Stone Solutions and Research Collective, LLC (S2RC), a Phoenix-based Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business and SBA 8(a) certified firm,
announced today that it has been awarded a contract by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to deliver Confined Space Entry Training in support of DLA Energy operations worldwide.
Under the award, S2RC will conduct intensive three-day workshops that qualify DLA Energy personnel to safely enter and work in permit-required confined spaces, with a curriculum that spans both shore-based petroleum facilities and maritime vessels. Students will train on the full scope of confined space operations aboard barges and tankers, including cargo tank entry, gas-free testing procedures, interpretation of Marine Chemist “Safe Entry” postings, ventilation and inerting sequences, and atmospheric hazard monitoring, alongside shore-side environments such as pump rooms, storage tanks, and tank berms. The instruction is built to OSHA’s permit-required confined space standard (29 CFR 1910.146) and the shipyard employment standard (29 CFR 1915 Subpart B), preparing graduates to serve as Competent Persons in maritime confined space operations.
Training will be delivered on location at DLA Energy sites across four continents, including installations in the Middle East, Europe, the Pacific, Alaska, and the continental United States. The multi-year effort requires sustained OCONUS coordination, installation access management, and consistent delivery quality across widely distributed operating environments.
“The fuel enterprise runs on people who can safely go where most cannot: inside the cargo tanks of tankers, into pump rooms and confined spaces at terminals from the Pacific to the Middle East,” said Rick Stone, Founder and CEO of S2RC. “This contract puts S2RC instructors shoulder to shoulder with the DLA Energy workforce at the point of need, worldwide. It also deepens our commitment to the maritime and shipyard workforce, where the ability to certify Competent Persons under the shipyard standards is foundational to fleet readiness and to the nation’s shipbuilding and ship-repair industrial base.”
The award marks a deliberate expansion of S2RC’s maritime training portfolio and its capacity to execute globally distributed programs for the Department of Defense. The company’s instructional cadre of veteran subject matter experts brings direct operational experience in fuel handling, occupational safety, and DoD installation environments, enabling delivery that is both regulation-faithful and grounded in field reality. The effort complements S2RC’s broader work in workforce modernization, mixed-reality training systems, and human systems engineering serving defense and industrial clients.
