Northrop Grumman Awarded Task Order By General Services Administration Unit To Combat Enlistment Fraud

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been awarded a task order by the General Services Administration’s Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (GSA FEDSIM) to reduce fraudulent enlistments in the military through the use of an electronic security (e-Security) program. GSA FEDSIM awarded the task order on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense’s U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command (USMEPCOM).

Northrop Grumman’s Information Technology (IT) sector will provide biometrics technology to positively identify an applicant during each step of the enlistment process. The biometrics technology will also be used in support of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), a testing program used by USMEPCOM to measure the abilities of applicants. The e-Security program will use digital image and fingerprint readers to verify the identity of applicants through biometrics technology. The program will also enable enlistees to digitally sign enlistment documents, eliminating the need for wet ink signatures.

“The e-Security program will allow USMEPCOM to track and authenticate each applicant’s identity, further reducing fraudulent enlistments,” said Jill Kale, vice president of Enterprise Applications and Systems Integration for Northrop Grumman IT’s Defense group. “Northrop Grumman’s solution will also minimize the need for manual signatures during enlistment, while adding a layer of security.”

USMEPCOM is a Defense Department field activity responsible for ensuring all U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard applicants for enlistment meet Defense Department and service aptitude, medical and moral standards. In fiscal year 2006, USMEPCOM administered nearly 550,000 ASVAB tests, 355,000 physical exams, and initiated 293,000 background screening checks at its 65 military entrance processing stations located throughout the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. This effort resulted in the services gaining 262,000 new recruits in fiscal year 2006.

Work on the contract will be conducted in Chicago, Williamsburg, Va., and Jersey City, N.J. Northrop Grumman’s teammate on the contract is Identix, Minnetonka, Minn.