From defense contractors to the procurement of tactical equipment and special operational equipment (also known as SOE by those who are more familiar with it), there is no doubt that matters of defense are hugely important here in the United States. And from police defense forces to fire and emergency services provided in neighborhoods, cities, and towns throughout the country, there are many different services that defense contractors must fill in order to keep everyone in the United States as safe as is possible. And defense contractors are only a part of it – though defense contractors and the like are certainly an important component, to say the least.
One service provided by defense contractors around the country is that of firefighting equipment. Firefighting equipment is very much necessary, as it helps to save lives and reduce property damage on a huge scale here in the United States – and likely in many other places all around the world as well. Firefighting equipment helps to not only put out fires, but to keep the firefighters themselves safe as well, something that is so critical as so many firefighters find themselves in dangerous situations on a daily basis.
Vehicles are also procured through various defense contractors and these vehicles are wide in range, from police cars to fire trucks to many more. In fact, there are as many as 65,000 vehicles gotten from defense contractors on an annual basis. The total cost of these vehicles – in addition to automotive services as well – added up to more than one billion dollars in that same span of time, a typical cost for a year to year basis.
The GSA security schedule – which requires nearly one and a half billion dollars of money spent on it each and every year – is one way in which the contacting of defense contractors happens, as well as how the deals made with these defense contractors come to being in the first place. The GSA security schedule is highly complex as well, as it has as many as 100 different categories, if not even more than that. From GSA 56 to GSA 78 to GSA 84, there are certainly a huge variety of subcategories in the GSA security schedule as a whole. Typically these subcategories tend to be known as Special Item Numbers (colloquially referred to as SINs).
Building materials are also needed for many a GSA security schedule purpose. After all, all of these security tools – from weapon components to organizational clothing and individual equipment to security vehicles – have to be stored somewhere before they can fully and actually be put into use. Through this need and to meet this need, the federal government is typically provided with a reputable source for quality industrial services of varying natures. In addition to this, industrial supplies must also be suppled (as these are of course necessary for construction to be able to take place in the first place or at all).
Typically, government buildings such as those that are gained through the GSA security schedule (particularly through the schedule 56 contract, very briefly mentioned above, which allows for the needs of buildings and building materials) are prefab buildings. Prefab – also known, officially, as prefabricated – buildings are notorious for being relatively inexpensive to construct, as well as considerably less wasteful at the end of the day, particularly in comparison to some of the more traditional methods of construction.
In addition to less waste products created (something that’s always ideal from an environmental standpoint and something that all construction sites should take into consideration as much as is possible), prefab construction sites and prefab structures can typically also be completed far more quickly than their counterparts that use more traditional methods of construction. While the average construction site can take as many as six whole months – an entire half of a year – to reach the completion of the project in question, prefab construction methods are frequently much more effective and efficient from the standpoint of time.
All in all, defense contractors provide a key and critical service.