Veteran-Owned Small Businesses to Help Solve Parts Shortages for DoD

The B-52 Bomber needs parts. So does the M-1 Tank. In fact, all the nation's older weapons systems have a critical need for tens of thousands of parts nobody manufactures any more. But several agencies concerned with these critical part shortages have just announced a creative solution. The Defense Logistics Agency's Diminishing Manufacturing Sources, Material Shortages (DMSMS) Program Office, and the military's Joint Council on Aging Aircraft have joined with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) to help connect thousands of veteran-owned small manufacturing companies with the military's databases of needed parts. The Defense Sustainment Consortium (DSC) is spearheading the effort through its National Data and Integration Test Center, and ARINC Engineering Services, LLC will act as the Program Manager. On August 15, all the stakeholders launched their program—the VetBiz Initiative for National Sustainment (VINS)—by opening the first local VINS office at Pueblo, CO.