Department of Defense & DoD Contractors

What is The Primary Responsibility of the Department of Defense?

The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest agency in the United States Government. It is the government entity that is directed to ensure national security and hosts the United States Armed Forces. There are three military departments which include the Department of the Army, the Department of the Air Force, and the Department of the Navy. There are four intelligence agencies which include the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) is responsible for the administration of all contracts for the Department of Defense.

What Do DoD Contractors Do?

DoD contractors provide valuable services to support a wide range of military operations conducted by the DoD. Contractors can be either individuals that are hired by the DoD for tasking or private companies that provide goods and services. Contractors work with DoD entities to provide services and/or goods to meet the military mission requirements set forth by the DoD. Contracts could be providing parts or services which give a unique opportunity for various approaches to security compliance.

DoD contracts include both large and small businesses that provide a variety of services from building complete defense systems to providing buttons for uniforms. Each contractor plays an important role in the success of the Department of Defense’s various missions and goals.

What is the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)

The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) provides all of the contract administration for the DoD for the entire pre-award to the sustainment acquisition process. The DCMA receives hundreds of new contracts daily and authorizes millions of dollars in payments to contracts.

What is the Defense Industrial Base (DIB)

Defense Industrial Base is a system of global industrial assets that provide support for the production of equipment for the DoD through research, development, production, design, delivery, and maintenance. There are currently more than 100,000 Defense Industrial Base contractors. The contracts also subcontract to complete the mission requirements. DIB has companies that are government-owned/contractor-operated and government-owned and operated.

Each contract for the Department of Defense is required to follow the Defense Industrial Base Sector-Specific Plan which defines the implementation of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan risk management framework to ensure that there are coordinated efforts to maintain a secure environment.