Reconfiguration of the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) Report to Congress
Executive
Summary
This report is prepared in response to congressional requests in the House report to accompanyH.R. 1815, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, H.R. Rep. No. 109-89,page 476, the House report to accompany H.R. 5122, the National Defense Authorization Act forFiscal Year 2007, H.R. Rep. No. 109-452, page 444, and the Senate Report to accompany theDepartment of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2008, S. Rep. No. 110-155, page 189, concerningthe National Defense Stockpile (NDS).This report addresses these requests.
Conclusions
Material management is a complex and rapidly changing field. Increasing global competition forraw materials has added a new depth of complexity, and continued reliance on the strength of U.S. buying power is proving problematic. Ensuring the current and future availability of strategic and critical materials requires a more integrated and responsive approach on thenational level.The NDS has been successful in acquiring and holding strategic material, but has had isolatedsuccess in using the material strategically. Transforming the NDS into a Strategic MaterialsSecurity Program (SMSP) would enable the Nation to more quickly adapt to current worldmarket conditions and ensure the future availability of materials required for defense andnational security needs. The proposed attributes being considered for the SMSP include abroader internal DoD profile albeit a reduced physical footprint, an expanded interface with otherfederal agencies, greater latitude in entering and exiting markets, and flexibility to develop risk-based value propositions.The first step is for the reengineered program to be more properly aligned to sense and respondto today’s military material needs in scenarios ranging from non conflict to full mobilization.The current NDS is designed to respond to global war scenarios – those requiring nationalmobilization of all sectors of the economy – whereas today’s military must respond toasymmetric national security threats wherever and whenever they occur; frequently on severalsimultaneous fronts.Further, the global growth in demand for scarce raw materials and the industrial surges in China,India, Russia, Brazil, and other developing countries require that the U.S. employ a new,integrated and responsive strategy for identifying and ensuring, on a continual basis, an adequatesupply of strategic and critical materials required for U.S. security needs. In today’s globaleconomy, it is critical to ensure a strong domestic defense industrial base capable of meeting1
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