POMSS (prepositioned organizational materiel storage site)

POMSS is the abbreviation for prepositioned organizational materiel storage site. It is NATO logistics terminology for a site where prepositioned organizational materiel is stored. NATO's glossary of abbreviations records the expansion, and NATO's Logistics Handbook lists POMSS in its own abbreviation list.

The term belongs to the vocabulary of allied military logistics. Anyone reading NATO documents, or Canadian documents that borrow NATO language, will see it in the same form: a storage site for materiel that has been placed in position ahead of need. This page sets out where the term comes from, how it relates to POMCUS, and how a supplier should read it.

What each word in POMSS contributes

The abbreviation has four parts. "Prepositioned" describes materiel placed in advance. "Organizational materiel" names the category of equipment being held. "Storage site" names the facility. NATO's terminology materials give the French equivalent as dépôt de prépositionnement de matériel de dotation organique, which keeps the same four ideas.

NATOTerm is NATO's official terminology database for non-classified military and NATO-relevant terminology. Readers who need to check a NATO term in either official language can start at NATOTerm.

Where POMSS appears in NATO sources

Two NATO publications directly support the meaning of POMSS. The first is the NATO Logistics Handbook, which includes POMSS in its list of abbreviations. The second is the AAP-15 glossary of NATO acronyms and abbreviations, which gives the expansion and the French equivalent.

NATO archival records also use POMSS in the names of facilities. One example is the Kaiserslautern POMSS armament maintenance and storage building record, a project title that pairs the term with armament maintenance and storage.

POMSS and POMCUS

NATO's glossary lists a related term alongside POMSS: POMCUS, which means prepositioned organizational materiel configured in unit sets. The two terms share the phrase "prepositioned organizational materiel" but name different things. POMSS names the storage site. POMCUS describes the materiel as configured in unit sets.

• POMSS: prepositioned organizational materiel storage site.
• POMCUS: prepositioned organizational materiel configured in unit sets.

What POMSS means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

POMSS is a NATO term. Canadian tender opportunities are published on CanadaBuys, the Government of Canada platform for tender opportunities and contracting information, and Department of National Defence listings appear there alongside those of other departments. Contracting data is also available on the CanadaBuys procurement and contracting data page.

If a solicitation or statement of work uses POMSS, read the requirement as the tender documents define it, and use the NATO expansion above to understand the vocabulary. Ask the contracting authority through the channel named in the solicitation if the scope of a site, its materiel or its services is unclear. Confirm requirements from the tender documents themselves rather than from the abbreviation alone.