Pine Bluff Arsenal hosted an Industry Day Nov. 20, welcoming several senior military leaders, including two presidential appointees and two potential industry partners.
“Welcome to Pine Bluff Arsenal,” said Brig. Gen. Daniel J. Duncan, Commanding General of Joint Munitions Command, as he kicked off the event. “Pine Bluff is one of the crown jewels of Joint Munitions Command and the ammunition Organic Industrial Base. We are so glad to have everyone here – our senior leadership as well as our industry partners.”
PBA Commander Col. Matthew C. Mason also welcomed the group.
“I took command in July this year and it has been fast and furious,” Mason said. “I love it. This is a great time to be a commander in the OIB with all the changes and opportunities. This is the first Industry Day here in a long time. We hope we achieve the intent, and you see what you need to see.”
Mason said it was a pleasure to host such a distinguished list of guests. “It is great to be able to come together and see the synergy and coordination between the Army and industry,” he said, as he discussed the agenda.
Other Army senior leadership present included the Hon. W. Jordan Gillis, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and Environment, the Hon. Brent G. Ingraham, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisitions, Logistics, and Technology; Liz Miranda, Executive Deputy to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Maj. Gen. Douglas Lowery, Commanding General of Army Contracting Command, Lynda Armer, Executive Director, ACC-Rock Island, Corey Hotle, Joint Munitions Command Deputy to the Commander; and PBA Acting Deputy to the Commander Justin Lieber.
Gillis said the Industry Day was very important to Army.
“We have a lot of assets across the country that are underutilized. We don’t want to use BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure). We want to invest in their use,” he said. “This is a great potential for industry partnership. Thank you to everyone here who has supported this visit.”
It is critical for the OIB to be able to provide the capabilities to the joint services, said Ingraham.. “We are looking closer at our capacities and utilizing the space we have,” he said. ”We appreciate industry taking the time to be here.”
Industry partners present were Hanwha (U.S. and Korea) and REPKON USA. Both companies work within the energetics, chemical processes and ammunition business sectors.
The purpose of the visit was to explain more in depth to the industry partners the contracting rules and expectations as they pertain to an Enhanced Use Lease. This included a bus tour of the proposed site on PBA, estimated at approximately 1,065 acres, as well as explanation of how industry will submit a proposal for evaluation. Brian Raley, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, provided information on the contracting portion.
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