AFPMB DWFP FY 23 Announcement | W911SR 22 S DWFP

Opportunity Information: Apply for W911SR 22 S DWFP

The AFPMB DWFP FY23 Announcement is a Department of Defense discretionary grant opportunity run through the U.S. Army Contracting Command (Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood Contracting Division, Fort Detrick) on behalf of the Armed Forces Pest Management Board (AFPMB). It supports the Deployed War Fighter Protection (DWFP) Research Program, which funds practical, product-oriented research that improves protection of deployed military personnel from medically important pests, especially arthropods that bite or transmit disease. The program is focused on interventions that can be used in operational military environments and that also have potential value for civilian public health or pest control settings.

The main purpose is to advance new or improved tools to reduce exposure to vectors and vector-borne diseases that matter to the military, including Lyme disease, malaria, dengue, and other arboviral threats. The solicitation emphasizes work aligned with DoD "Advanced Technology Development" (RDT&E Budget Activity 3), meaning the research is expected to be beyond basic discovery and closer to demonstrable, testable capability. In practical terms, applicants are expected to be developing or maturing a specific technology or capability rather than doing purely exploratory studies.

Five major research lanes are called out. First is development of new toxicants or adapting existing toxicants for medically relevant pests. Second is new insecticide application techniques, which can include improved delivery methods suited to field conditions. Third is personal protection tools that prevent human-vector contact, such as wearable or skin-applied technologies, treated materials, or other protective modalities. Fourth is decision support tools that help commanders or preventive medicine teams choose the right control actions based on risk, environment, and resources. Fifth is surveillance tools that improve vector control outcomes, for example by detecting vectors more effectively, measuring biting pressure, tracking insecticide resistance, or linking surveillance to actionable thresholds. Across these areas, the intent is to produce outcomes that are usable by DoD and that can plausibly transition to real-world deployment.

A key requirement is that the work must be primarily applicable to military needs, but the resulting products should be transferable to civilian use. The program also makes clear that projects should be oriented toward a specific product or capability, such as advanced research tied to a particular technology, field evaluation of products for military use, or development of an existing prototype toward commercialization. Applicants are expected to include semi-field or field evaluations of prototype products, not just lab-only work. Testing and evaluation of commercial off-the-shelf products is generally not the point of the program unless those commercial products are used as comparators against prototypes under development. When relevant, proposed end products should be on a path toward U.S. Environmental Protection Agency registration (for example, if the outcome is an insecticide product, formulation, or pesticidal claim that would require EPA review).

Funding for FY23 is listed as up to $4.5 million total across the program, dependent on available funds, with an expected 1 to 10 awards (elsewhere summarized as about 5 anticipated awards). Individual projects are capped at $300,000 per year for up to three years, for a maximum possible total of $900,000 per project, inclusive of both direct and indirect costs. There is no cost sharing or matching requirement. Awards are made as grants under CFDA 12.355 (DWFP Pest Management and Vector Control Research).

Eligibility is broadly open ("unrestricted") to applicants affiliated with eligible institutions, including for-profit companies, non-profits, and public or private organizations. Federal agencies may also apply, with their submissions handled under applicable federal rules. Selection is based on peer-reviewed scientific merit and programmatic relevance, with evaluation by a technical committee representing AFPMB and DoD service components.

The application process begins with a required pre-proposal step. Applicants must submit a completed pre-proposal form and a separate project summary in a quad chart format, delivered as two PDF files. The pre-proposal materials are provided through the AFPMB website, and submissions are sent to the AFPMB Webmaster. For FY23, the pre-proposal deadline was December 8, 2022 at 11:59 pm EDT, and late submissions were not accepted. The timeline then anticipated invitations to submit full proposals around January 12, 2023, full proposal submissions due around March 8, 2023, selection notifications around April 25, 2023, and awards funded around August 2023.

For points of contact, the announcement lists the AFPMB Webmaster for access and submission issues, the DWFP Program Manager (Dr. Gabriela Zollner) for technical and contextual questions, and a Grants Specialist (Mr. Scott Hoffman) for grants-related administrative questions. It also points applicants to a related Broad Agency Announcement (AFPMB-BAA-22-01) for additional background on the DWFP program and proposal submission context.

• 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 "AFPMB DWFP FY 23 Announcement" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.355.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 03, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 08, 2022. (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 5 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 W911SR 22 S DWFP

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