Critical DoD Technologies

Finding 1: DoW’s research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) infrastructure is deteriorating and weakening the Department’s ability to maintain a technically advanced warfighting capability. Authorized major military construction (MILCON) projects for modernization of critical joint-mission RDT&E infrastructure continually slip due to the Services’ reprioritizing of scarce MILCON funds toward other operationally relevant priorities.

Recommendation 1: Establish a dedicated laboratory MILCON appropriation specifically for RDT&E infrastructure to prevent reprioritization of these funds and implement 10 United States Code (U.S.C.) §2810(a).

Finding 2: DoW’s ability to meet urgent and rapidly changing laboratory needs for modifying facilities or to construct new facilities has been slowed due to the dollar limit in 10 U.S.C. §2805(d) for laboratory revitalization using the minor MILCON authority.

Recommendation 2: Modernize the Laboratory Revitalization Program (LRP) under 10 U.S.C. §2805(d) to enable the laboratories to respond faster to changing research and technology demands, increased security, and rapidly changing integrated weapons research. Request Congress amend 10 U.S.C. §2805(d) to increase the minor MILCON limit for laboratory revitalization from $9M to $20M.

Finding 3: The Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) accreditation process is severely extended by manual, sequential reviews of Construction Security Plans (CSP) and Fixed Facility Checklists (FFC).

Recommendation 3: Digitize the CSP and FFC submission process using a unified compliance portal that pre-screens documentation for Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 705 standard deviations prior to official action officer (AO) review. Concurrently, expand the Certified TEMPEST Technical Authority (CTTA) training pipeline and implement a framework for provisional accreditations or co-use agreements for mission-critical facilities awaiting final TEMPEST inspection.

Finding 4: A consolidated list of infrastructure and testing facilities across the DRE does not exist.

Recommendation 4: OUSW(R&E) create a searchable database of unique infrastructure.

Finding 5: The DRE comprises an inventory of specialized infrastructure and testing facilities, which have excess capacity to benefit external partners.

Recommendation 5: Explore commercial use of DRE facilities and equipment using similar methodology as that used with currently established partners.

Finding 6: Current DoW laboratory workforce management constraints are actively degrading the Department’s ability to acquire, hire, and retain critical talent necessary for mission readiness.

Recommendation 6: Fully utilize all existing authorities to hire top talent. OUSW(R&E) issue policy to allow STRL directors to fully utilize 10 U.S.C. § 4091 to size their workforce based on available funding and sponsor needs.

Finding 7: Personnel security clearance approval adjudication backlogs persist due to siloed background investigation databases and manual review of continuous vetting (CV) alerts. Additionally, cross-Component clearance reciprocity is frequently delayed by redundant reviews of existing investigative data, extending the time-to-hire for mission-critical personnel.

Recommendation 7: Establish a centralized, AI-assisted adjudication workflow that automates the initial triage of CV alerts and flags only high-risk anomalies for human review. Enforce mandatory, system-driven reciprocity timelines across all DoW Components to eliminate redundant adjudications for personnel with active, in-scope investigations.

Finding 8: The congressionally mandated FFRDC Professional Technical Staff (PTS) ceiling prevents dynamic management based on budget and places unnecessary restriction on the use of FFRDCs.

Recommendation 8: Seek required congressional action to transition to a DoW-managed ceiling, eliminating the congressional ceiling altogether or, alternatively, enacting a legislative “Surge Authority” to allow the Secretary of War to meet emergent national security priorities. Request language be removed from 10 U.S.C. § 4126 (formerly 10 U.S.C. § 2367) and enforced annually through the Consolidated Appropriations Act (historically under sections such as Section 8025) to allow the Department to dynamically manage the FFRDCs.

Finding 9: The absence of standardized reporting across the enterprise creates a critical visibility deficit, resulting in a lack of data necessary for informed, strategic decisions to occur quickly. The lack of an enterprise system of reporting also exacerbates the persistent fragmentation of technical communication between STRLs, FFRDCs, and UARCs, preventing real-time visibility into ongoing bench-level research.

Recommendation 9: Implement enterprise-wide, AI-friendly knowledge management and oversight frameworks that mitigate redundancy and eliminate operational silos through administrative baselines and standardized reporting.

Finding 10: The DRE operates using a diverse array of decentralized business models, with each structure historically tailored to the specific laboratory’s operational context.

Recommendation 10: Initiate a targeted study to further analyze business models for potential standardization.

Finding 11: The Department’s ability to rapidly transition technologies from knowledge producers to capability fielders is severely degraded by structural and cultural barriers, specifically bureaucratic stovepipes, fragmented funding streams, and misaligned mechanisms, authorities, and incentives.

Recommendation 11: Obtain and share best practices across the enterprise associated with partnering and transition efforts.

Finding 12: Measuring the value of the enterprise is complex. The OUSW(C) Rule-of-Thumb obligation and expenditure rates are insufficient to quantify national value.

Recommendation 12: Advocate for congressional action to acquire budget certification authority for the S&T portfolio.

Finding 13: The Department’s vast intellectual property remains underutilized due to passive marketing and the lack of a centralized discovery mechanism. Current administrative burdens for transition agreements often exceed the funding timelines of startups, hindering innovation and collaboration.

Recommendation 13: Create a searchable marketplace for DoW intellectual property. Actively market IP with optimized license agreements, royalty structures, and pricing models to benefit the originating laboratory.

Finding 14: The enterprise operates without portfolio-level outcome accountability. Currently, there are no portfolio-level outcome metrics for each DRE organization. A framework for category-specific measures of effectiveness (MOE) and measures of performance (MOP), anchored on each institution’s missions and capabilities and balanced to value the institution’s comparative advantages, ensures reprogramming and budget decisions are tied to benchmark performance and adjusted as necessary.

Recommendation 14: Create an MOP/MOE framework as the primary portfolio-level accountability metric.