Army leaders convene to unify organic industrial base and secure ‘Arsenal of Freedom’

JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. — The Army hosted the first Organic Industrial Base (OIB) Workload Summit at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Oct. 20… JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. — The Army hosted the first Organic Industrial Base Workload Summit at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Oct. 20–22, 2026. It brought together senior leaders, acquisition executives, depot commanders, and congressional staff members to align industrial workload capacity, modernization plans, and immediate readiness requirements across the service. “This is the first time we’ve brought the whole of Army together focused on our Arsenal of Freedom for the OIB,” said Jesse Tolleson, acting deputy undersecretary of the Army. “This effort centers on developing an Army Strategic Plan for our OIB that is resource-informed with program plans and modernization strategies in support of our joint force.” The Army’s OIB consists of 23 government-owned installations, including repair depots, manufacturing arsenals, and ammunition plants — that build, rebuild, repair and upgrade military equipment.

For decades, planning for these facilities happened in isolation, often relying on separate forecasts, disconnected program timelines and year-to-year maintenance budgets. As the Army prepares for great power competition and large-scale combat operations, industrial capacity directly affects the service's operational endurance and surge capability. To address this, the Army established the Workload Summit, an enterprise planning process that aligns its depots, arsenals and