Limiting Competition MFR Voice Recording Initiative_signed.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

U.S. ARMY MISSION AND INSTALLATION CONTRACTING COMMAND

MICC – Fort Eustis [Joint Base Langley-Eustis]

705 WASHINGTON BOULEVARD, SUITE 126W

FORT EUSTIS, VIRGINIA 23604

September 9, 2026

Memorandum for Record

SUBJECT: Justification for Limiting Competition under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold Brand-Name Only Buy for Exacom Hindsight 4 Voice Recording Initiative

1. Purpose: This memorandum documents the rationale for limiting competition for the Exacom replacement requirement.

2. Requirement: This is a new, one-time, Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) contract. The purpose of this action is to procure the design, installation, and software licensing for an Integrated Voice and Flight Operations Recording Assembly System (Voice Recorder System (VRS) Upgrade).

3. Description of Supplies and Services: The Government requires a digital voice and radio transmission recording platform to deliver multi-channel recording for the Cairns and Range Operations crash networks. This system supports critical public safety dispatch, G3 Air noise complaints, aircraft mishap investigations, and the Fort Rucker Fly Neighborly Program.

4. Rationale for RFO 16.507-7: Because the current system is proprietary to Exacom, they are the only vendor that can provide this technology. Switching to a different brand would be much more costly and would require replacing the entire system in place. This would be slower and include switching costs.

All associated AVCoE equipment in the current communications racks is Exacom-approved, and the rack management software works exclusively with Exacom. Standardizing on a single Exacom environment mitigates both planned and unplanned network downtime by integrating natively with the current setup, allowing technicians to use a "single pane of glass" to monitor diagnostics and push firmware. Introducing a non-compatible vendor would break this native automation, require separate management consoles, and necessitate expensive custom translation layers, which is not realistic or cost-effective for the Government.

5. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost: Prior to award, the Contracting Officer will determine that the price is fair and reasonable. This determination will be based on a comparison of the vendor’s quote against the Independently developed Government Estimate (IGE).

REPLY TO

ATTENTION OF

6. Conclusion: Procuring the Exacom HindSight 4 system is the only viable path to meet the Army's critical public safety and aviation recording requirements at Fort Rucker. Because the existing system runs on proprietary Exacom technology, only Exacom can provide the necessary software, hardware, and integration.

Changing brands is not practical or cost-effective due to the high cost of replacing the current equipment and the unacceptable operational risks of downtime to the 911 emergency and dispatch networks.

Contracting Officer