Notice2026-09112
Renewal of Department of Defense Federal Advisory Committees-U.S. Army Science Board
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Published
May 8, 2026
Issuing agencies
Defense Department
Abstract
The Department of War (DoW) is publishing this notice to announce it is renewing the U.S. Army Science Board (ASB) as a discretionary Federal advisory committee.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 89 (Friday, May 8, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 89 (Friday, May 8, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25346-25349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-09112]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
Renewal of Department of Defense Federal Advisory Committees--
U.S. Army Science Board
AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD).
ACTION: Renewal of Federal Advisory Committee.
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SUMMARY: The Department of War (DoW) is publishing this notice to
announce it is renewing the U.S. Army Science Board (ASB) as a
discretionary Federal advisory committee.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Freeman, Advisory Committee
Management Officer for the DoW, 703-692-5952.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DoW is renewing the ASB in accordance
with chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code ((U.S.C.,) (commonly
known as the ``Federal Advisory Committee Act'' or
[[Page 25347]]
``FACA'') and 41 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 102-3.50(d), and DoW
policies and procedures. The public or interested organizations may
submit written statements about the ASB mission and functions. Written
statements may be submitted at any time or in response to the stated
agenda of planned meetings of the ASB. All written statements shall be
submitted to the ASB Designated Federal Officer (DFO), and this
individual will ensure that all written statements are provided to the
membership for their consideration. The ASB's DFO is Ms. Ellen
Holthoff, and she may be contact at (703) 697-0427, or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0c69606069622260226463607864636a6a226f657a4c6d7e617522616560"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="27424b4b4249094b094f484b534f48414109444e516746554a5e094a4e4b">[email protected]</span></a>. Consistent with 41 CFR 102-3.65(a), the
DoW is publishing the ASB's Public Interest Determination.
Pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 102-3.60(a), to establish, renew,
reestablish, or merge a discretionary (agency discretion) advisory
committee, an agency must first consult with the General Services
Administration's Committee Management Secretariat (the Secretariat)
and, as part of the consultation, provide a written public interest
determination approved by the head of the agency to the Secretariat
with a copy to the Office of Management and Budget. In addition,
pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 102-3.35, an agency shall follow the same
consultation process and document in writing the same determination of
need before creating a subcommittee under a discretionary committee
that is not made up entirely of members of a parent advisory committee.
Information on the following factors for the committee is provided
to the Secretariat to demonstrate that merging the committee is in the
public interest:
1. Annual Budget: The estimated annual operating cost of the ASB,
to include personnel, travel, meetings, and contract support, is
approximately $3,300,624.00.
a. Federal personnel on a full-time equivalent basis: The estimated
ASB's annual fully burdened personnel cost to the DoW are 5.0 full-time
equivalents at $953,990.00, which includes basic pay with cost-of-
living allowances.
b. Other Federal internal Costs: Estimated program elements to
support ASB parent committee administration, operations, meeting
support, contractor costs, and contracted services is $299,846.
Estimated meeting space, facility support, and FRN notices are $71,362.
Estimated program elements to support the following subcommittee
administration, operations, meeting support, and contract support
costs:
(1) Basic Sciences and Enabling and Disruptive Technologies
Subcommittee: $200,000.00.
(2) C5ISR and Digital (Information Technologies) Subcommittee:
$230,000.00.
(3) Environmental Advisory Subcommittee: $180,000.00.
(4) Intelligence and Assessment Subcommittee: $150,000.00.
(5) Medical Operations Subcommittee: $220,000.00.
(6) Systems Engineering and Sustainment: $200,000.00.
(7) Weapons Systems Subcommittee: $150,000.00.
c. Proposed payments to members: Consistent with 10 U.S.C. 173,
members of the ASB are not compensated for their services, except for
travel and per diem reimbursement for official ASB-related business.
d. Proposed number of members: As authorized by the Secretary of
War (SecWar), the ASB will be composed of not more than 20 members and
subcommittees, if authorized, will be composed of not more than 15
members.
e. Reimbursable costs: The estimated reimbursement costs, to
include travel, for ASB staff and members are $645,426.00.
2. If applicable, the total dollar value of grants is expected to
be recommended during the fiscal year: N/A.
