Department of Defense (DoD) Fiscal Year 2020 Agency Report

1. Please provide a summary of your agency’s activities undertaken to carry out the provisions of 

OMB Circular A-119, “Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus 

Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities” and the National Technology Transfer and 

Advance Act (NTTAA). The summary should contain a link to the agency’s standards-specific 

website(s) where information about your agency’s standards and conformity assessment related 

activities are available.

The primary goal of the Department of Defense (DoD) is to support our nations warfighter in the most 

efficient, effective, and cost conscious manner possible while meeting mission objectives. Standards and 

standardization are essential elements to ensuring cost containment and operational effectiveness are 

achieved during the development and continued maintenance of DoD systems and subsystems. More 

information on the Defense Standardization Program can be found at https://www.dsp.dla.mil.

DoD relies on voluntary consensus standards (VCS) to gain access to cutting edge technologies within 

the global marketplace while ensuring costs are contained within the acquisition environment. In Fiscal 

Year 2020, DoD adopted 50 VCS in several areas, including: Thermal Joining of Metals, Electrical 

Insulators and Insulation, Bolts, Obsolescence Management, and Electrical Connectors. DoD also 

canceled 141 military unique documents and replaced 9 of them with VCS.

DoD uses VCS for many different purposes. As an example, in Fiscal Year 2020, Naval Sea Systems 

Command, adopted a series of standards through the American Welding Society (AWS) that contains the 

essential welding variables for carbon steel in the thickness range of 1/8 inch [3 mm] through 1-1/2 inch 

[38 mm], using manual gas tungsten arc welding. The standards cite the base metals and operating 

conditions necessary to make the weldment, the filler metal specifications, and joint designs for groove 

and fillet welds. These standard welding procedures were developed primarily for naval applications.

DoD also adopted IEC 64202 on Obsolescence Management. This document will provide DoD the 

requirements and guidance applicable to any organization that is dependent on another organization to 

obtain value from the usefulness of the items that it provides a cost-effective obsolescence 

management process and the activities used to implement the process are applicable throughout all 

phases of an item’s life cycle.

Lastly. DOD adopted a series of Aerospace Standards from SAE International. These standards offer 

technical requirements for a variety of hardware items, which are used in various DoD weapon systems 

such as: bolts, washers, and electrical insulation sleeving.

2. Please list the government-unique standards (GUS) your agency began using in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2020. Please note that GUS which are still in effect from previous years 

should continue to be listed, thus the total number in your agency's report will include all GUS 

currently in use (previous years and new as of this FY):

This agency reports voluntary consensus standards usage on a category basis