A 02 - Limited Comp JA Redacted - Kits signed.pdf

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CUI//SP-SSEL

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU

111 South George Mason Drive Arlington, VA 22204-1373

I. OVERVIEW

a. Program/Equipment Name

EVAS Court Reporting Recording Kits

b. Amount (Total price/cost to include options.)

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

c. Authority

41 USC 1901 as implemented in FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) Soliciting from a single source.

d. Technical Representative

Phone DateName xxxxxxxxx Title xxxxxxxxx Email xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx April 16, 2026

e. Contracting Officer (Populates from the KO signature field.)

Name Title Email Phone Date

Contracting Officer

Requirements Representative (If different from Technical Representative.)

Prepared by (If different from Contracting Officer.)

Name Title Email Phone Date

Dan Bart Contract Specialist daniel.g.bart.civ@army.mil 320-616-6012 April 13, 2026

II. REVIEWS

I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition.

Program Manager (If applicable.)

Program Executive Officer (When item is Program Executive Officer managed.)

Controlled by:

Controlled by:

CUI Category: SOURCE SELECTION

Limited Dissemination Control: FEDCON

POC:

(Populates from the KO signature field.)

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Memorandum for Record - Absence of Competition Instructions

Local Control Number NGB Control Number (if applicable)

1a. CONTRACTING ACTIVITY c. POC

USPFO-MN / W912LM

b. Requiring Activity xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx

2a. NATURE OF ACTION

Only one source.

b. Contract Action

New Contract

c. Contract Type

Firm Fixed Price

d. Fund Type

O&M, Army

3a. ESTIMATED TOTAL PRICE OF REQUEST (including options, if any) xxxxxxxxx

b. If Applicable, Estimated Price of Supplies/Services xxxxxxxxx

4a. Name of Requirement

EVAS Court Reporting Recording Kits

b. Description of Requirement

EVAS Court Reporting Recording Kits by eVerbatim, Inc., with the required Eclipse CAT software integrated – 2 each kits. [EVAS = Eclipse Vox ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) System]

The Eclipse Vox ASR System (EVAS) is comprised of computer, hardware, and audio components, integrated with the required proprietary software, Eclipse (see Attach1). The MN ARNG SJAs are ensuring that each court reporter has the required equipment and capabilities to record and transcribe courts-martial and other hearings, as outlined in AR 27-10, Ch 25 (08JAN2025) (see Attach4).

These special court reporting recording kits are utilized for court trial recordings and data analysis. The Army is required to record and produce audio of court-martial proceedings in order to comply with UCMJ. The audio must be reformatted into a universal format in order to be reviewed and played on various platforms and by various personnel. This requires supplemental court reporting equipment which possesses capabilities to produce legal transcripts in a complete, end-to-end solution that converts speech to text in real-time with or without continuous commercial internet connection. The equipment must be in compliance with AR 27-10, which prescribes the policies and procedures pertaining to the administration of military justice and implements the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM), and the Rules for Courts Martial (RCM) contained in the MCM.

(See Attachments 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5)

c. Demonstrate, in Detail, Why This Specific Item or Service, is the Only One That Meets Your Requirements

The Army Court Reporter Program requires Army Court Reporters to use the “Eclipse” CAT software [CAT = computer-aided transcription] in performing their duties, which is only available from the developer, Advantage (see Attach1). Per AR 27-10, Ch 25-9(5), “Eclipse is an integrated development environment used by court reporters to record proceedings, create, and edit transcripts with speech-to-text software, and redact transcripts,” (see Attach4). Then eVerbatim takes the Army required software and functionality, combined with hardware and recording accessories, and integrates it all into complete kits, specifically for the military (Attach2, 3, and 5).

(See Attachments 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5)

5a. HAS THIS BEEN PREVIOUSLY PROCURED?

Yes, details are below. No.

6a. AUTHORITY CITED

41 USC 1901 as implemented in FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) Soliciting from a single source.

b. Reason for Authority Cited

Sole Source - single source

7. POSTING REQUIREMENTS

None.

8. CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS

a. Efforts to Obtain Competition

Various Information Technology sources, CHESS, prior procurement data, and Army and military letters, policy, and/or regulations were reviewed, along with discussion with owning authority, and research of property book data. Additional internet searches and use of GenAI resulted in only piecemeal options of lesser software capability and/or only audio mixer equipment and related accessories, but no complete systems or kits that meet the Army requirements.

