I got this from Jeff, so thanks.  -Head Jundi

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     As most of you know FEMA has contracted out for security in Louisiana and Texas. here is the requirement I have. They say they will take as many bodies as I can provide.  Call me at the office so we can talk.  Feel free to share this email with your other contacts.

     Armed Security needed for post Hurricane recovery efforts in Louisiana and South Texas. Transportation provided. $1700 week Immediate requires for 30 days, billeting provided as well. Interested parties contact undersigned send me a  resume if available in softcopy. Should have a handgun permit or security license from U.S. State or municipality and driver?s license.

VR

James Mattes

Director Special Operations Branch

Metropolitan Protective Service, Inc.

5001 Forces Blvd. Suite 200 

Lanham Md. 20706

Phone 301-772-8278/3097/2412

Fax: 301-772-5099

Cell 301-442-2476

e-mail: mattesmps@yahoo.com 

Security Guard

Operational/Corp Intermittent Employee

Location                         Texas

Department                 Operations

Position Schedule Intermittent Employee

Job Description

Location     

Texas

Reports To     

Project Manager

Position Summary

Contingent upon contract award. Unarmed guard for disaster relief. Approximate length of contract is 30 days.

Position Responsibilities

•Unarmed security in support of disaster relief

Essential Skills and Experience

•US Citizen

•Honorable discharge from the military (if applicable)

•Four years military and/or law enforcement experience

•Force Protection experience

•Must have no felony or domestic violence conviction. Record of recent recurring misdemeanors may adversely impact candidate’s suitability rating

•Employment with Triple Canopy is contingent upon a favorable background check

Physical Demands and Work Environment

Able to perform unarmed security guard services with limited support.

General 

Must adhere to and support company polices, procedures and standards. Triple Canopy, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer

Apply Here

Update on Hurricane Ike and the Texas disaster response.

By Doug

Many of my friends & their familes are involved in rebuilding houstons infrastructure.

Things are still bad in places. lots of folks still crapping in buckets & sitting around candles at night.

Things are improving rapidly.  everyone is very optimistic 60% of houston will be electrified by thursday night.

Power crews working night and day. 

The water has just been announced that it is clean to drink from the tap.

Gas is a problem though.  most gas lines are still long, but it is a lot better than yesterday.

So its good to hear that even though it is still bad. things are improving rapidly.

Give it 2-3 more weeks and most things will be back to almost normal.

Though it will take months to clean up all the debris

 In Baton Rouge, La., Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco called for the evacuation of a nearly half a million people in the southwest portion of her state.

“Head north, head north,” she said. “You cannot go east, you cannot go west, head north. If you know the local roads that go north, take those.”

Noting the difficulty medical examiners have had in identifying the dead from Hurricane Katrina, Ms. Blanco offered morbid advice to those who refuse to evacuate. “Perhaps they should write their Social Security numbers on their arms in indelible ink,” she said.

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     Ok, I understand what Kathleen was trying to convey, that this was dire and people need to go.  Especially if rescuers have to go in after people, and risk their lives in the process, all because someone did not want to leave.  But this is where I think officials like this drop the ball.

     The third statement she should have said, is that if you plan on staying behind, then you need to know how to signal rescuers that are flying around, and let them know your status.  

     I have already heard of stories out of the Galveston area in Texas, of rescuers risking life and limb to winch down from helicopters to people who did not want rescuing.  That is crucial minutes and seconds wasted on rescue efforts that were not needed or necessary.

     My solution to this is easy.  If leaders who feel the need to issue reports like this to the public, gave folks the knowledge necessary to communicate with helicopter rescue crews out there, then the that would go a long ways towards making these rescue efforts more efficient and safe.  

     So with that said, let me introduce the Internationally recognized Emergency Distress Signaling charts.  I carried a panel in my smokejumper kit back in the day to communicate with aircraft, just in case my radio went down.  Same thing in the military, and these signals are known by all pilots.  Heck, even in Iraq, we used VS 17 signal panels to communicate with the military just because we did not have radios to make contact with them.

    And you don’t have to have special signal panels to make this happen.  You can use your body to signal to rescuers, or use common materials laying around your house.  If these signals were talked about during these press conferences, then we could have seen a rescue effort that had more safety and efficiency added to it.  It would also have given the leaders a little more of an option to tell their people, than just using scare tactics to make everyone run away. -Head Jundi

PS- And for those with bad eyesight, ‘L L’ is the panel signal for ‘all well’, and the body signal is raising your right arm. 

