JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center is extending secure, reliable communications to U.S. Army in Europe leaders and first responders.

Following the success of an Enterprise Land Mobile Radio Lifecycle Management & Sustainment Services contract earlier this year, USAREUR was added recently to the capability through a contract modification.

U.S. Air Forces in Europe and USAREUR sharing ELMR system resources minimizes system architecture requirements and related costs, said Richard Lapierre, chief of the AFIMSC DAF LMR Program Management Office.

“This mod standardizes contract services and improves the security and reliability for the ELMR network,” Lapierre said. “(It) delivers long-term, affordable support and efficient centralized contract management processes for mission partners across Europe, reducing workload and capitalizing on cost reduction opportunities.”

The ELMR contract, awarded over the summer by the 771st Enterprise Sourcing Squadron in partnership with AFIMSC’s LMR PMO, is part of the DAF’s focus on category management to drive consistency of service and equipment, cost savings and reliability across the enterprise by researching, planning and consolidating like needs.

Adding the Army command to the contract directly captures the essence of what category management is all about, said Sandy Thompson, contracting officer with the 771st ESS at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

“There is rarely a mission that is stand alone to one defense department since all branches have similar areas where we can be more efficient and effective long term,” she said. “If we can look from a greater lens there are definitely ways we can come together for the greater good for all.”

The original LMR contract consolidated five major command contracts into one strategic enterprise contract centrally managed by the Air Force Installation Contracting Center’s 771st ESS with services managed by AFIMSC’s LMR PMO, said Lynn Bauer, 771st ESS program manager for the award.

“The consolidation eliminated more than 40,000 hours in manpower from separately managed contracts, while also ensuring a standardized level of service across all DAF installations,” Bauer said.

“This modification shows how effective at cost savings we can be not only within our branch but the whole of DOD … also showing taxpayers we take the spending of their dollars seriously,” Thompson said.

The original contract was expected to save more than $300 million in cost avoidance over a 10-year period. Although total cost avoidance for USAREUR’s participation in the acquisition effort haven’t been fully calculated, a $20 million avoidance in additional server costs are already evident based on joint usage.

“As LMR technologies continue to evolve, we must continuously modernize to meet expanding requirements,” Lapierre said. “The DAF LMR PMO will remain engaged with our sister services to maximize mutual efforts and benefits to reduce costs.”