James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award
The Cogswell Award was established in 1966 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, recognizing the importance of 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 Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) can bestow to cleared industry. Of the more than 13,000 cleared contractors in the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), less than 1% are annually selected to receive this award.
Criteria:
The criteria are dependent on the principles of industrial security excellence. Basic requisites include establishing and maintaining a security program that goes well beyond the minimum NISP 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. That facility must have achieved two consecutive superior ratings to be considered for the award. Once nominated, the facility enters an eight-month internal review process in which the DCSA national review team comprised of regional directors and representatives from across DCSA considers each nomination. The national review team vets all nominations with 57 external agencies, ranks them, and makes recommendations to DCSA senior leaders, who then submit the rank listings to the DCSA Director for final approval. The final decisions are based upon the following criteria:
- Overall security program
- Senior management support
- Security vulnerability assessments
- Security education and awareness
- Facility security officer (FSO) and security staff level of experience
- Classified material controls