CRANE NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, Indiana – To ensure it’s ready to meet the needs of future munitions production, Crane Army Ammunition Activity recently embarked on a 15-year, $285 million modernization plan as part of the overall Army Materiel Command modernization strategy.
To support the warfighter of 2045 and beyond, CAAA’s Activity Support Directorate is looking to significantly add to its roster of public private partnerships.
Public private partnerships are a contract between a government agency and a private-sector company that can be used to finance, build, and operate various projects. A P3, according to Patricia Staggs, director for CAAA’s Activity Support Directorate, “can allow a project to be completed more quickly — or make it a possibility in the first place. Significantly, a P3 can also lower the overall cost of entry for contractors to provide products and services to the DOD.”
Within the ebb and flow of the Army’s Organic Industrial Base workload, which includes CAAA, P3 can notably help “flatten the curve”, or level out the workload while increasing manufacturing efficiencies.
For CAAA, a P3 would be part of an aggressive business model intended to create synergies within current munitions production with an eye on advanced munitions development.
“Munitions workload can fluctuate based on the needs of the Army and DOD,” stated Staggs. “If we have a P3, that contract company could utilize our touch labor force and we could fill capacity gaps instead of idling some of our skilled workers.”
“As part of the OIB, and for national security, we exist to provide ammunition manufacturing capability,” Staggs continued. “Within the context of what we do and who we support – our nation’s military – we need to be ready at all times. It’s a critical mission that requires us to be ready and able to surge as needed and P3s can help us meet that critical mission of supporting the warfighter today and in the future.”
In addition to leveling workloads, P3 partnerships also help to stabilize raw material procurement and other business-related costs while providing quick-to-execute contract agreements.
“This is our way to find opportunities to solve our gaps. We have a plan, and we are going to keep adding to it,” stated Col. Ronnie Anderson, Joint Munitions Command commander, in recent remarks regarding OIB modernization. Anderson added that P3 efforts “are aligned with the Army’s priorities and the Army Materiel Command’s lines of effort. We will stay nested with them.”
“CAAA is currently in talks with a couple of defense companies about potential P3 partnerships,” Staggs continued. “Each one is evaluated by what workload it could bring to CAAA and how it would impact our current work schedule.”
“The American Center for Innovative Manufacturing recently announced that Indiana was chosen for a pilot Munitions Campus and the group is currently looking for land near CAAA,” she stated, adding the campus is expected to be a magnet for companies to develop facilities in order to partner with the military to research and develop new and emerging defense-related technologies.
The close proximity to CAAA would also allow contractors greater access to Army assets within the base fence line.
“A company might be able to utilize one or more of our production buildings,” Staggs said. “They wouldn’t have to go through the painstaking workforce development process because we already have the skilled workers, and if we needed to hire more people, we would.”
Staggs noted that the benefits to private industry didn’t stop there.
“Crane offers secure facilities, unique services, ammunition-peculiar equipment, access to government environmental permits, and quick-to-execute contract agreements for up to five years,” she added. “By partnering with CAAA, we can provide the infrastructure and skilled workforce that will allow contractors to enter the DOD market faster.”
P3 partnerships, she noted, have proven to be a win-win situation for other government installations and their industry partners. Crane Army, she believes, will become the model for other munitions plants within the OIB.
Staggs reiterated that CAAA’s new business efforts fall in line with the recently finalized JMC Campaign Plan, which focuses on human capital development, munitions readiness, security, strategic business development, and OIB modernization.
Crane Army Ammunition Activity produces and provides conventional munitions in support of U.S. Army and Joint Force readiness. It is part of the Joint Munitions Command and the U.S. Army Materiel Command, which include arsenals, depots, activities and ammunition plants. Established Oct. 1977, it is located on Naval Support Activity Crane.
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