House Appropriations panel hears unified call to scale skilled-trades pipeline for defense industrial base

Chairman Calvert opened a House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee field hearing calling attention to workforce shortfalls across the defense industrial base and the high cost of hands-on training infrastructure.

The witnesses — Eric Chuening of Huntington Ingalls Industries and Michael Reed of Pennsylvania College of Technology — told members that training labs and equipment carry heavy capital and operating costs and that industry and government must partner to expand capacity. ‘‘Penn College graduates achieve a 98% placement rate,’’ Reed said, arguing that targeted investments in labs, apprenticeships and short-term training can rapidly increase supply.

In a second panel, the Department’s industrial base lead described the Build Freedom campaign and broader IBAS investments. The assistant secretary said the department invested roughly $340 million in workforce programs in fiscal 2026 and has rolled out Build Freedom in three states, pairing federal grants with local partners and a new website to connect candidates with scholarships and credentialing opportunities.

Members pressed officials on near-term bottlenecks: certification and qualification processes for second-source suppliers, limited test-range capacity, and critical-minerals dependencies. The assistant secretary said the department is pursuing accelerated qualification timelines (an objective to cut rocket-motor second-source qualification time by about half), targeted investments in critical minerals with interagency partners, and efforts to expand supplier capacity outside major industrial hubs.

Representative Case focused on funding structure and contingency planning, noting the IBAS FY27 request he cited at the hearing—roughly $2.75 billion, largely mandatory—would represent a substantial ramp from FY26. The assistant secretary said his office would reallocate within the IBAS portfolio to maintain Build Freedom if anticipated mandatory funds do not materialize.

The hearing closed with members urging bipartisan, sustained commitments to workforce programs so gains do not fade if short-term funds expire. The committee adjourned after agreeing to continued oversight and potential follow-up briefings in Washington.