Lockheed Martin announced today that it has received a $3.6 million contract from the United States Military Entrance Processing Command (USMEPCOM) for fingerprinting technology that enables background checks for prospective military recruits.

The contract calls for Lockheed Martin to maintain and enhance fingerprinting hardware and software, as well as provide help desk support to the Command.

In 1999, Lockheed Martin won the original contract to deploy 65 Electronic Fingerprint Capture Stations (EFCSs) and a Fingerprint Interface Server (FIS), enabling USMEPCOM to automate the fingerprinting process for new military recruits. The Lockheed Martin solution allowed the Command to fingerprint prospects, forward the fingerprints to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for a background check, and receive the results within 24 hours. Previous methods included a manual approach that required several weeks to finalize the background check.

"We are proud to have been chosen to continue providing USMEPCOM with essential capabilities to capture the biometric-based identity of the more than 240,000 men and women who enter military service each year," said Scott Pisut, program manager of Lockheed Martin's Fingerprint Services/Software and Equipment Maintenance program.

The USMEPCOM is a joint service command headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The command, with management and operations oversight of 65 Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) and over 532 Mobile Examining Team (MET) sites, determines the physical, mental and moral qualifications of all applicants for enlistment into the U.S. Armed Forces, based on standards set by the Department of Defense.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2005 sales of $37.2 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin