Feral Jundi

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Industry Talk: London Olympics–Britain Adjusts Security Plans As G4S Fails In Recruitment Effort

This is a really bad deal. lol I mean G4S really screwed up on this one, and this is one of those deals where all other PMSC’s and contractors are watching and wincing. I know I am.

As to why this was such a screwed up deal probably rests upon a poorly written contract, and poorly managed recruitment/vetting effort–because of a poorly written contract. Everything from the appropriate amount of time to do this, to resources, and anything else that could have and should have been included in this contract.  And pay is the one thing that the company should not have played games with.  Check out this quote:

A former police sergeant who signed up to work for G4S at the Olympics has told how he withdrew his application over fears the recruitment process was “totally chaotic” and the firm was simply looking for cheap labour.
Robert Brown, who served for 30 years with Kent police, claimed he knew many other retired officers who had decided against working at the Games for the same reasons.
He said he had been given verbal commitments that staff would be paid £14 an hour, but that the contract he received said he would be entitled to £6.05 an hour for working outside the venues, and £8.50 for working inside the stadium.
“It is actually very sad,” Brown said. “I was looking forward to working at this historic event, but it would have been a waste of my time. The public needs to be aware of this.”

All I have to say is that if you mess with pay and break promises like that, then of course no one is going to sign up.  When the final report comes out as to what exactly happened, I would be curious as to how many experienced security guys said no thanks to this one because of pay?

What is equally sad is that in one breath they attracted former police officers like the one in the quote and yet jerked him around on pay, and in another breath they sent this memo out looking for other police officers to help save the contract. Unreal….

G4S has got a £284m contract to provide 13,700 guards, but only has 4,000 in place. It says a further 9,000 are in the pipeline.
G4S sent an urgent request on Thursday to retired police asking them to help. A memo to the National Association of Retired Police Officers said: “G4S Policing Solutions are currently and urgently recruiting for extra support for the Olympics. These are immediate starts with this Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday available. We require ex-police officers ideally with some level of security clearance and with a Security Industry Association [accreditation], however neither is compulsory.”

The other one that came out was the vetting and recruitment of folks with no security background, and how chaotic and dumb that process has been. How embarrassing? I guess the G4S Facebook Page on this deal is littered with complaints from applicants on how terrible and inefficient the process has been.  Like I said, the devil will be in the details of the contract signed and how this was managed, and the report that comes out on this will be very revealing. I understand G4S’s share price has been negatively impacted, and their reputation will take a huge hit because of all of this. How they deal with this crisis and the impact on the company will be interesting to watch.

If anyone from the company, or anyone that has experienced the recruitment process described has any insight as to ‘why’ this might have went so wrong is invited to share their comments below. –Matt

Edit: 07/12/2012– Apparently G4S had some issues with the computer program running the show. Kind of weak if you ask me, and that sounds like management trying to blame technology for their poor leadership and organizational skills. That and they under bid everyone else by %25.  Here is the quote:

* An insider said the root cause of the problem with G4S was its internal computer system which had failed to calculate staff rostering.

* G4S won the security contract with Locog after submitting a tender at least 25 per cent lower than any other, which would have been hugely attractive to a British Olympic movement paranoid about going over budget.

 

Britain Adjusts Security Plans in Tense Countdown to the Olympics
By JOHN F. BURNS
July 12, 2012
With 14 days to go before the opening of the Olympic Games — and more than 2,500 days since the Games were awarded to London in 2005 — the British government acknowledged on Thursday that it had been forced to deploy an additional brigade of troops to save its security plan from falling apart.
To cries of “shambles” and “international embarrassment” in the House of Commons, the government of Prime Minister David Cameron said it had issued an emergency draft for an additional 3,500 troops, many of them just returned from Afghanistan — on top of 13,500 already committed for the Games — after broken commitments by a private security company. The government will now field a total military force of 17,000, who will outnumber civilian security details at Olympics venues by more than 2 to 1.
The government move came after what some infuriated Olympics officials described as overly hopeful and ultimately misleading exchanges involving organizers, the government and the G4S security company in recent months. This week, G4S officials finally conceded that the company was far behind — by a head count of several thousand — in its contract under the Olympics’ billion-dollar security plan to produce more than 10,000 fully trained, security-cleared guards.

