My company has dealt with Uncle Sam for over 30 years.
I would really recommend you get ahold of your mil-specs before you quote.
If you bid an item, you're effectively agreeing to their requirements on that item.
Langdon - is your firm ISO? do you have a MIL-I-45208 plan in place? Does your firm mostly quote non-government business?
Anyway, in this case, I would clear off a table, and lay out a copy of the contract, all the drawings cited in the contract, and all applicable specs called out in the contract and in any of the drawings.
Consider the following -
1) Drawings often contain notes that override mil-spec requirements. If you have the latest revision of the drawing, (as cited in the contract), and it says something different than the mil-spec, roll with it.
2) Contract notes/details may override drawing notes or specs requirements.
So, regardless of what qty is described in the mil-prf-38201D, there is a possibility that you will have to test more, less, or even 100%.
"proving the intent" of a mil-spec is an odd concept to me... Spec's are often confusing, read the applicable sections over a bunch of times and they start to make sense.
Keep in mind, the specs are demanding you answer a yes/no question - does the item meet it's requirements?
hth
-rob