Feral Jundi

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Military News: Private Contractors Key To UK Army, Says Philip Hammond

The same thing that applies to the US, is being applied to the UK. Contractors are an essential element to raising an army quickly, or maintaining the one you have. It ensures that the soldiers you do have, are in fact fighting forces and not just cooks or range maintenance folks. You can also build up that support force, or quickly tear it down, and there is no legacy costs like pensions to worry about.

Now the thing that I am curious about is the ‘inherently governmental’ debate happening places like parliament, think tanks and committees. How much will the British allow contractors to actually do when it comes to the gun related contracts in the future?

One thing that is definitely giving a good show as to the effectiveness and capability of armed security contractors is the anti-piracy efforts of the companies right now. Armed guards on boats, along with the history of British contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, are all experiences that are adding to the debate of what contractors are capable of.  Interesting stuff and we will see how the British military and leaders navigate this aspect of force. –Matt

 

Private contractors key to Army, says Philip Hammond
7 June 2012
The British army will have to rely more on part-time reserves and private contractors, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is expected to say later.
In a speech to military experts, he is due to say the future will involve “thinking innovatively about how combat service support is provided”.
Under the Strategic Defence and Security Review the Army will shrink from 102,000 to 82,000 troops by 2020.
Mr Hammond says there will be “difficult” decisions ahead.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the speech at the annual Land Warfare Conference in London will give some clues as to how this rebalancing will be achieved, ahead of a full announcement later this month.
Mr Hammond is expected to tell an audience at the Royal United Services Institute there will be a need to use “more systematically the skills available in the reserve and from our contractors”.
Our correspondent says: “A total of £1.8bn is to be invested in the reserve forces, with a focus on certain niche areas such as cyber warfare, medical and intelligence.”

(more…)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Maritime Security: The Insanity Of ‘Catch And Release’

A EU NAVFOR spokesman was unable to provide Sky News with a figure for how many suspected pirates had been returned to Somalia without charge.
“I don’t have the number for those returned to Somalia – a number of reasons but largely because it was not initially considered important to maintain the number,” the spokesman told Sky News. -Link to quote here.

This is the part of our global anti-piracy campaign that absolutely kills me. It’s as if these navies are sport fishermen, and they are releasing their catch so it can grow bigger, and spawn more fish, so they have more fish to ‘catch and release’ in the future.

Now of course we are dealing with the legal mechanisms, or lack there of, of each country that has laws that deal with piracy.  So when a navy captures a pirate or suspected pirate, those navies are operating under the guidelines of those laws. Because these countries have not implemented sound anti-piracy laws, we unfortunately see pirates captured and then release because of some legal mistake or loophole. Or, those that did the arresting of the pirates did not capture and detain properly, or properly document or obtain witnesses, etc.

So who are the worst offenders of ‘catch and release’?  That is a good question and I tried to do a little search for any comprehensive reports on this problem. Below, I have found a few recent articles on Canada and the UK, and their deficient legal mechanisms in place for prosecuting pirates. Here is a sample for the UK.

Fewer than one in every five suspects picked up around the Horn of Africa over the past four years have been prosecuted for piracy-related offences, the Ministry of Defence has admitted. The figures will fuel growing criticism of Britain’s involvement in the anti-piracy operation.
Official MoD figures obtained by The Independent on Sunday show the Royal Navy has boarded 34 vessels suspected of piracy in the Indian Ocean since volunteering to lead Operation Atalanta, the EU’s first naval mission, in 2008. However, on all but six occasions, the gangs rounded up were taken to the nearest beach and released – despite often being caught with equipment including guns and ladders. A list of boardings since November 2008 shows that the navy has detained a total of 279 likely pirates but allowed 229 of them to go free, some in groups of up to 17 at a time. Fifty more were sent on for prosecution in Kenya, the Seychelles or Italy.

Amazing. This is just insane, and this practice of catch and release must end.  Also, I wanted to mention that all the nations involved have had similar catch and release stories, so the UK or Canada are not the only ones. I have been documenting this for awhile now, and it is very frustrating.

I also wanted to mention that we are missing opportunities of detention by not allowing private security companies to detain and arrest these pirates. Every engagement could turn into an arrest and a removal of these criminals off of the high seas. By issuing Letters of Marque to PSC’s or the captain on these boats, nations could give them the same arresting powers that their navies currently have.

Within the terms of the LoM, you can define exactly how arrests are to be done and the specific rules for detention and transportation of prisoners. A country can also offer bounties for each pirate that was legally detained and prosecuted. We have GPS and video filming capability, and these can all be tools required under the terms of the LoM in these modern times.

As it stands now, security companies are executing the ultimate in extreme justice on the high seas. That would be actually killing pirates during the defense. So the question I have is why is killing pirates more appropriate than detaining them? If anything, a security company should have the option of capturing those pirates instead of just killing them. It would also take a load off of the larger navies who are tasked with anti-piracy.

So why capture them alive? Well, for intelligence purposes, a pirate that is alive and talking, is far better than a dead one. Also, by capturing them, we take them out of the game.  Of course killing them takes them out of the game permanently, but sometimes killing these pirates is not feasible within the course of current rules of engagement.