3. Criteria for selecting members to ensure the committee has the
necessary expertise and fairly balanced membership: As described in its
proposed charter and membership balance plan, the ASB will be composed
of members who are eminent authorities in the fields of science;
technology; manufacturing; acquisition; logistics; science-related
business management functions, natural (e.g., biology, ecology, etc.),
social (e.g., anthropology, community planning, etc.), and related
sciences; and other matters of special interest to the DoW, germane to
DoW scientific, technological, and innovation matters. Membership will
consist of talented private and public sector leaders possessing a
multiplicity of experience, background, and thought in support of the
ASB's mission.
In selecting members, the DoW seeks to capitalize on recognized
talented, innovative private and public sector leaders to provide the
broadest knowledge and expertise base in a balanced ASB membership
composition. The ASB's membership balance is not static, and the SecWar
may change the membership based upon work assigned to the ASB by the
SecWar and Deputy Secretary of War (``the DoW Appointing Authority'')
or the Secretary of the Army, as the ASB's DoW Sponsor.
4. List of all other DoW Federal Advisory Committees: A complete
listing of DoW Federal advisory committees can be located at: <a href="https://www.facadatabase.gov/FACA/s/account/001t000000DCAooAAH/department-of-defense">https://www.facadatabase.gov/FACA/s/account/001t000000DCAooAAH/department-of-defense</a>.
5. Justification that the information or advice provided by the
Federal advisory committee or subcommittee is not available from
another Federal advisory committee, another Federal Government source,
or any other more cost-effective and less burdensome source: The ASB
was initially established by the Department of the Army in August 1954,
and subsequent to the enactment of the FACA, it was re-established as a
DoD Federal advisory committee. As described in the ASB's charter, the
ASB provides independent advice and recommendations on matters
pertaining to the Department of the Army scientific, technological, and
innovation enterprises by focusing on matters concerning science,
technology, and innovation as they pertain to the United States Army's
clear mission: to protect the American people and the homeland as the
world's most lethal and effective fighting force. In addressing these
matters, the ASB will support the administration's priorities of
rebuilding the U.S. Army, prioritizing the protection of the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the U.S., and reestablishing
deterrence as envisioned by: Executive Order (E.O.) 14167, ``Clarifying
the Military's Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the
United States,'' dated January 20, 2025; E.O. 14179, ``Removing
Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,'' dated
January 23, 2025; E.O. 14186, ``The Iron Dome for America,'' dated
January 27, 2025; E.O. 14307, ``Unleashing American Drone Dominance,''
dated June 6, 2025; SecWar Address, Marine Corps Base Quantico,
Virginia, September 30, 2025; and SecWar Memorandum, ``The Warrior
Ethos and Standards at the War Department,'' dated October 6, 2025.
As currently structured, the ASB focuses on injecting fresh
perspectives from the private sector into DoW and Department of the
Army practices, emphasizing rapid innovation, software acquisition,
leveraging emergent technologies, and ways the Department can align
structures, processes, incentives, and human capital best practices to
accelerate and scale innovation adoption to catalyze a Department-wide
innovation and experimentation mindset. This provides the strategic and
tactical advantage
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options needed to compete and overmatch in the technology- and
innovation-driven environments that define modern competition and
conflict; as well as enhance national security efforts, maximize
lethality, and boost warfighting capabilities. The ASB serves as a key
advisory body tackling some of the most complex technical challenges in
science and technology (S&T), innovation to provide advice and
recommendations to inform the SecWar and Secretary of the Army on
achieving national strategic priorities through increased lethality.
The ASB's work is driven by an emphasis on making America's warfighter
successful in any mission on any battlefield. Its value is reflected in
DoW stakeholder adoption of advice and recommendations resulting in the
creation of significant new capabilities, policies, architectures, and
investments. The ASB focuses on prioritizing the revival of our defense
industrial base, leveraging low-cost and agile commercial
opportunities, reforming acquisition processes, rapidly prototyping and
fielding emerging technologies, as well as establishing S&T options to
reenforce deterrence in the face of any opponent. Because the ASB acts
as a specialized, independent conduit for agile commercial innovation
directly focused on maximizing U.S. Army lethality and modernizing the
defense industrial base, no other existing Federal advisory committee
or internal government source can provide this specific expertise as
effectively or efficiently.
