April 04, 2024
Cambridge and the U.S. Southern Command: A Lasting and Effective Partnership
Cambridge’s foundation was built in the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).
Early Successes and Milestones in the SOUTHCOM AOR
Since our founding in 1994 as a woman-owned small business with distinct communications and radar capabilities, Cambridge has worked to assist in countering threats to national security and to build regional capacity in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility (AOR). Our earliest successes were in South America, including design/build of a satellite earth station for the for the Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC: Fuerza Aeroespacial Colombiana) and support for hemispheric radar systems across the SOUTHCOM AOR.
Cambridge’s Bogotá office is within walking distance of the U.S. Embassy and the Colombian Defense Ministry.
Several Cambridge milestones have also occurred in SOUTHCOM. In fact, we opened our first global office in Bogotá many years ago, hiringlocal national (LN) personnel to perform on multiple Security Cooperation Office (SCO) contract awards. That local investment fueled our advancement in the AOR and beyond.
Expanding Our Global Reach While Maintaining Our SOUTHCOM Roots
By 2012, Cambridge had grown to employ over 300 people in the US and abroad; and in 2015, we officially advanced to large business (LB) status and began competing in the full and open market. Today, almost nine years after graduating, Cambridge is an ISO registered, CMMI ML3 appraised LB with a reputation for innovative, quality services. In 2018, we achieved National Security Agency (NSA) Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) Trusted integrator status, and our offerings have also diversified to include robust aviation and cybersecurity services. We have been a successful Prime on more than 20 major Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts. Over 50 percent of Cambridge employees are deployed or stationed abroad, 60 percent are multilingual, and 87 percent are cleared Secret or above. We are now an international company with global reach and proven performance on sensitive projects, having worked in more than 65 countries across 6 continents.
Still, we value the heritage that led to our expansion and never forget the fact that the accomplishments of today are directly connected to that very first contract in Colombia. We have evolved while also staying true to our core character and capabilities. Radar and communications systems work is still a substantial part of our portfolio, and our fully staffed and licensed SOUTHCOM office in Bogotá remains our largest, busiest OCONUS operations center.
Our Continuous Presence and Support to the SOUTHCOM Mission
Leveraging this longstanding, in-country infrastructure, Cambridge has delivered on diverse contracts throughout the AOR, including in 15 of the 19 countries in Central and South America and 6 of the 13 Caribbean nations and dependencies for which SOUTHCOM has responsibility. We support the missions of SOUTHCOM, its component and subordinate commands, and other regional partners, and are proud of our significant repeat customer engagements in the AOR; for example, today we deliver on some of the same SCO Colombia requirements that we also performed a decade ago.
Our Reputation and Impact
For many years, we have engaged with the communities where we work, building the regional relationships absolutely required to lower risk in SOUTHCOM. There is no quick-fix or substitute for spending the time and making the real investments required to gain credibility and integrate in the AOR, as Cambridge did. Within SOUTHCOM, we have proven, vetted logistics and supply chain providers and long-term relationships with Subject Matter Expert (SME) and industry partner networks that enable our innovative solutions and ability to provide technical staff in the remotest areas. We have also gained exceptional and necessary expertise with SOUTHCOM regulations, customs, and laws.
Cambridge is known within the U.S. Embassy community as a reliable and trusted company that can operate in-country and accomplish complex tasks effectively and efficiently, including program and project management; strategic planning and analysis; Partner Nation (PN) engagement; administrative and logistics management; Security Cooperation initiatives; training exercises and assessment; and Knowledge Management (KM).
Cambridge upgraded, operate, and maintain this AN/TPS-70 radar system in Belize.
Since our first Colombian contract and continuing forward, Cambridge has refined our signature style in SOUTHCOM. We work all tasks with a sense of urgency and bring engaged professionals with the right expertise who believe in the meaning of their work. We meet or exceed mission requirements regardless of task size or specialty; understand and comply with host nation laws and tax regulations; enforce security procedures (U.S., local, and regional); and apply the mature processes of an experienced integrator. Effective, repeatable yet customizable operational models are our hallmark, as with our aviation maintenance schoolhouse, an approach we have replicated in multiple SOUTHCOM locations for different military branches, scaled to specific customers, students, sites, and budgets.
Cambridge’s foundation was built in SOUTHCOM, and every day we continue to perform on some of the region’s most critical missions. We are enthusiastic about providing quality solutions that enhance visibility across organizations and agencies, assist in strategic decision making, and optimize the operational readiness of the U.S. and our allies and partners.
You can read more about our long history of SC and BPC support here.