Special Program Areas

Unified Facilities Criteria Program

The Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) system (prescribed by MIL-STD 3007) provides planning, design, construction, sustainment, restoration, and modernization criteria; applicable to the Military Departments, the Defense Agencies, and the DoD Field Activities; in accordance with DoD Directive 4270.5, Military Construction. UFC documents are applicable to all DoD-led construction projects and are of two general types:

1. Planning and design requirements, which are divided into technical UFC documents (generally aligned by engineering or professional discipline) and functional UFC documents (aligned by facility type)
2. Guide specifications, which provide material requirements for the selection of components or systems

Construction participates in the management of the UFC program as the representative of the Office of the Secretary of Defense on the DoD Engineer Senior Executive Panel (ESEP). The other members of ESEP are the Chief of Engineering and Construction of the Army Corps of Engineers; the Chief Engineer of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command; and the Director of the Air Force Facilities Engineering Center of Excellence. UFC documents are distributed only in electronic form and are available on the Whole Building Design Guide.

The Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence

The Construction Directorate also manages the Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence (the CINC Award) on behalf of the President and the Secretary of Defense. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan established the CINC Award to recognize military installations that have achieved outstanding success in maximizing available resources and developing innovative solutions to address the complexities of installation operation.

Accordingly, DoD initiated a Department-wide competition to recognize installation excellence worldwide. Each year, five exemplary installations (one from each of the four Military Services and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)) are presented with the CINC Award. To identify these installations, the Military Services and DLA – in accordance with guidelines provided by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) – conduct intra-Service installation competitions, the winners of which are submitted to OSD as nominees for the CINC Award. After nominations are approved by the Secretary of Defense, each of the five winning installations are notified and presented with a CINC Award trophy, an Installation Excellence flag, and a letter from the current President commending the installation team for their outstanding achievement.

The following performance criteria are used to assess award nominees:

• Mission Support: the installation’s performance as a power projection platform for military missions
• Energy: the extent to which the installation developed and executed innovative and aggressive energy and water conservation programs, and the achievements toward meeting energy reduction goals
• Quality of Life: efforts made to improve the quality of life for junior enlisted members
• Unit Morale: the extent to which the installation promoted unit cohesiveness and recognized outstanding teams and individuals
• Environment: compliance, remediation, and stewardship actions that have a positive effect on the environment
• Real-Property Asset Management: the extent to which the installation facilities are utilized fully or plans are made to consolidate infrastructure.
• Real Property Stewardship: the extent to which the installation facility investments are focused on scheduled sustainment, restoration or demolition of facilities rated in poor and failing conditions
• Competitive Activities: innovation in achieving the best value, as either a supplier or a receiver of services or goods (e.g., cost comparisons, contracting out, interservice support agreements, self-help programs, etc.)
• Communications: efforts made to share information and manage data across the installation
• Safety and Health: the extent to which the installation promoted safety and health programs
• Public Relations: the extent to which the installation promoted positive relations with the local community
• Other Installation Awards Won: other installation or unit awards won or citations for accomplishments occurring during the rating period

Beyond its importance in recognizing exemplary performance, the CINC Award also encourages innovation in solving the increasingly complex challenges that DoD installations face. It is through such innovation that our installations continually enhance their support of the defense mission and improve the quality of life for Service members and their families.

View current CINC Award winners here.