An Orangeburg military information technology and engineering services company announced Thursday it has completed its 2,000th Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle.

Eagan, McAllister Associates Inc. and Charleston-based Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center work jointly to integrate command, control, communications, intelligence and reconnaissance (C4ISR) equipment into the MRAP vehicles.

The vehicles are shipped to Afghanistan and Iraq to aid soldiers and Marines on daily patrols. The 2,000 vehicle was completed Wednesday.

“EMA is honored to work hand-in-hand with SPAWAR on this project, and we are proud of the hard work put in by our folks in Orangeburg,” said Jim Thigpen, Marine C4ISR Division manager who oversees the MRAP program for EMA. “This has been a monumental task, and at every step our employees have risen to the challenge.”

EMA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corp., began operations in Orangeburg in December 2007.

The company is located in the former 100,000-square-foot Southern Warehouse and Distribution Co. facility at the Orangeburg County Industrial Park off U.S. 21.

The company employs 108 and provides supplemental integration support for the SPAWAR center in Charleston.

MA provides IT, engineering and program management services for the Department of Defense and other government agencies.

The Orangeburg plant came online in an effort to help speed up production and installation of equipment on the MRAPs due to concerns among lawmakers that the Charleston Naval Warfare Center could not adequately handle the demands of the military services.

Some lawmakers also expressed concerns that a single coastal city location for the production of such equipment could be vulnerable to a natural disaster.

Since April 2007, the Orangeburg and Charleston plants combined have integrated more than 11,000 MRAP vehicles.

“They are helping to protect our soldiers ... with equipment to support the war fighters from these IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” said Lonnie Cowart, SSC Charleston spokesman. “It is saving their lives and limbs. MRAP is a great program.”

“This is truly a joint effort,” Cowart continued. “The key to success is the teamwork of many organizations: SPAWAR employees, industry partners, Joint Program Office, United States Transportation Command, Defense Control Management Command and many others.”

With headquarters in Lexington Park, Md., EMA has 12 locations in four states: South Carolina, Maryland, Arizona and Virginia.

EMA began its operations in 1984 with one contract and two employees, co-founders Rex Eagan and John McAllister, in one small office in Lexington Park, Md.

EMA currently employs about 1,541 with annual revenues of $167 million and a continued average annual growth rate of more than 28 percent.

The company is considered an industry leader in the U.S. Department of Defense’s annual list of top Navy contractors.

You must be logged in to comment.