Protective Design Center (PDC)

About

The Protective Design Center (MCX) provides specialized engineering services to ensure the safety and security of facilities and their occupants. We maintain leading-edge expertise in protecting against a variety of threats, including terrorism, weapons impacts, and hazardous materials. Our work focuses on designing buildings that meet or exceed Department of Defense (DoD) standards for security and resilience.

Our core areas of expertise are categorized below as either required or optional services:

Required Services (as outlined in §9, ER 1110-1-8175): These services must be provided in certain situations.

• Secure Facility Design: Design support for highly secure spaces like Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) and Special Access Program Facilities (SAP-Fs).
• Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Protection: Design support for shielding systems to protect against the effects of EMP and High-Altitude EMP (HEMP).
• TEMPEST Compliance: Ensuring facilities meet standards to prevent electronic eavesdropping.
• Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) Mitigation: Design support to minimize disruption from environmental electromagnetic effects.
• Shielding (Acoustic & Photonic): Providing protection against unwanted sound and light.
• Antiterrorism (AT) Certification: Validating and certifying that buildings meet minimum DoD Antiterrorism Standards before occupancy, and approving exceptions to those standards.
• Access Control Point (ACP) Commissioning: Ensuring the security of Army installation access points.
• Critical Infrastructure Security: Protecting essential facilities and ensuring continuity of operations.
• Structural Protection: Designing buildings to withstand the effects of nuclear and conventional weapons, and to prevent collapse in catastrophic events.
• Hazardous Material Protection: Designing to protect against chemical, biological, and radiological agents.
• Enhanced IED and Drone Protection: Providing security measures exceeding minimum Antiterrorism Standards for Improvised Explosive Devices and Drone Threats.
• Blast Resistance: Specifying blast-resistant windows and other features.
• Forced Entry Resistance: Designing to deter and resist unauthorized access.
• Progressive Collapse Prevention: Designing structures to prevent cascading failure in the event of localized damage.

Optional Services (as outlined in §10, ER 1110-1-8175): These services are available on request.

• Protective Design Assistance: Helping integrate protective measures into building designs.
• Security & Antiterrorism Reviews: Evaluating designs for physical security and antiterrorism effectiveness.
• Security Planning Assessments: Conducting assessments based on UFC 4-020-01 standards.
• On-Site Security Evaluations: Performing security assessments at project locations.
• Criteria Development & Maintenance: Creating and updating protective design standards.
• Training & Consultation: Providing specialized training and expert advice.