And here is the Link for the Rescue Codes

     I will shut up, and let this report speak for itself.  I have not heard of any casualty reports yet. As for the refineries and the price of gas, I am not too sure.  I know the fear of these refineries being damaged, totally jacked up the price of fuel across the country. Yesterday, I filled up at Coscto, just to get some fuel before the prices possible go nuts.  The current price we are paying for unleaded is $ 3.69 a gallon, as of yesterday. -Head Jundi 

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Sept. 13, 2008

Doug

There may be job opportunities down here after all. 

Ok ive talked with many of my buddies in houston who have been networking with family & friends.

So far this is what we have.

Downtown houston & the Medical center have power.

Power is out from the outside of the downtown area to at least 40miles North West & South

the claim of 4million without power is entirely believable.  Will know more later.

Now we dont know regions. All i know is at about a total of 10-12 homes in these areas the neighborhoods are without power. Most live in surburbia.

So is it just a neighborhood or literally a blackout in 40mile radius from downtown is unknown.

Flooding is minimal. only places that flooded are places that always flood.

wind damage - i wont say extreme yet but i will say there i A LOT of it.

Due to massive damage & electrical crews out which were sent to New Orleans for gustoff it will be weeks, before everyone has ppower.

Good news..storm surge maxed at 10-12 feet.

Tonight tomorrow high will be 90+ degrees with 100% humidity..really sux for folks down here, BUT there is a cold front coming through sunday night. So it will help a lot of the misery.

Houston is right on the coast.  There is a concern about mosquito bourne disease spreading.  This area is heavily sprayed with insecticide from trucks.  All that stuff has now beeen washed & blown away.  Without power folks will have doors & windows open day & night. which mean bug bites.

     To our readers who live in Texas and might be affected by this hurricane, I wish you all the best.  It’s a tough deal.  And if any of you have anything to add about the storm and what you are seeing, feel free to put it up in the comments section.

     As for job stuff, all the same companies I listed for Gustav would be a safe bet to put in with.  I did read in one of the forums that a few of them are getting some big orders for more security guards.  One of them was Cohort International. -Head Jundi 

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Hurricane Ike pushes sea onto Texas island

    * Story Highlights

    * NEW: Rescuers make final sweep of flooded Galveston Island community

    * Military official says 37,000 people may need to be rescued

    * Freighter with 22 aboard adrift in Ike’s path

    * Life-threatening floods expected in parts of coastal Texas, agency says

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) — Floodwaters surged into Galveston Island neighborhoods Friday morning with the center of Hurricane Ike still more than 200 miles from landfall.

On the Bolivar Peninsula, northeast of Galveston, the Coast Guard was rescuing stranded motorists by helicopter.

A U.S. military official told CNN that Texas anticipates 37,000 people may need to be rescued.

Texas has asked for help, and the active-duty military has 42 search-and-rescue helicopters on standby, the official said.

On Galveston Island, waves washed for blocks inland, the beginning of a storm surge that forecasters warned could reach up to 22 feet and bring “certain death” to anyone who remained in Galveston Bay homes.

More than half of the community of Surfside Beach was inundated by 8 a.m. Friday, and rescuers drove a dump truck through the streets in a final bid to get people out before the storm hits, the Houston Chronicle reported. VideoWatch floodwaters surge into Galveston »

“It’s dangerous, but it’s Mother Nature,” Bobby Taylor, 47, who planned to stay, told the Chronicle. “There are good parts about it. It’s beautiful. The water doesn’t frighten me.”

He told the paper he could walk or kayak out if necessary. “It’s just water, man.”

Forecasters expect Ike, a Category 2 storm, to strengthen before its center makes landfall late Friday or early Saturday. Winds upward of 100 mph may reach the Texas coast by midnight, the hurricane center warned.

The storm is so big that it fills most of the Gulf of Mexico. Track the storm »

In the Gulf, 22 people were stranded aboard a freighter that had lost its engines and was adrift in the path of Ike, the Coast Guard reported.

The 584-foot Cyprus-flagged freighter, the Antalina, was trying to beat the storm heading south from Port Arthur, Texas, when it lost power about 90 miles south of Galveston, Coast Guard Capt. Bill Diehl said.

“The best-case scenario is that Hurricane Ike pushes this freighter up into shallow water where they can drop anchor and ride out the storm,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Thomas Blue said.

Blue said officials are still weighing their options, but “we’re getting to the point where the wind gusts are too high to launch our helicopter.”

Although the weather service reports when a hurricane’s center will hit land, it also says that the worst of the storm can hit before or after that.

