Pentagon launching new defense industrial base advisory committee

By Theresa Maher / December 16, 2024 at 2:10 PM

The Pentagon is poised to launch a new federal advisory committee tasked with providing recommendations to strengthen the defense industrial base, according to a Federal Register notice published Monday.

The Strategic and Critical Materials Board of Directors (S&CM BOD) will focus on addressing “challenges and opportunities concerning the National Defense Stockpile program,” according to the notice.

The panel will consist of 13 to 20 members and will be chaired by the assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy. Four other cabinet secretaries -- commerce, state, energy and interior -- will each appoint a member to the board. The chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services readiness subcommittees will each designate someone for board membership as well.

The establishment of the board, which was directed by the FY-23 National Defense Authorization Act, follows the release of an implementation plan for DOD’s first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy.

The board’s requirements are detailed in a subsection in the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act -- Title 50 of the U.S. Code, Chapter 5, Subchapter III, Section 98.

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