Feral Jundi

Monday, September 14, 2009

Iraq: KBR Employee Lucas Vinson Shot Dead at Camp Speicher

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 8:18 AM

   Tragic.  I hope PTSD wasn’t a factor, and that there was some mistake at a post or whatever.  I guess there could be a crime of passion thing going on too? Maybe Ms Sparky will post in the near future and give us what she knows? Who knows, and eventually the investigators will lay down the real story.

   My heart goes out to the family and friends of Lucas. -Matt

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KBR Employee Lucas Vinson Shot Dead at Camp Speicher

09/13/2009

BAGHDAD — A civilian contractor was shot and killed Sunday on an American military base in the Iraqi city of Tikrit and a U.S. soldier has been detained in connection with the incident, the military said.

The contractor was shot at 8:30 a.m. at Camp Speicher, the military said in a statement.

Houston-based KBR confirmed the man killed was one of its employees, 27-year-old Lucas Vinson from Louisiana.

“As the Army is leading the investigation of the incident, KBR is not providing further comment at this time,” spokeswoman Heather Browne said in an e-mailed statement. “We are of course fully cooperating with the Army on its continued investigation.”

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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Legal News: Court Dismisses Iraqi Contractor Torture Case

Filed under: Iraq,Legal News — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 8:15 AM

“During wartime, where a private service contractor is integrated into combatant activities over which the military retains command authority, a tort claim arising out of the contractor’s engagement in such activities shall be preempted,” Judge Laurence Silberman said in the ruling. 

   This is big, and this is the kind of good news the contracting community needs.  Precedents like this are what we need for further protection in the future for similar cases.  I would be interested to hear what some of our legal experts that read FJ have to say about this one. –Matt

Edit:  By the way, for all of Scahill’s readers that have come to FJ from his blog, welcome.  If you would like to have a rational discussion about the positives or negatives of this ruling, I am all for that. That even includes Jeremy Scahill, if he is game.

    I thought it was good news,  because it symbolizes that we do fall under the authority of the military.  Since 2007, we have fallen under UCMJ, and this ruling further enforces that concept.

   Oh, and don’t forget to check out my latest post on my thoughts about the ruling.  I am interested in what you guys, or any of my readers have to say about it and here is the link.

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Court dismisses Iraqi contractor torture case

Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:50pm EDT

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against two U.S. defense contractors by Iraqi torture victims, saying the companies had immunity as government contractors.

The lawsuit was filed in 2004 on behalf of Iraqi nationals who say they or their relatives had been tortured or mistreated while detained by the U.S. military at the Abu Ghraib prison.

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Company Spotlight: Illusicam

Filed under: Company Spotlight,Gear Review,War Art — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 3:23 AM

     Hey gang, I am always on the look out for the latest thing, and I came across this cool little company the other day.  They make some really interesting camouflage patterns.  It’s the kind of stuff you won’t see anywhere else. The advantage I see with these patterns, is that there are more varieties for whatever region you are at.  For example, the desert pattern has five separate patterns to choose from.  That makes sense, because not all deserts are the same. The same goes for jungles, woodlands and winter lands, and the unique patterns of this camouflage will give you more choices for these particular areas.  That is good news for hunters, military, contractors and police.

   As for using these prints, right now they can be turned into transfers that can be attached to weapons or gear lockers or whatever you want camouflaged. Check it out. –Matt

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About Illusicam

Illusicam was founded by the owner Jeff Wilcox in 2008 with the vision of becoming a leader in “technological camouflage” to be used for seasonal hunters, military, law enforcement and government agencies. Illusicam offers a wide variety of cost-effective patterns to meet the individual needs of its customers. The patterns can be used on virtually any application such as; fabrics, complete rifles, rifle stocks, rifle cases, equipment cases, ATV’s, vehicles and much more.

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Friday, September 11, 2009

Call to Action: Petition For The President To Award the Medal of Freedom to Cyril Richard Rescorla

Filed under: Call To Action,Leadership — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 12:47 AM

    I think this would be a fantastic tribute to a man that gave so much and saved so many lives on that tragic day. Rick also exemplifies what true leadership is all about, and we should all take notice and be inspired.  Rest in peace. –Matt

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“Men of Cornwall stop your dreaming

Can’t you see their spear points gleaming?

See their warriors’ pennants streaming

To this battlefield.

Men of Cornwall stand ye steady

It cannot be ever said ye

for the battle were not ready.

STAND AND NEVER YIELD!”

– “Men of Harlech”

Sung by Rick Rescorla in the Ia Drang Valley 1965 and in the stairway of WTC Tower 2 on September 11, 2001

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Training: We Have Shooting, First Aid, Driving, and EP Courses, But Where Are the Leadership Courses?

Filed under: Leadership,Training — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 10:42 PM

Training:  We Have Shooting, First Aid, Driving, and EP Courses, But Where Are the Leadership Courses?

09/11/2009

     You know, I really dig all the action schools out there.  That stuff is fun, and they are also vital to our core skill set for working in this industry.  But something is severely lacking in the training industry, and that is leadership training.

     It is not enough anymore to say ‘I was an NCO or Officer in the military’, or ‘I was a Police Sergeant at my old PD’.  Nope, what we need is industry specific leadership/management training, and I just don’t see it out there.

     Better yet, we need to see companies putting more of an emphasis on good leadership out there, by setting up training for their contractors, managers and regional managers.  So much money these days is spent on shooting and all the other sexy stuff for overseas spin ups, but you see absolutely no training at all for leadership stuff. The companies make a god awful amount of money on these contracts, and the least they could do is spend the money for this training, and go over what they expect out of their leaders and aspiring leaders. To actually institute some system of management that will give the contractors out in the field, a better chance at doing well out there.

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