ABILITYONE: DELIVERING FOR THE ARMY
new ways to eliminate waste and cut and handle materials to meet the aggressive deadline. For example, the productivity engineers created a new laser cutting station that allowed opera- tors to cut and also adhere multiple fabric layers simultaneously, which significantly reduced manpower for material handling and sewing. Ten thousand CTAPS units, half of which were provided by the AbilityOne Program, were field-tested at Fort Wainwright and Fort Greely, Alaska, in March 2023 during a large-scale cold- weather exercise. In the 5,000 garments produced by AbilityOne contractors during the compressed production schedule, fewer than 10 defects were identified.
EMPLOYING UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES More than 36,000 people who are blind or have significant disabilities make up the AbilityOne workforce, including roughly 2,500 veterans, and more than half work on DOD contracts. More than 6,600 AbilityOne employees contribute to Army warfighter readiness, providing mission-critical services on Army bases nationwide or producing mission-critical products like CTAPS. By doing so, they uphold Executive Order 13985, which charged the federal government with advancing equity for all, including communities that have long been underserved, such as people with disabilities.
DELIVERING EXPANSIVE BASE SERVICES AbilityOne contractors offer an extensive range of expertise. At Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), Washington, six Ability- One nonprofit agencies perform work on 11 different contracts with an annual contract value of more than $41 million. Teir combined total economic impact—tax revenues and cost savings through reduced reliance on federal benefits as well as additional tax revenues created in local economies—is estimated at more than $3 million.
Te contracts include a central issue facility, barracks and vehi- cle maintenance, dining facility services, custodial and latrine services, laundry, dry cleaning and base supply center services. Many of the contractors have long-term experience with the base and employ veterans who bring military insight and commitment. AbilityOne contractor Professional Contract Services Inc. over- sees barracks maintenance at JBLM, with veterans representing 69% of the direct labor force and 60% of leadership personnel.
Additionally, JBLM employs 371 full-time AbilityOne employ- ees with disabilities through SourceAmerica’s network, saving the government an estimated $1.4 million through reduced reliance on public benefits and generating an estimated $1.2 million in tax revenue by employing people who may not otherwise be able
108 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2024
KITTED UP
AbilityOne Program employees are proud to support the U.S. military, creating uniforms, helmets, tools, hydration systems, protective equipment and many other items to outfit American warfighters from top to bottom. (Graphic courtesy of NIB)
to find work. At JBLM alone, AbilityOne procurements create an additional $630,000 in local economic benefits through job creation and federal tax revenues.
AbilityOne contractor Skookum Services has streamlined the Army’s equipment-issuing processes at the JBLM central issue facility, which provides service members and civilians with orga- nizational clothing and individual equipment and also stores, receives and exchanges the gear that helps facilitate the service member’s clothing record. Historically, Organizational Cloth- ing and Individual Equipment (OCIE) was issued to Soldiers without being electronically recorded in the Soldiers’ central issue facility records. Skookum’s central issue facility team has properly accounted for it in the property book and has since
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