Roughly 3.5 million people live in the storm’s impact zone, according to federal estimates. iReport.com: Are you in Ike’s path? Share your story

The weather service painted a vivid picture in its warning of the destruction it expects: a towering wall of water crashing over the Galveston Bay shoreline as the brunt of Ike comes ashore. That wall of water could send floodwaters surging into Houston, more than 20 miles inland. VideoWatch CNN meteorologists track Hurricane Ike »

“All neighborhoods … and possibly entire coastal communities … will be inundated during the peak storm tide,” the weather service warned. “Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single-family one- or two-story homes will face certain death.” 

But farther inland, 4 million Houston-area residents were told to hunker down and stay home.

“We are only evacuating areas subject to a storm surge,” said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the county’s chief executive officer. “Yes, we know you will lose electricity. But you’re not in danger of losing your life, so stay put.”

Forecasters find Hurricane Ike so intimidating because of where they expect it to land — near Galveston Island, just south of Houston. The city of Galveston is on the island.

If that happens — hurricane tracks are hard to predict and subject to change — the storm’s counter-clockwise rotation would push water into Galveston Bay for hour upon hour, battering sea walls and structures.

The final storm surge, the one that could exceed 20 feet in height, would come as the hurricane’s eye crosses the shoreline.

Galveston spokeswoman Mary Jo Naschke estimated Friday morning that just over half of the city’s 58,000 people had been evacuated.

Others chose to stay.

“I’ve decided not to evacuate,” said iReporter Matteu Erchull on Galveston Island. “We have a lot of faith in the seawall, and we have boards on the windows. Most people on the island live on second or third stories, so they don’t have to worry about the water so much.

“The actual stores down here ran out of sand so we took some ice bags and filled them with sand from the beach,” he said. iReport.com: See Erchull bracing for Ike

Paul King of Galveston said hurricanes are part of life on the Texas coast, according to CNN affiliate KSAT-TV.

“You enjoy it 360 days of the year,” he said of his Galveston Island property. “And the other five, you have to get out of town.”

A slight northward change in Ike’s path could spare much of the Houston area and its millions of residents from catastrophic flooding by keeping the surge out of the bay and pushing it to less populated areas.

“Do not take this storm lightly,” Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said Thursday afternoon. “This is not a storm to gamble with. It is large; it is powerful; it carries a lot of water.”

Chertoff and representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency said their efforts were focused on evacuations.

Chertoff also urged people not to succumb to “hurricane fatigue,” referring to concerns that authorities were overestimating Ike’s potential impact.

“Unless you’re fatigued with living, I suggest you want to take seriously a storm of this size and scale,” he said Thursday. VideoWatch how one family plans to avoid Ike »

Houston Mayor Bill White said he’s heard that some people who live in areas under a mandatory evacuation order say they plan to stay home. He strongly urged against it.

“If you think you want to ride something out, and people are talking about a 20-foot wall of water coming at you, then you better think again,” White said.

CNN’s Mike Ahlers, Jeanne Meserve, Barbara Starr and Mike Mount contributed to this report.

Find this article at:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/12/hurricane.ike.texas 

     Wackenhut was actually a pretty good company to be with during Katrina.  As far as Gustav is concerned, it is now a Category 2 storm.  I think this storm won’t be as bad as it could have been, and we’ll see how it turns out.  Lots of companies gearing up and assembling teams right now, but I really couldn’t say what the possible length of work would be until this thing is done with.  If the levees break from all the over topping, that could be an issue.  The big one to look at is the big company infrastructure.  Think energy and financial institutions, as possible contracts for these companies.  

     But really, all sorts of scenarios could play out that would require guards.  As for looters and thugs, I think this time around we just won’t see the amount that happened during Katrina.  Nagin announced that all looters will be put into Angola Prison for detention. LOL  And I don’t think the local law enforcement will cut and run or be as overwhelmed this time around, and especially if there is no one left in town.  What made Katrina bad, was the human element, and this time around it sounds like they have cleared out the critical areas.  Of course there will always be the enterprising thugs that have remained behind to take advantage.

     The one area to be more wary of is the evacuation centers outside of the hurricane zones that are putting up thousands of displaced people.  So parts of Texas and other Gulf States that have these concentrations of evacuees could be an issue for the local guards and law enforcement there.  And that was the same deal during Katrina.  Although this time around, I am sure the security plans for these areas are top notch because Katrina is still pretty fresh in everyone’s mind.  That, and people know what to expect out of the process.  - Head Jundi 

—————————————————————– 

Armed Security Officer - Emergency Relief Services  

Wackenhut Services Inc

Job Description

Wackenhut Services, Inc., a premier provider of protective service forces to the US Government, has immediate openings for Armed Security Officers to work to support emergency relief efforts in the regions of Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Compensation for all officers will be in accordance with the applicable wage determination for the area the Officer is assigned plus the applicable Health and Welfare allowance.

