Okinawa Industry Engagement: Progressive Design-Build & Accelerated Design-Build

Update (21 July 2026): 

The Okinawa Industry Engagement originally scheduled for August 11 has been rescheduled to August 18. The time and location remain unchanged.

This adjustment deconflicts the engagement with Mountain Day (a local Japanese holiday) to maximize participation. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to your attendance.

Okinawa Industry Engagement: Progressive Design-Build & Accelerated Design-Build

The 18th Contracting Squadron (18 CONS) invites industry partners to an Industry Engagement event on 18 August 2026 at Kadena Air Base. This event will introduce revolutionary collaborative delivery methods and non-traditional acquisition strategies authorized under the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). RSVPs are required by 6 August 2026.

Event Details

• Date: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
• Time: 08:30 – 11:30 JST (Sign-in begins at 08:00)
• Location: Rocker Club (Ballroom 3), Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan
• Target Audience: General contractors, design-build firms, engineering consultants, and non-traditional defense contractors.

Purpose and Mission Context

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2026 provides the Department of War (DoW) with significant additional authorities to combat systemic schedule delays and cost growth. Crucially, Section 2802 amended Subchapter I of Chapter 169 of Title 10, adding 10 U.S. Code § 2808a. This new authority allows the "Secretary concerned" to leverage Other Transactions (OT)—rather than traditional contracts, cooperative agreements, or grants—to execute all stages of military repair and construction projects.

These collaborative delivery methods enable early alignment between the DoW and industry, improve cost certainty, and accelerate delivery timelines compared to traditional Design-Bid-Build methods.

Looking Ahead: Team Kadena intends to execute 1 to 2 pilot construction contracts in FY 2027 leveraging these new authorities. Our goal is to ensure local and international industry partners have a comprehensive understanding of these execution methods and are positioned to participate.

Topics of Discussion

Presentations and open Q&A sessions will focus on non-traditional acquisition and contract management strategies, specifically:

• Progressive Design-Build (PDB): Authorized under 10 U.S.C. § 3241(g).
• Accelerated Design-Build (ADB): Design-Build methods and Design-Build Contracts (DCA) to accelerate the design effort, authorized under 10 U.S.C. § 3241(f).
• Other Transaction Authority (OTA) for Construction: Authorized under 10 U.S.C. § 2808a.

RSVP & Base Access Instructions

Interested parties must submit their registration details via email to Ms. Moriah Clark at moriah.clark.2@us.af.mil and Kurt Stuebs at kurt.stuebs.2@us.af.mil. 

• RSVP Deadline: No Later Than (NLT) 14:00 JST on 30 July 2026.
• Required RSVP Information:
  1. Full Name of attendee(s) (English).
  2. Company/Organization Name.
  3. Contact Phone Number and Email.
  4. Base Access Status: Clearly indicate whether or not each attendee possesses unescorted access credentials for Kadena Air Base.

 Watch out for: Late submissions cannot be accommodated due to mandatory base access processing timelines. If you do not have unescorted base access, please register as early as possible so that escort and entry coordination can be completed.