CORNERSTONE INITIATIVE REQUEST (CIR) CS-24-1801 DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command – Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC), Rock Island, IL, on behalf of the Office of the Secretary of War, Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy via the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program (10 U.S.C. § 4817),  in conjunction with Army Contracting Command – Rock Island (ACC-RI), manages the Cornerstone Other Transaction Agreement (OTA), in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 4022.  Cornerstone was developed to create a broad-based, flexible and enduring public-private consortium focused on strategic strengthening of the U.S. Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and provide a strong complement to the mandates in Presidential Executive Order 13806.

ACC-RI, on behalf of DEVCOM CBC, intends to issue a competitive Cornerstone Initiative Request (CIR) Strengthening America’s Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base (SAMDIB) Project Call for the Defense Industrial Base Workforce Development (WFD) Initiative on or after 09 July 2026.  This Project Call CIR will be open for 20 business days.

The Department of War seeks to advance workforce development across four critical capability areas:

     1. Critical Minerals

     2. Kinetics (hypersonics, UAS, munitions)

     3. Industrial Maunfacturing Technologies (Castings and Forgings, Robotics/automation, Additive and Subtractive manufacturing, etc.)

     4. Microelectronics

to strengthen the resilience and readiness of the defense industrial base (DIB). Persistent skill gaps, aging workforces, and increasing technical complexity in these sectors present significant risks to production capacity and innovation.  The overall objective is to develop a pipeline of highly skilled talent through targeted training programs, public-private partnerships, and hands-on apprenticeship models aligned with emerging defense and advanced manufacturing needs.  

Subject to funding, this Project Call CIR will use a one-step evaluation process as defined in the SAMDIB over-arching CIR.  A one-step process is where offerors submit a full technical and cost proposal.  The proposal shall be fixed price.

Any OT awarded as a result of this initiative will incorporate the following clauses:

1. FAR clause 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
2. DFARS clause 252.232-7006, WAWF Payment Instructions
3. DFARS clause 252.204-7012, Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting.

This Project Call CIR is restricted to Cornerstone Consortium members only and will be communicated to the Cornerstone Consortium and companies with pending applications via email.  Entities must have an active registration in SAM.gov, a favorable status in Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information Systems, and be members of the Cornerstone Consortium, with a signed Cornerstone Consortium Management Agreement, to be eligible to submit a proposal and be eligible for award of an OTA task. Contractors may obtain Cornerstone registration information located at https://cornerstone.army.mil or by inquiring at: usarmy.ria.devcom-cbc.mbx.cornerstone-ota@army.mil.

Questions can be emailed to usarmy.ria.devcom-cbc.mbx.cornerstone-ota@army.mil stating "Project Call WFD" in the subject line.

This Special Notice is for planning purposes only and does not constitute a CIR or an obligation on behalf of the U.S. Government. Issuance of this Special Notice is not a guarantee of a future CIR or an award and is not a commitment of any kind by the Government.