DOW Launches BuildFreedom.US, Announces $10M Skilled Trades Investment With Mike Rowe and Forge the Next-Generation Industrial Workforce

July 2, 2026 |

The Department of War today announced the launch of the Build Freedom workforce development initiative. Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael P. Duffey will present a $10 million investment to skilled trades advocate Mike Rowe to support the mikeroweWORKS Foundation Scholarship program.

"On behalf of everyone at the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, I'm honored to accept this donation from BuildFreedom.US. Every penny will be spent on training the next generation of skilled workers for a long list of essential jobs - specifically the hundreds of thousands of good jobs currently open in the defense industrial base," said Mike Rowe, CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation. "Closing America's skills gap has become a matter of national security, and initiatives like BuildFreedom.US are precisely what our country needs to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving workforce. I'm excited to participate in this effort and looking forward to helping thousands of Americans get the training they need to start a meaningful career in the skilled trades."

Created through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy's Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program, BuildFreedom.US is a national initiative designed to address critical talent shortages across the defense industrial base. The program unites government, industry, and educational institutions to increase awareness of purpose-driven careers and provide scholarships for Americans pursuing high-paying, AI-proof jobs in the skilled trades.

"America's strength has always been forged by people who build, manufacture, and innovate," said Michael P. Duffey, Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment. "BuildFreedom.US will bridge talent with opportunity to build meaningful careers, ensuring our workforce is ready for the challenges of tomorrow."

This announcement marks a significant milestone in expanding workforce pathways for students, young adults, veterans, and transitioning service members. By empowering the next generation of American builders, makers, and innovators, the Department of War aims to directly bolster the nation's manufacturing capacity, economic resilience, and long-term national security.

DOW Addresses Material Obsolescence Through Reverse Engineering Training

Feb. 9, 2026 |

The Department of War (DOW) announced today a two-year investment totaling nearly $1.8 million made in the Great Plains Innovation Network (GPIN) of Manhattan, Kansas for a reverse engineering activity for obsolescent defense-critical parts missing technical data packages.  This announcement was awarded on August 27, 2025, but this announcement was delayed due to the government shutdown. The project, funded through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy (OASW(IBP))'s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program, will culminate with updated engineering documentation for manufacturability and low-rate initial production opportunities for at least three prototypes of critical obsolescent assemblies.

"This is an important effort as some of our most important legacy systems are to some degree unsustainable as the original equipment manufacturers are no longer in our industrial base," said the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi.  "At the end of the project, the United States will have a more resilient and competitive supply chain as a result of the collaboration we've made possible between GPIN and Kansas State University, and others across the Midwest as they forge new partnerships." 

GPIN will partner with Kansas State University (KSU) to train interns and non-traditional defense contractors on the process of generating technical data packages (e.g., bills of material, computer aided design models, and quality documentation) for defense-critical parts and components for which technical data no longer exists.  This will open more competitive opportunities across the defense industrial base (DIB) to a wider pool of performers by enabling them to bid on parts and assemblies' contracts with known data, while limiting design workaround requirements to support the manufacture of various platforms. 

Some companies working in the DIB have gone out of business and left no technical data packages behind to support future defense manufacturing needs.  This investment supports the Secretary of War's priority of Rebuilding the Military by leveraging the Defense Logistics Agency's parts catalog to target high-demand parts and assemblies that are no longer procurable to design data packages that will support future defense-critical manufacturing needs.   

Since the IBAS Program's inception in 2014, the Innovation Capability and Modernization (ICAM) Office has invested over $2.6 billion across 204 projects to restore domestic manufacturing capacity and capability.  ICAM is part of OASW(IBP)'s Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) Directorate within the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Resilience.  For more information on MCEIP, please visit: https://www.businessdefense.gov/ibr/mceip/index.html.

About the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy (OASW(IBP))

The OASW(IBP) works with domestic and international partners to forge and sustain a robust, secure, and resilient industrial base enabling the warfighter, now and in the future.  The OASW(IBP)'s Innovation Capability and Modernization (ICAM) Office, which manages the IBAS Program, provides DOW with key capabilities to achieve the strategic aims of Department priorities and Presidential Executive Orders.  These call for a strong, resilient, responsive, and healthy national industrial base that can respond at-will to national security requirements.