Defense Security Service Industry Programs
Partnership with Industry
The Partnership with Industry Program (PWI) provides an opportunity for Industry and DSS Industrial Security Professionals to "walk a mile" in each other's shoes. The goal of the program is for the participants to gain a mutual understanding of their respective roles in industrial security, and to develop a better understanding and appreciation for the challenges and obstacles faced on both sides.
Participating industry professionals spend three to four days at a DSS site, normally a Field or Regional Office. They work closely with DSS employees and gain a deeper understanding of how DSS operates the scope of our mission, upcoming initiatives, and the challenges faced by DSS in its oversight of the National Industrial Security Program.
DSS personnel participating in the program spend three to four days to gain exposure to issues faced by industry and will be able to witness first-hand how security is integrated into a facility's day to day mission, how resources are allocated, and how industry security professionals balance internal business requirements with requirements from DSS and their GCAs.
If your organization is interested in participating in this program, please review the below links and contact the email address below for the next steps and further details.
Download PWI (Partnership with Industry) Start-Up Package in PDF 
- Memorandum of Understanding
- Non-Disclosure Statement
- Proposed Agenda for Industry
- Proposed Agenda for DSS
- PWI Survey Form for Participants
Contact Us
For questions or comments regarding the Partnership with Industry program, please contact the Industrial Security Field Operations (ISFO) via PWI@dss.mil.
James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award
The Cogswell award was established in 1966 and is named in honor of the late Air Force Col. James S. Cogswell, who was the first chief of the unified office of Industrial Security. Col. Cogswell is responsible for the underlying principle of the Industrial Security Program. That principle is the need for a true partnership between industry and government to ensure the protection of classified information, materials, and programs.
The Cogswell award is the most prestigious honor the Defense Security Service may bestow to cleared industry. Of the more than 13,300 cleared contractors, less then one percent are annually selected to receive this award.
The criteria for the award focuses on the principles of industrial security excellence, which includes establishing and maintaining a security program that goes well beyond the minimum National Industrial Security Program requirements and providing leadership to other cleared facilities to set high standards for security.
To receive consideration for the Cogswell award, a facility must be nominated by their assigned Industrial Security Representative and have two consecutive superior industrial security review ratings. They also must show a sustained degree of excellence and innovation in their overall security program management, implementation and oversight. Beginning in 2007, a facility also must have responded to the annual Personnel Security Investigation (PSI) survey as a prerequisite for further consideration.
Once initially nominated, the nominees then go through a vigorous national vetting process that includes external vetting and a national team review. The national review team then consolidates and ranks the nominations, and that ranked listing is submitted to the Director of DSS for final approval.
June 2015