilityOne is one of the largest sources of employment in the U.S. for people who are blind or have significant disabilities, including veterans. Te program is a strategic partner that helps the Army support warfighters through innovation, timely delivery, cost savings on goods and services and waste reduction.
Te program is overseen by the U.S. AbilityOne Commission, an indepen- dent federal agency. Te Army’s representative to the commission is Megan Dake, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for procurement (DASA(P)), who was appointed to the commission by President Joe Biden in October 2022. “AbilityOne is a valuable resource for supplying goods and services to the warfighter,” she said. Dake recently sponsored the first Armywide Ability- One Training Day for the Army contracting enterprise, held virtually on April 3, 2024. Te training used panel discussions to reinforce the benefits of the AbilityOne Program in meeting warfighter needs and saving taxpayer dollars.
AbilityOne is implemented with the support of two central nonprofit agencies—National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and SourceAmerica— designated by the commission to help administer the program through a network of nearly 425 nonprofit contractors that perform the work.
SERVING THE WARFIGHTER NIB and SourceAmerica provide agile development and Soldier-centered designs through a manufacturing and development service contract that develops innovative prototypes as well as improvements to existing products.
Take the five-layer Cold Temperature and Arctic Protection System (CTAPS), for example. When the Army quickly needed a state-of-the-art cold weather clothing system that improved Soldier mobility and performance, and could withstand temperatures as low as minus 65 degrees Fahrenheit, it contracted with commercial manufacturers and the AbilityOne Program. Four AbilityOne apparel and equipment manufacturers were able to produce a durable, high-quality system within an accelerated six-month delivery time frame in spring 2023.
During the compressed production schedule, SourceAmerica and NIB’s productivity engineers performed a lean manufacturing study that identified
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