Defense Standards

From Govit

Defense Standards are also sometimes called Military Standards, MIL-STD, or MIL-SPEC. Other variations include Military Specifications, MIL-SPECS or MILSPECS. In fact, MIL-Spec is such a common term that it is still in wide use within the military.

All of these terms refer to the Defense Department's efforts to standardize the products and services it purchases. Standardization helps the military achieve interoperability, and it also ensures product quality. The main reason to set Defense Standards is to make sure the products purchased (or at least specified) by DOD meet certain physical and quality requirements, commonality, reliability, a target range of coasts (which also influences total cost of ownership), and compatibility with existing systems, including military logistics systems.

Defense Standards are considered reliable enough that they are often used by other government organizations and even non-government technical organizations, and general industry. Officially (according to the Government Accountability Office), military specifications "describe the physical and/or operational characteristics of a product", while military standards "detail the processes and materials to be used to make the product." However, the two phrases are often used interchangeably.

When it comes to Defense Standards, there are

• The official definitions, provided by DOD 4120.24-M - Defense Standardization Program (DSP) Policies and Procedures (March 2000) by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense - Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
• The detailed definitions that are set as part of a specific product or a specific procurement.

Obtaining Free Defense Standards / MIL-SPECs

Why pay? There are many commercial services which charge for documents that outline Defense Standards. But many of these standards are available for free directly from the Defense Department. Here are some of the best free online resources for MIL-SPECs, direct from the government. The links below will take you directly to those Web sites.

• The Acquisition Streamlining and Standardization Information System (ASSIST). The Website is known as ASSIST-Online. This serves as the "official" source DoD specifications and standards.This is is a database system for DOD-wide standardization document information management. The ASSIST database resides at the Department of Defense Single Stock Point for Military Specifications and Standards (DODSSP), located at DAPS, Philadelphia. The site provides public access to standardization documents, including some older documents. HINT FOR USING THIS SITE: It asks you to register before using, but if you look for the Quick Search link, you can do many types of searches and downloads without formally registering.
• ASSIST Update documents. These docs list what's new within the ASSIST system. Here is a list of the past several months of ASSIST Udate documents.
  
• Department of Defense Single Stock Point for Mil Specs and Standards. This is the Web site for the full Single Stock PointIncludes archived copies of the DODISS Notices. Includes details about the transition to the ASSIST site (mentioned above) as the main source for these types of documents.
  

Links Associated with Defense Standards / MIL-SPECs

DLA
Defense Logistics Agency - (GovITwiki page)

DAPS
Defense Automated Printing Service

Defense Standardization Program Office
Information about Military Specifications and Standards Reform can be found here

EverySpec - Free resource for MIL-SPECS, MIL-HDBK, and MIL-STD and other government documents including NASA

NSSN
A National Resource for Global Standards

NAVSUP Reference Libraries
Naval Supply System Command's NLL and QRL Reference Libraries

{http://www.ansi.org/ ANSI]
The American National Standards Institute. Also look for the United States Standards Strategy (USSS) whil on the ANSI site.

ISO
The International Standards Organization. ANSI, above, is a member of this global standards body.

ICSP The Interagency Committee on Standards Policy. Based at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the ICSP group advises the Secretary of Commerce and other Executive Branch agencies on standards policy matters.