Sunday, February 15, 2009
Video: Home Invasion Caught on Camera, Doug
Industry Talk: For Standards and Organization, Look to the Fire Industry
How do you apply standards and some kind of organization to a contracting industry that works in war zones? Here is a look at how another industry that deals with a very dangerous environment called fire, has worked out the problem. The Federal Fire Services. (I also posted this as a comment over at Jake’s site, and figured this needed a home here as well.)
The one experience I have with this, was when I was a smokejumper, dispatcher, and Incident Commander Type 4 in the federal fire services. The government uses contractors to support fire operations on a regular basis–in fact they are highly dependent on them. It is also a system that works.
The fire industry is a lot like the war industry the more I think about it, and the fire industry went through the same problems of standardization. The government had to figure out what was a governmental task and what could be contracted out in fire.
Smokejumpers, Helitac, and Hotshot crews are still all government controlled, as well as most of the upper level Incident Command positions. But these are areas that are constantly tested for possible privatization. Although my belief is that those functions should remain governmental, and most agree on that in this industry. But still, there are a lot of functions that can be contracted out for forest fire operations. Aviation stuff, like helicopters and fire bombers, to camp kitchens, to communications trailers, to hand crews and engines that help to mop up on fires or even assist in initial attack on a fire. The Incident Commander of that fire makes the final call on all of it, and they determine if that company or federal/state unit is an asset or liability. They can also kick people off of fires, or set up training for the various management positions for anyone on that incident.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Job Tips: Triple Canopy is Looking for WPPS II Qualified Professionals
This was posted recently on the forums for all to read, and I figured I would pass along the info to you guys. If anyone at TC wants me to take this down I will. –Matt
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Triple Canopy is seeking expressions of interest from WPPS II qualified security professionals based on potential contract opportunities pending award. Interested candidates should forward resumes with an expression of interest to this email address. recruiter03@triplecanopy.com
Bill Culpepper, PMP, SPHR
Senior Director, Global Staffing and Workforce Planning
Triple Canopy Website
Music: The Lie, and It’s Destructive Power-Liar, by Henry Rollins
Industry Talk: Media to Contractors– Who Are You Guys?, by David Isenberg
“Who am I?” (with my best Derek Zoolander impression)
It is complicated, yet simple. I guess the one thing I think of is if we do not define who we are, someone else or even some ‘thing’ else will do it for us. From Wikipedia, to online forums, to journalists/authors, to academics, to just good ol’ Google search rankings, there are numerous sources for defining who we are and how we are viewed out there. So to me, it is up to us to jump into that discussion and try to fill the void of information to reach a more accurate conclusion.
I say Google, because it is certainly a factor we have to consider in this discussion. Every time I post on this blog, or gain another reader, we are now adding to that definition and ranking in Google. We become a source of information for the discussion, and I hope to get FJ up there as a source. Perhaps one day, when someone types in PMC or Private Military Company, Feral Jundi might be a first pager (kind of floating around the bottom, but still a genuine first pager), and that researcher might stumble upon the ideas on this site. Then I can point that researcher to others who can provide further insight, and so on, and we can start that process of defining or even re-defining who we are. And hey, if we are good influencers, we might even win a few over to some kind of positive consensus. Excellent article David and I hope this will further push the discussion along in the realm of PMC 2.0. –Matt
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Dogs of War: Media to Contractors: Who Are You Guys?
FEB 14, 2009
By DAVID ISENBERG
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (UPI) — Last week I wrote that obtaining information about private military and security contractors has never been easier than it is now. But if that is so, then why do so many private military and security contractors think news coverage of their activities ranges from poor to abysmal?
Some, echoing the old right-wing canard, think the media is hopelessly liberal and therefore has an ingrained bias toward anyone dealing with military or security issues, let alone someone who might actually carry a gun for a living.
This is far too simplistic, though. For example, the specialized trade press, with the likes of Defense News and Jane’s Defense Weekly, are hardly left wing, liberal, or promoting a pacifist agenda. Many of their reporters are military veterans who understand the challenges facing security contractors.
Though overall, reporters are like most Americans in that they don’t have firsthand military experience, this does not mean they are anti-military. It just means they don’t know the vocabulary that many contractors take for granted.
But it would be fair to say the news media in the main does not understand the industry. There are good reasons for that.
First, what is it? We know what the car industry is: It makes cars. But what is a private military or security contractor? As a semi-organized business sector it has barely been around 20 years. If we were to use the automobile industry as a reference, we would still be in the horseless carriage age. If PMCs are an industry, what is your International Organization for Standardization classification?