Primer on the Development of Military Shelters

Industry and academia are critical strategic partners in the shelter development arena constantly improving materials, reducing costs through process controls, investigating emerging technologies and directly meeting niche requirements of field commanders. Many industry players have military backgrounds and some continue to interact with all echelons of leadership in their new roles. Diversified companies produce both military and high performance civilian shelter systems resulting in stability in a fluid market place. Academia provides technology support, students and graduates for our workforce and leadership assistance to the highest levels of the Government. The mix of knowledge, experience and insights compliments the military acquisition process. However, only a Milestone Decision Authority can approve with a Milestone C decision the fielding of a new product. The military has an acquisition process and it is intricate. Although subject to unpredictable cycles the production requirement for a standard military shelter is typically well over 10 years and many times exceeds decades. At least one third of the current softwall shelters in the JOCOTAS Brochure began as industry commercial products.