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b. Actions to Increase Competition

No other vendors have or currently can provide the same capability nor the required integrated Eclipse software. The key component is the specialized transcription software which is a required part of the system or kit. You cannot purchase the software without purchasing the computer, wireless microphone, and warranty. It is a complete package provided by only one vendor, eVerbatim, Inc.

c. Market Research

In addition to the “efforts to obtain competition” mentioned above, additional market research using internet searches and GenAI shows that there are various court reporting recording software and equipment options on the commercial market, but still none meet the requirements nor integrate the required Eclipse software as set forth in AR 27-10, Ch 25. They are of lesser software capability and/or were only audio mixer equipment or related accessories, but no complete systems or kits that meet the Army requirements.

Both the US Army MICC-FSH (Mission and Installation Contracting Command – Fort Sam Houston) and the RI ARNG had same requirements over the past several years. Both did extensive market research and sources sought to compare similar systems or kits on the market, and compared these to past and current military court reporting recording equipment (FTR = For The Record, and DNS = Dragon Naturally Speaking). Both found and confirmed that EVAS by eVerbatim is the only kit that meets all military requirements and integrates the required Eclipse CAT software.

The EVAS system has been utilized by the Army for at least the last five years, and as such market research has been conducted historically to determine the best needs for the Army for court reporting equipment prior to determining the decision to sole source. One such user of this equipment, The U.S. Army Office of the Judge Advocate General (OTJAG) conducted research on other similar systems through online research and attending site visit demonstrations for similar technology solutions; however, none match the capabilities and functionalities of EVAS. Previously, OTJAG was using For The Record (FTR), as their software program and several different laptops as their court reporting equipment. However, the combination of these two technologies proved to be an inefficient system because it had a slow production rate and suffered from various technical difficulties due to the incompatibility issues with the hardware and software.

In addition to the market research found through historical requirements for the same product, the RI ARNG conducted their own market research. A sources sought notice was published seeking sources capable of providing hardware meeting the characteristics required by AR 27-10. No viable responses were received. In addition, various providers of other court reporting equipment were contacted and either did not respond to the inquiry or were determined to not meet the capabilities required by a single system or the AR 27-10 characteristics.

MN ARNG Contracting posted a RFI to CHESS which resulted in no vendors able to provide, nor vendors authorized as resellers, and so CHESS approved a SoNA to go open market for the EVAS Court Reporting Recording kits.

Contacted the military sales POC with eVerbatim who responded with the attached email (Attach5) stating that, “EVAS is an integrated system, which among its many aspects means that the laptop workstation is the platform on which we load the system software,” and that “the laptop isn’t The Solution, nor can a user load one or more off the shelf programs to accomplish the same thing.” Also that, “We are a sole-source provider for the US Army because no other vendor offers an end-to-end solution as comprehensive and effective as ours.”

d. Interested Sources

None. Other manufacturers of similar court reporting recording systems or kits do not meet all of the requirements, as found by MICC-FSH and RI

ARNG.

e. Other Facts

N/A

9. REQUIRING ACTIVITY CERTIFICATION

Technical and Requirements

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name xxxxxxxxx

Phone xxxxxxxxx

Date

April 16, 2026

Email xxxxxxxxx

11. APPROVAL

Contracting Officer (KO)

1. I hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the government for this contract action will be Fair and Reasonable.

2. I certify that this Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

(This certification shall be made by the contracting Officer who will sign the contract resulting from this Justification and Approval.)

Name Date Phone

Eric Ahlgren May 11, 2026 320-616-2775

Email eric.a.ahlgren.civ@army.mil

12. REDACTION INSTRUCTIONS

Title

Program Analyst

AHLGREN.ERIC.A

NDREW.1292507034

Digitally signed by

AHLGREN.ERIC.ANDREW.129250703

Date: 2026.05.12 11:35:10 -05'00'

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After completion and signatures, print to PDF. In Adobe, Redact items such as, but not limited to:

1. Dollar amounts.

2. Names.

3. Signatures.

4. Proprietary information.

FAR 5.401, FAR 24.1, and FAR 24.2