In one scenario, what if the pirates attacking the ship decided to stop their attack and just give up for whatever reason? Or during their attack, their engine fails and they get within killing range–so they raise their white flag right there. Does an armed guard execute these pirates who are trying to give up, or do they detain them? Or do we just let them go?  And also, if that pirate vessel is no longer sea worthy because armed guards made it so, and now pirates are sinking, is there any obligation at all to save and detain those pirates? These are all questions that could be answered with an effective Letter of Marque regime and bounty program, that makes capturing pirates something of interest to security companies on these vessels.

I mention bounty, because even with a LoM, security companies will not be entirely motivated to detain. An effective bounty or reimbursement program would be necessary to make up for the costs of such an offense industry. You must also incentivize the process in order to create a vibrant offense industry. A company would be risking life and limb to go that extra mile to capture a pirate crew, so companies must have some mechanism in place for compensation.

So those are my thoughts on the whole thing. The laws dealing with piracy need to catch up, and we also must look at legal mechanisms that will help to make the elimination of piracy more efficient and effective. –Matt

 

Navy frees four out of five suspected Somali pirates
Britain criticised for ‘particularly poor record’ in international crackdown on Indian Ocean piracy
Brian Brady
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Hundreds of suspected pirates arrested by the Royal Navy off the coast of East Africa have been immediately set free – to continue threatening merchant vessels in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Fewer than one in every five suspects picked up around the Horn of Africa over the past four years have been prosecuted for piracy-related offences, the Ministry of Defence has admitted. The figures will fuel growing criticism of Britain’s involvement in the anti-piracy operation.
Official MoD figures obtained by The Independent on Sunday show the Royal Navy has boarded 34 vessels suspected of piracy in the Indian Ocean since volunteering to lead Operation Atalanta, the EU’s first naval mission, in 2008. However, on all but six occasions, the gangs rounded up were taken to the nearest beach and released – despite often being caught with equipment including guns and ladders. A list of boardings since November 2008 shows that the navy has detained a total of 279 likely pirates but allowed 229 of them to go free, some in groups of up to 17 at a time. Fifty more were sent on for prosecution in Kenya, the Seychelles or Italy.
The Government has acknowledged the “catch and release” strategy is often an “unsatisfactory outcome”, although ministers also maintain it helps to disrupt pirate networks.

(more…)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Industry Talk: DynCorp International Awarded Mentoring And Training Contract In Afghanistan

   Boy, that is 275 more jobs for contractors out there, not to mention the support crew required to run the thing, and that is great news. It will not be great news, if the service given sucks.  So if anyone at DC headquarters is reading this, please do not cut corners on implementing this contract, and definitely take care of your people.  The Afghani MoD deserves better, the US taxpayer deserves a good value for their dollar, and your IC’s definitely deserve all the support and assistance that you can give them. You have a real opportunity with each and every contract you win, to promote all that is good with your company by delivering a quality service or product.

   Every time a company wins a contract in this war, I continue to think back about what Eeben Barlow mentioned with his company. DynCorp should be thankful for every contract it wins, and certainly show it’s gratitude by delivering on it’s promises and giving a quality service. Here is the quote from Eeben’s blog:

Question- Why was EO (Executive Outcomes) so successful and what makes EO so different from today’s PMCs? 

Eeben Barlow- My answers were that EO had to earn its contracts as it did not have any government-backing from SA – as you know today’s PMCs are mainly government-backed. Secondly, EO was contracted to win wars in as short a period as possible at the least cost.

    Most of all, you guys should be applying Kaizen to all aspects of your operations, and never just assume that everything is going peachy.  Get some shared reality Mr. Ballhaus, and see for yourself what is going on out there.  I would also suggest getting some ‘mystery employee’ action going on, so you can further explore the efficiencies and inefficiencies of your company, and correct what you can. Or you can actually reach out to your contractors, and listen to what they have to say.  People will support, what they help to create, and the company needs to make that first step in order to get that feedback.  Just some ideas. –Matt

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DynCorp International Awarded Mentoring and Training Contract in Afghanistan

February 17, 2010

FALLS CHURCH, Va.–The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) has awarded DynCorp International (NYSE:DCP) a $232.4 million cost-plus-fixed fee contract to assist the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) and NATO Training Mission (NTM) by providing mentors and trainers to develop the Afghanistan Ministry of Defense (MOD.) This new contract has a 2-year base period valued at $157.8 million, including a 60-day Phase-In period to full performance. The total potential contract value is $232.4 million if the one year option period is exercised.

“We are honored to have this opportunity to contribute to the security transition in Afghanistan”

Under this Afghanistan Ministry of Defense Program Support contract, DynCorp International will provide dedicated in-depth mentoring, training, subject matter expertise, and programmatic support to CSTC-A staff and the Afghanistan MOD. The program supports development of organizational capacity and capability to assist Afghanistan MOD and Afghan National Army (ANA) forces in assuming full responsibility for their own security needs. DynCorp International will provide an estimated 275 qualified personnel to support the CSTC-A staff across numerous functional areas.

“We are honored to have this opportunity to contribute to the security transition in Afghanistan,” said DynCorp International President and CEO William L. Ballhaus. “This new contract builds on our extensive in-country experience training and advising the Afghan National Police, as we support the U.S. government’s efforts to bring security and stability to Afghanistan.”

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