Indiana Federal & Military Employers: NSWC Crane, Camp Atterbury, Notre Dame Contracts

Last verified: April 2026

Major Indiana Federal & Military Sites

Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane (NSWC Crane)

Located in Crane, IN, straddling Martin, Greene, and Lawrence counties. NSWC Crane is one of the largest naval bases in the country by area — approximately 64,000 acres — and one of the largest federal employers in the state with roughly 7,000 federal personnel and contractors. Mission specialty: weapons systems, electronic warfare, and special-mission aircraft.

Camp Atterbury

Edinburgh, IN, spanning Bartholomew, Brown, and Johnson counties. The Indiana National Guard’s primary training center, ~33,000 acres, with a full pre-deployment mobilization mission. National Guard service members are subject to military testing and federal Drug-Free Workplace Act compliance for civilian employees on base.

Grissom Air Reserve Base

Peru, IN (Miami County). Home of the 434th Air Refueling Wing, with roughly 2,500 personnel. Notably, HVMC founder Jeff Staker is a retired Grissom firefighter; his advocacy explicitly draws on the federal/state mismatch he encountered there.

Rolls-Royce Indianapolis

A major Department of Defense prime contractor on the AE 1107C engine for the V-22 Osprey, the LiftFan for the F-35B Lightning II, and other propulsion programs. Federal-contractor status triggers Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 compliance for the entire workforce.

University of Notre Dame Federal Research

Notre Dame holds DARPA grants, Department of Energy laboratory partnerships, and Department of Defense research contracts. Federally funded research personnel and labs are subject to Drug-Free Workplace Act controls and applicable agency-specific testing programs.

Indiana University Health Methodist + IU School of Medicine

The state’s largest academic medical center. Major NIH funding subjects researchers and clinical-trial personnel to Drug-Free Workplace Act compliance.

Roudebush VA Medical Center (VA Indianapolis)

The Indianapolis VA campus. VHA Directive 1315 governs VA cannabis policy nationally: VA clinicians cannot prescribe medical cannabis (it remains Schedule I federally), but cannot revoke benefits for veterans using cannabis legally under state law in another jurisdiction.

FBI Indianapolis Field Office and DEA Indianapolis Division Office

Federal law-enforcement agencies operating under the strictest application of the Drug-Free Workplace Act and SAMHSA federal drug-testing guidelines. Special agents and support staff are subject to suitability and clearance review.

The Federal Testing Stack

Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 (41 U.S.C. §81)

Every federal employer, federal grantee, and federal contractor over the contract-value threshold operates under the Drug-Free Workplace Act. The act requires a written drug policy, employee education, supervisor training, and disciplinary procedures for violations. SAMHSA’s 5-panel federal drug test (THC, cocaine metabolites, opiates, amphetamines, PCP) is the standard. The federal program does not recognize state medical cannabis programs. Indiana has no medical program in any case.

SF-86 Question 23 — Security Clearance

The Standard Form 86 (Questionnaire for National Security Positions) question 23 requires disclosure of any cannabis use during specified lookback periods. Current use is disqualifying. Recent ODNI guidance has urged adjudicators to apply mitigating factors for one-time or distant past use, but state legality is not a defense at adjudication. NSWC Crane, FBI/DEA, contractors at Rolls-Royce on classified programs, and Notre Dame DoD-funded researchers are all subject to clearance review.

49 CFR Part 40 — DOT/FMCSA Testing

The DOT’s 49 CFR Part 40 sets the federal testing program for safety-sensitive transportation employees: CDL drivers, transit workers, pipeline workers, pilots, and railroad employees. Marijuana-metabolite cutoffs are 50 ng/mL initial and 15 ng/mL confirmation. The DOT explicitly does not recognize state medical cannabis programs as a valid medical use for verifying a positive marijuana test.

ATF Form 4473 Question 21.g — Firearms

ATF Form 4473 question 21.g denies firearm purchase to any “unlawful user” of marijuana. The federal definition of “unlawful user” includes anyone using cannabis even legally in another state, because federal law controls Form 4473 administration. A licensed Michigan cannabis customer answering question 21.g truthfully is denied; answering falsely is a federal felony. Indiana has no medical cannabis program, so no defense from federal ATF policy is available regardless.

49 CFR Part 40 sets marijuana metabolite cutoffs at 50 ng/mL initial and 15 ng/mL confirmation. CDL drivers, transit workers, pipeline workers, and pilots are subject to mandatory testing — and DOT does not recognize state medical cannabis programs as a valid medical use.

49 CFR Part 40 — Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs

The Veterans Layer

Indiana’s veteran population is significant and concentrated around the major bases. Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis (HVMC), founded by retired Grissom firefighter Jeff Staker in 2016, has met repeatedly with the VA seeking clarification on cannabis-and-benefits questions. VHA Directive 1315 establishes the federal-baseline VA cannabis policy: VA clinicians cannot prescribe medical cannabis (Schedule I), but cannot revoke benefits for legal-elsewhere use. VA clinicians can discuss cannabis with veterans during care without triggering benefit consequences.

For Indiana veterans specifically, the practical result is: a Hoosier veteran can legally consume in Niles, MI on a Saturday, and that consumption cannot affect VA benefits — but it can still produce a positive workplace drug test the following Wednesday at any Indiana employer, and federal contractors remain bound by the Drug-Free Workplace Act regardless of veteran status. See community organizations for HVMC and related advocacy.

The Per Se DUI Multiplier

Indiana’s per se zero-tolerance metabolite DUI rule under IC 9-30-5 compounds the workplace exposure. THC metabolites can persist 30+ days after use; an employee who legally consumes cannabis in Michigan on a Saturday can fail an IC 9-30-5 chemical test on a Wednesday traffic stop and a federal Drug-Free Workplace Act test on the same Wednesday at the office. P.L. 142-2020 and P.L. 49-2021 added a marijuana-metabolite affirmative defense to the criminal DUI statute, but the affirmative defense protects only against criminal charges, not against employer adverse action or federal-clearance review. See DUI & driving.

What Federal Workplaces Test For

• Pre-employment — standard for nearly all federal positions and prime contractors
• Random — mandatory for safety-sensitive and security-clearance positions
• Reasonable suspicion — based on supervisor observation
• Post-accident — mandatory for OSHA-recordable and security-significant incidents
• Return-to-duty — after a positive test or violation, before resumption of safety-sensitive functions
• Follow-up — periodic testing during a return-to-duty agreement (often six tests in twelve months minimum under DOT)

Explore Drug Testing