(more…)

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

UAE: The UAE Military Is Recruiting 3,000 Colombians

Filed under: Colombia,Military News,UAE — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 11:11 AM

The UAE has 80,000 square kilometers and have some military forces of around 50,000 troops. Because oil is one of the world’s richest nations. Although only 900,000 native citizens, has a population of 6 million people from countless nations. “What we realized the UAE, and is the reason why they are rapidly strengthening its army incorporating soldiers of different nationalities, is that they have several threats that make them very vulnerable. Our mission further includes different aspects ranging from urban defense against terrorist attacks and control civil uprisings and even be prepared against possible border conflict with Iran. “explains exoficial.
One reason why the government decided to accelerate UAE recently hiring former military around the world has to do with what has happened in countries hit by the so-called Arab spring, consisting of civil uprisings that ended with the overthrow governments in several countries in the Middle East.

Check this news out. This came through a Google Alert I set up, and I had to translate it in order to see what was up. The above quote is what grabbed my attention. The UAE is planning for a future where refugees and problems are streaming from other ‘collapsing’ countries, or even having to deal with internal rebellion or their own Arab Spring. That, and protecting oil infrastructure and pipelines requires a lot of muscle.

Not to mention that if Iran lashes back if they are attacked by Israel, then the UAE might be a potential target. Either way, they are wanting to recruit a bunch of foreign soldiers with combat experience.

Now this is a separate deal from the Reflex Responses gig, at least from what I can gather. The UAE military is directly recruiting these guys and paying them pretty good.

An active soldier in Colombia earn on average 950,000 pesos a month. Figure down to 690,000 when they are pensioners. Being part of the UAE Army soldier to that pay almost 5 million pesos. The figures are based on range. A lieutenant, who earns approximately 1,400,000 pesos in Colombia, is tempted to go for a salary of 6 and a half million pesos a month. The offer for a colonel in Colombia perceived 5,500,000, can reach $ 18,000.

Colombia is probably a little worried that the UAE will draw all of their top tier retired guys, or even motivate some folks to leave the military just to join this crew. I also imagine Colombians will be popular contract soldiers in Mexico, now that Nieto has won and his ‘security adviser’ is a retired Colombian general. lol –Matt

 

Former members of the homeland to the United Arab
June 30, 2012
More than 800 former military nation Colombians, many of them elite, have enlisted in the Army in the UAE. We pay up to $ 18,000 a month. One that does not stop bleeding.

For the past year, dozens of the best soldiers in the country are leaving the ranks of the Colombian Army. Most of them are seasoned experienced military who fought in elite units and special forces, among others. The reason why many have decided to hang up their uniforms after ten or 15 years of service is as exotic as controversial. Resigned from the army of his country to travel and sign up to join the Army and military in the UAE.

The matter has not been away from controversy and in some sectors of the disbanded army has caused discomfort. “They have recruited experienced soldiers in combat, men with years of valuable service and that the Army also has invested heavily in their training. It is certainly a loss for the Army. But there’s not much you can do because it is not nothing illegal, “said to Semana a general. What says the officer summarized the official position of the Armed Forces, who are powerless such recruitment. “The trouble is we can not do anything to retain and prevent the lower request because it is a matter of supply and demand. To go to UAE are paid wages that are five to ten times more than they earn here,” says the general.

(more…)

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Funny Stuff: Funkadelic Airborne!

