Originally Posted by SATTSO

This is not unique to AIT. TSA employees different types of ETD, x-ray, baggage EDS, and so on. There are multiple reasons for this, but to put plainly, it is the policy of the federal government.

This has been policy for years, and I am sure there are exceptions allowed. However, as quoted from a March 4, 2009, "Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, Subject: Government Contracting", Obama said:

"Excessive reliance by executive agencies on sole-source contracts ... creates a risk that taxpayer funds will be spent on contracts that are wasteful, inefficient, subject to misuse, or otherwise not well designed to serve the needs of the Federal Government or the interests of the American taxpayer. "

Government agencies are encouraged to contract out to different companies. As to whether or not such a policy is actually effective is another story.