By Troy Turner
TALLADEGA, Alabama – The Alabama Institute for the Deaf & Blind (AIDB) has won two major contracts, at nearly $15 million each, to provide materials for the War Department to distribute to the Army and Air Force.
AIDB is a longtime client for the military, having earned a $29 million in May 2025 to provide neckties for the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and Coast Guard.
Last week it picked up two more. ADIB was selected to provide all the tools, parts, materials and equipment offered from AbilityOne Procurement List website for work to be performed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.
The work is expected to be completed by Feb. 5, 2029, with the Air Force Sustainment Center Installation Maintenance Contracting Division, Robins AFB, as the contracting agency.
The institute also was selected for a $14 million contract to provide helmet covers for the Army through January 2029, with the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the contracting agency.
About AIDB
The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) is the world’s most comprehensive education, rehabilitation and service program serving individuals of all ages who are deaf, blind, deafblind and multi-disabled.
Founded in 1858 by a young medical doctor who wanted to educate his deaf brother, AIDB now serves more than 31,000 infants, toddlers, children, adults and seniors with hearing and vision loss throughout Alabama each year.
In Talladega, AIDB has six campuses:
• Alabama School for the Deaf
• Alabama School for the Blind
• Alabama Industries for the Blind
• Helen Keller School
• E.H. Gentry Facility
• Marianna Greene Henry Special Equestrian Arena
AIDB also has 10 regional centers located in Birmingham, Decatur, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Opelika, Shoals, Talladega and Tuscaloosa that extend the program offerings throughout the state.
Congress in 1938 passed the Wagner-O’Day Act, which directed federal agencies to purchase products from non-profit industries that employ people who are blind or those with multiple disabilities.
Amended in 1971 as the Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Act, now called the AbilityOne Program, it then provided for the purchase of both products and services and included federal purchasing from industries serving people with other severe disabilities.
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. His bio can be found here.
Similar stories of interest:
