Deployed Warfighter Protection Program Research Oppurtunities | DWFP 15 S 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for DWFP 15 S 01

The Deployed Warfighter Protection (DWFP) Program Research Opportunities grant is a fiscal year 2019 funding initiative run by the Armed Forces Pest Management Board (AFPMB) and supported through the US Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground (Natick Contracting Division, Fort Detrick Branch). The core purpose is to fund original, innovative, and clearly product-oriented research that reduces disease risk for deployed US military personnel by improving protection against arthropod-borne threats, meaning illnesses transmitted by vectors like mosquitoes and ticks. The announcement highlights high-priority diseases such as Lyme disease, malaria, dengue, and other arboviruses that can undermine readiness and operational effectiveness, especially in deployed environments where exposure risk can be high and medical resources can be constrained.

The program is focused on developing practical interventions rather than basic research. It prioritizes three main lanes of work: first, discovering new toxicants (or adapting existing toxicants) that can effectively target relevant vectors; second, developing improved insecticide application techniques suitable for real operational settings; and third, creating new personal protection tools that reduce or prevent human-vector contact. The preferred maturity level is what the Department of Defense categorizes as Advanced Technology Development (Budget Activity 3), which generally means the work should be beyond early-stage exploration and instead aimed at advancing a specific technology toward usable capability. In plain terms, they want proposals that can realistically produce something the military can use: an improved insecticide or formulation, an upgraded delivery/application approach, a new or enhanced personal protective modality, or more effective and sustainable pesticide application equipment designed for deployed conditions.

A key theme is that projects must be product-oriented and tied to a particular technology or capability. Appropriate efforts include advanced research that matures a defined solution, semi-field or field evaluations of prototype products in relevant conditions, or development of an existing prototype toward commercial manufacture. At the same time, the solicitation draws clear boundaries around what is not appropriate: it is not meant for simple testing and evaluation of already-commercial products, and it is not meant for modifying an off-the-shelf commercial product for a new use. The expectation is that applicants are pushing forward a genuine prototype or near-prototype concept and demonstrating performance through semi-field or field evaluation, not just benchmarking what is already on the market.

Because many of these interventions involve pesticides, the announcement also calls out regulatory expectations. Any pesticides included in the proposed work should already be registered with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or the proposal should clearly be moving toward EPA registration if the pesticide is not currently registered. In addition, the research must be primarily applicable to military needs, with the added preference that resulting products or approaches could also transfer to civilian use. That dual-use idea matters because it can help with scaling, commercialization, and broader public-health impact, while still keeping the military problem set front and center.

Funding levels and structure are laid out with specific limits. The program anticipated awarding about $4.5 million total in FY19, with continuation in later years dependent on future funding availability. Individual projects are capped at $300,000 per year for up to three years, for a maximum total of $900,000 per project, and that cap is inclusive of all direct and indirect costs. The opportunity is described as renewable for up to three years, which effectively means applicants should propose a plan that can progress over multiple years but stays within the annual and total cost ceilings. Awards were expected to be made around April 2019.

The application process starts with a required pre-proposal stage. Pre-proposals were due by November 30, 2018 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time, with late submissions not considered. After pre-proposals are reviewed, selected applicants would be invited to submit full proposals, with an estimated timeline of invitations around January 2, 2019, full proposals due around February 13, 2019, acceptance notifications around March 25, 2019, and funding around April 2019. Full proposal instructions were to be provided only to those formally invited following the pre-proposal review.

Eligibility is broad and essentially unrestricted across organization types and geography, as long as the investigator is employed by or affiliated with an eligible institution. Eligible applicants include for-profit and nonprofit entities, public and private organizations, and institutions in any country, including universities, hospitals, laboratories, companies, and state or local government agencies. Federal agencies may also respond, though their submissions are processed under applicable federal rules. This broad eligibility reflects the program’s interest in pulling solutions from across academia, industry, and government, as long as the proposed work clearly serves deployed military protection needs and aligns with the program’s product-driven goals.

Selection is based on peer-reviewed scientific merit and programmatic relevance, with decisions informed by a technical committee representing AFPMB and the military service components. In practice, that means proposals need both strong science and a clear line of sight to operational utility: the solution needs to work, be testable in relevant environments, and make sense for how the military would actually deploy it. Administrative details include a pre-proposal form hosted online, submission directed through the AFPMB webmaster, and points of contact for both technical questions (the DWFP Program Manager, Dr. Gabriela Zollner) and grants/contracting questions (the Grants Officer, Mr. Richard Totten). The opportunity is also associated with Broad Agency Announcement AFPMB-BAA-19-01 and could be found via common federal posting sites such as fedbizopps.gov (at that time) and grants.gov.

• The Department of Defense, ACC-APG-Detrick in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Deployed Warfighter Protection Program Research Oppurtunities" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.360.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 11, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 30, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DWFP 15 S 01

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