TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc. receives Cogswell Award for Security Excellence

TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc. was recently awarded the Cogswell Award along with 50 other companies working in the defense sector. More than 13,000 companies were evaluated in accordance with the principles laid out in the Industrial Security Program, which measures a company’s capability and resolution to maintain and further extremely high information security requirements and ultimately keeping future programs and platforms for the US armed forces uncompromised.

Only cleared Defense Contractors which show a sustained degree of excellence and innovation in their overall security program are eligible for the award, and less than 0.4% of all cleared Defense Contractors ever receive the Cogswell award. The award is highly influential and underlines TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc.’s capability to hold, maintain, and utilize US Government technical information with extreme discretion. A key future requirement in a globalized defense industry is to maintain critical information uncompromised, and it is expected to become a critical pillar in the armed forces’ procurement processes. The increased attention to information security is aimed at securing the technological advantage of the US Warfighter in any confrontation, which is the reason that critical information should remain uncompromised.

The high level of security has been achieved through an aggressive internal training program and systematic and recurrent awareness enhancing activities. The efforts have been targeted to ensure that ITAR and other confidential information is treated with the highest level of attention. The process to increase the information security level is an ongoing effort to keep the practices of TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc. exceeding the highest standards. The Cogswell Award selection process is rigorous. A DSS Industrial Security Representative may only nominate facilities that have at a minimum two consecutive superior industrial security review ratings and which show a sustained degree of excellence and innovation in their overall security program management, implementation and oversight. DSS makes the final selections.

The award was established in 1966 in honor of the late Air Force Col. James S. Cogswell, the first chief of industrial security within the Department of Defense. Cogswell was responsible for developing the basic principles of the Industrial Security Program, which includes an emphasis on the partnership between industry and government to protect classified information. This partnership ultimately ensures the greatest protection for the US Warfighter and our Nation’s classified information.