6. If the consultation is a committee renewal, a summary of the
previous accomplishments of the committee and the reasons it needs to
continue: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, the ASB deliberated on the findings
and advanced its recommendations to DoW stakeholders from its
``Transformation of Intelligence Processing, Exploitation, and
Dissemination (PED)'' study. The Army adopted 75% of the Board's
recommendations, as outlined in ``HQDA EXORD 033-25 CONTINUOUS
TRANSFORMATION-TRANSFORMING PED'' (21 May 2025). The Board deliberated
on the findings and advanced its recommendations to DoW stakeholders
from its ``Data-Centric Command and Control (C2)'' that informed CG AFC
(GEN Rainey) memo ``Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2)
Capability Characteristics of Need'' (2 December 2024). The Chief of
Staff of the Army (GEN George) endorsed the memo and used study data to
refine key elements of the Decision Optimization CONOPS 2024. Finally,
the ASB's Medical Operations Subcommittee completed the final draft of
its ``Assessment of Combat Ready Medical Forces'' for submission to and
deliberation by the ASB. The study's findings informed ``The Surgeon
General's (TSG) Initial Assessment and Strategic Direction'' (8 July
2024) which stated, ``I assess we are unable to meet the medical
demands predicted in LSCO.'' In FY2023 the ``Surge Capacity in the
Defense Munitions Industrial Base'' study provided findings and
recommendations regarding munitions requirements, governance,
sustainable procurement, capital investment, contracting while the
ASB's report ``An Independent Assessment of the Army Implementation of
Digital Engineering (DE)'' examined progress, challenges, and
opportunities to enable successful adoption of digital engineering by
the Army.
Prior to the suspension of its operations in March 2025 the ASB was
engaged in five studies. ``Army Technology Adoption'' was examining the
ways in which Army requirements, testing, and acquisition communities
can support ongoing changes as operations exploit the advantages of
emerging technologies. For the Army to take advantage of robots,
automated target recognition, and other software-dependent technologies
(which require continuous updating), the acquisition and sustainment
become more like DEVOPS, with testing, experimentation, training,
fielding, and Soldier feedback all in a rapidly refreshing cycle.
``Data-Centric Command and Control'' was assessing the Army's
strategies and obstacles associated with implementing a dynamic, data-
centric command and control (C2) framework. The assessment focused on
Army capabilities in a Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) environment. The
objective was to ensure that the Army is properly aligning Science and
Technology acquisition to support C2 Systems, meeting MDO mission
command needs, and using `best practices' across government, industry,
and academia. ``Transformation of Intelligence Processing,
Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED), Phase II'' was analyzing the
Army PED requirements and resources, identifying gaps between the two,
and determining how best to mitigate any shortfalls and assess risk.
``Training Opportunities Related to Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for
Staff at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)'' was to provide a
summary of training and professional development opportunities relevant
to different Communities of Practice within USACE that address aspects
of NBS and hybrid approaches across different systems and applications.
``Recommendation for Evaluation to Streamline USACE Planning Model
Approval and Review Process for use in Civil Works Water Resource
Development Projects'' was working to provide recommendations on how to
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of USACE planning model review
and certification process.
A full list of ASB accomplishments can be found here: <a href="https://asb.army.mil">https://asb.army.mil</a>.
7. Explanation of why the committee/subcommittee is essential to
the conduct of agency business: As described by the SecWar, the DoW
mission is ``warfighting, preparing for war and preparing to win'' the
Nation's wars with ``victory our only acceptable end state.'' A strong,
viable military is essential to the defense of the U.S. homeland and
hemispheric security. The ASB provides the SecWar, Secretary of the
Army, and other senior DoW officials key advice and recommendations on
strategies, capabilities, technologies, and innovations to win the
Nation's wars, protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the
homeland and our access to key terrain throughout the region, restore
American military dominance in the Western Hemisphere, deny
adversaries' ability to position forces or other threatening
capabilities in our hemisphere, maintain a favorable balance of
military power in the Indo-Pacific, support commitment to allies and
international partners, and ensure the lethality and readiness of
America's fighting force to further the goal of peace through strength.
The increasing threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and
cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most
catastrophic threat facing the U.S. As described in this memorandum,
the ASB's independent advice or recommendations to the SecWar,
Secretary of the Army, and other senior DoW officials cannot be
duplicated, whether inside the DoW or the Executive Branch. Its advice
is tailored toward broad aspects of the Department of the Army's S&T
enterprise to ensure we have the strongest, most powerful, most lethal,
and most prepared military on the planet. It will provide a force
multiplier for Army innovation that bolsters national security. This
office is unaware of any U.S. government or non-government entity that
could provide the same level of national security S&T enterprise
expertise necessary ``to ensure the American military remains the most
lethal and dominant on the planet, not merely for a few years, but
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for the decades and generations to come.''
Dated: May 5, 2026.
Stephanie J. Bost,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2026-09112 Filed 5-7-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6001-FR-P
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