EOE M/F/D/V

Requirements:

Minimum qualifications include:

-Must be a minimum of 21 years of age

-US citizen

-High School diploma or GED equivalent

-A minimum of 3 years current or prior security or military experience

-Proficient with use of firearm/handgun

-Able to be firearm certified

-Must have valid state/city/county firearms permit

-Meet all state certifications

-Must be CPR and First Aid certified

-Proficient in English (written and spoken)

Please email resume to: hr@wsihq.com  

or fax to: (561) 472-3695 or mail to:

Wackenhut Services, Inc.

Attention: HR Armed Security Officer Position

7121 Fairway Drive, Suite 301

Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418

A benefit package may or may not be available. Request specific information from the employer.

     As this develops, it is important to track the path of this thing.  You can follow the NOAA or you can do that, and read what the weather nerds/bloggers have to say.  Getting the basic information is one thing, but getting the correct analysis of this information is a little tougher.  It is a prediction game and to have a consensus amongst the experts is far better that just paying attention to one source.  That’s of course if you have the time.  So here are a few of the blogs out there that cover weather events like this.  

     One interesting thing about all of this is the oil threat. If these hurricanes screw with oil and gas production, and Russia cuts off the oil and gas in their neck of the woods because of events in Georgia, we could see a huge uptick in Gas prices.  I have been hearing 5 dollars plus here in the US, just with the hurricane stuff.  I am sure in Europe it will be even higher.  

     Also, if any of you guys are deploying as a security specialist for this hurricane, feel free to contact me about any questions for this kind of work.  I worked for FEMA back in 2004 for that hurricane season and I also worked as a security specialist in 2005 during hurricane Katrina. One bit of advice is to wash your hands before eating anything and stay out of the water as much as possible.  Bring several pairs of waders, because chemicals in the water could easily destroy your waders. Bring filtration stuff and do not trust the tap water–drink bottled water only!  Cabelas sell waders for about sixty dollars.  And please be cool with the local residents.  The last thing we need are guys doing stupid things in NOLA and giving security contractors a bad name.  When I was there, it was one of my main priorities to connect with the locals and let them know why we were there and what we were all about. 

Team Member

The responsibility of the ERT Member is to provide security guarding and support services at the assigned facility. The primary responsibility of the ERT Member will be to secure the facility perimeter, but may include other duties and responsibilities.

In order to provide this service, the ERT Member must maintain a state of readiness in anticipation of being deployed on short notice. The ERT Member will ensure that updated contact information is provided to the GSA Corporate Office at all times. The ERT Member will ensure that he/she is able to respond and deploy on short notice by having equipment and personal effects ready at all times.

Team Leader

The responsibility of the ERT Team Leader is to liaise with the GSA ERT Duty Officer, the GSA Client Point of Contact and to oversee the deployment and activities of the ERT Team Members assigned to him/her. The ERT will primarily be deployed to provide additional support in securing the perimeter of the assigned facility, but may include other duties and responsibilities.

In order to provide this service, the ERT Team Leader must maintain a state of readiness in anticipation of being deployed on short notice. The ERT Team Leader will ensure that updated contact information is provided to the GSA Corporate Office at all times. The ERT Team Leader will ensure that he/she is able to respond and deploy on short notice by having equipment and personal effects ready at all times.

Apply Here

August 28, 2008

HURRICANE RESPONSE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED AS OF 1200hrs

If you are planning on deploying to the area, please send an e-mail to info@retiredlawman.com or call either 225-302-3198 or 225-288-6115 so that we can plan for your arrival.

The In-Processing Center will not open until 1200hrs (NOON) on Friday August 28th, 2008. Please plan your arrival accordingly.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS (3x Copies of Each):  

- Firearms certification w/i the last year

- Current POST Training w/i the last year

- Any training certificates

- DD-214 (if available)

- Social Security Card

- Unexpired Driver’s License or passport

- Immunizations Records (if available)

UNIFORMS & FIREARMS

- 5.11 or Khaki’s

- You may bring your duty belt, we will be issuing them if needed

- Weapons will be issued as necessary, personal firearms are not allowed

- Firearms training will be provided, if necessary, as part of in-processing

PAY RATE IS $300 per 12 Hour day. 

The In-Processing staging area is at the reception hall located at Frank’s Restaurant, 17425 Airline Hwy, Prairieville, LA.  70769.  Directions to this location from Baton Rouge, LA are southbound hwy 61Airline Hwy from Interstate 12, approximately 10 miles.  The restaurant and reception hall are located on the west side of Hwy 61.

Apply Here