Filed under: Funny Stuff — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 10:56 AM

This is awesome. It’s like Ron Burgundy directed this old Army recruitment video, and gave it some style. lol Classic. –Matt

 

Friday, December 30, 2011

Jobs: Australia Is Looking For A Few Good ‘US’ Veterans

Filed under: Australia,Jobs — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 10:13 PM

Overseas Applicants
The Australian Defence Force looks to overseas candidates to fill gaps in our Services, which can’t currently be satisfied by standard recruitment. We recognise that these candidates can bring skills and attributes to the Navy, Army and Air Force that will strengthen their overall operation and success rate…
Who we are looking for
We are looking for serving or ex-serving foreign military personnel, who can directly transfer their job and life skills to whichever Service they join, with limited training and preparation. -From the Australian Defense Force Recruitment Center

Interesting move by the Australian government. It totally makes sense that they would go this route and I am sure they will get plenty of applicants from all over the place. If you would like to apply and you are a veteran (non-veterans are not wanted according to the site), then follow this link and check it out. I have not found any statement by our State Department or US government in regards to this matter, and I will add any new info on this if it comes up. Oh, and I am not a recruiter for the Australians, so don’t send me a resume. lol Good luck. –Matt

 

Australia Looking for a Few Good [US] Veterans
December 28, 2011
By Bryant Jordan
With the Iraq War officially over and the Army downsizing in the face of defense budget pressure, more troops will be making the transition back to civilian life — a potentially challenging prospect given the state of the economy.
But for those who want to stay in uniform, there may be a new option emerging — just not an American one. Australia has put out the “Help Wanted” sign for foreign national veterans.
“We are looking for serving or ex-serving foreign military personnel, who can directly transfer their job and life skills to whichever Service they join, with limited training and preparation,” the Australian Defence Force has announced on its website.
Jobs to be filled include special forces types, intelligence officers and submariners, according to the announcement, but the separate recruitment pages for each service branch show that the Aussies will consider veterans with a broad range of military experience.
As the U.S. tightens its defense belt slightly over the next year, the Army and Marine Corps will cut end strength by thousands of men and women. The Army expects to lose about 7,400 Soldiers by October, to reach an end strength of 562,000.

(more…)

Friday, May 27, 2011

Job Tips: Edinburgh International To Start A Recruiting Drive For Oil And Gas Security Jobs In Southern Iraq

Well, here you go guys and gals, and you heard it first on Feral Jundi.  The good folks at Edinburgh International contacted me recently to say that they are currently recruiting for some oil and gas security work in southern Iraq and they wanted to get the word out via FJ.  So the job tip here is that in order to be considered for this work, you need to sign up at their recruitment portal and get on their database. They will not accept resumes by email anymore, and you must be in their database to be considered. Please read the information carefully below as to what they want done. (hint, hint)

Good luck and I am not the POC or recruiter for this. Might I add that oil and gas security work will be very important and long term in Iraq, as the energy industry continues to grow there. –Matt

Careers
Edinburgh International only employs experienced and well trained consultants.
Pay, insurance, life support and terms of service all lead industry standards, and signify the calibre of individual employed by Edinburgh International.
In order to apply for a position within Edinburgh International (EI) we need to capture some information about you, your experience and qualifications. We will use this information to conduct candidate searches for ALL of our vacancies.  The more detailed the information you provide us, the greater the chance that we will be able to match you to a role.
Partial or incomplete submissions will automatically fail most EI job searches because we cannot find specific attributes unless you have added them. We cannot and do not search through every CV to find the information requested.
Please take care to fill in your details in all of the following seven sections:
•    My Details
•    Overseas Deployments
•    Qualifications
•    Languages
•    Licenses & Badges
•    Former Branches
•    Nationality
Applicants must be fluent in English. Only applications in this format will be accepted, applications sent via email will not be reviewed.
Your application will be entered into our database and you will ONLY be contacted in the event that you are matched with an opportunity. Calling EI offices directly WILL NOT help your application, please do not do so.
To enter your details onto the database for the first time, please go here. To update your details at any time, please click on Log in.
By submitting details to Edinburgh International , candidates agree to being vetted and having background checks carried out.
Edinburgh International is an equal opportunity employer. Its Equal Opportunities Policy can be found here.

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