Feral Jundi

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Military News: The Army Selects MultiCam As The New Camouflage For Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Military News — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 12:06 PM

   Finally.  This is a good move, because their current camouflage sucks.  I am sure the troops will be pleased as well. –Matt

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MultiCam

IMMEDIATE RELEASE-DOD

No. 125-10

February 19, 2010

Army Selects New Camouflage for Afghanistan

The secretary of the Army announced today that the Army will provide combat uniforms in the MultiCam pattern to all soldiers deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, starting this summer.

 This decision follows a rigorous four-month evaluation and reflects the Army’s commitment to giving soldiers in Afghanistan the most effective concealment possible.

 Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan this summer will receive fire resistant Army combat uniforms in MultiCam, along with associated equipment including body armor, rucksacks, and helmet covers.

 The Army’s selection of MultiCam for soldiers in Afghanistan culminates phase III of a four-phase plan to thoroughly and deliberately evaluate camouflage alternatives.

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Friday, February 19, 2010

Industry Talk: IPOA/GIS Conference On Haiti– Resources For Reconstruction And Humanitarian Assistance

Filed under: Afghanistan,Haiti,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 11:34 AM

   A couple things on this particular conference.  It sounds like past conferences have been extremely successful in matching private industry with the various government needs of countries around the world. Their last conference was on Afghanistan, and it was so successful that they have decided to do more of them.  And usually these things take a little time to put together, but because Haiti just popped up on the scene, they have decided to put together a special conference just for that disaster.

   They are also donating the proceeds made at the conference to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, and that is awesome.  Bravo guys and I hope the conference is a success.  I know Haiti needs action and not just words, and when the dust settles and all of the media and celebrities have packed up and gone home, there will still be a Haiti that needs to rebuild.  And because most of the companies that the IPOA deals with, have extensive experience in rebuilding in that other disaster called ‘war’, I think Haiti will be well served. Haiti also has all the power right now.  They can pick and choose what they want, and they can fire who they don’t want helping them.  The big one here is that they have some operating capital, thanks to all the donations world wide, and they will have plenty of assistance on how to properly spend that money to get the most bang for the buck.

    Private industry will answer the call, and the IPOA and GIS will be an excellent catalyst for that process. –Matt

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Global Investment Summits

The United Nations has labelled the devastating January 2010 Haiti earthquake and its aftermath as one of the world’s ‘worst humanitarian crises in decades’.

International organisations, aid agencies and governments mobilised a massive emergency relief effort in its aftermath, bringing immediate assistance to millions of victims. The critical emergency relief phase now remains to be followed by a second phase of recovery and rebuilding, the outcomes of which will be essential to assuring the long-term infrastructural and economic rehabilitation of the country and the wellbeing of millions of Haitians. World leaders and international bodies have envisioned the need for a minimum 10-year reconstruction period. The UN and other organisations such as the World Bank will carry out post-disaster needs assessments to gauge the extent of the damage and needs in all fields in the following weeks.

The private sector will play a pivotal role in long term reconstruction projects in Haiti. The significance of including the private sector in reconstruction operations has been acknowledged by the Reconstruction Principles set out at the recent international summit on Haiti in Montreal, Canada. The private sector is undoubtedly essential to ensure that maximum amounts of aid can be delivered and distributed and that reconstruction projects operate successfully and beneficially.

This not-for-profit event constitutes a partnership between Global Investment Summits and the IPOA. Jointly, we plan to bring relevant international organisations and aid agencies together with key players from the private sector. The discussion and meeting-oriented format of the summit will allow the parties involved to begin addressing the vast efforts required to reconstruct Haitian infrastructure and rehabilitate the country’s economy and society. Most significantly, all profits from the event will be donated to leading Haitian relief funds.

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Afghanistan: Contractors Under Control In Afghanistan, Says Senator McCaskill

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 4:34 PM

   It’s nice to hear that she is pleased with the job of the folks in Afghanistan.  No word though on if the 600 positions for monitoring contracts have been filled yet, and I am speculating that it has not happened because of the problems going on in Iraq.  Fill the positions, and then get back to us about how well the accounting is going in Afghanistan or Iraq.  Until then, you guys have no one to blame but yourselves if companies are not doing what you want them to do. –Matt

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Contractors under control in Afghanistan, senator says

But Iraq has a way to go to tame its wild west image

By Matthew Weigelt

Feb 16, 2010

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said today U.S. military forces based in Afghanistan are doing a much better job of tracking contracts and purchases than they did in Iraq.

Military officers and officials from other agencies are coming together regularly to look at their auditing work, McCaskill said. Members of what are considered auditing committees are checking their audits to make sure they were done correctly. The committees are hunting for gaps in auditing oversight, but also avoiding the duplication of each other’s work, she said in a conference call from New Delhi, India.

In Iraq, however, contracting oversight has been essentially nonexistent, McCaskill added.

“It was the wild west,” McCaskill said about what she found on a trip to Iraq in 2007. She said she was unsure military officers realized they had a problem with overseeing their contracts.

Today though, the military has improved slightly regarding audits and contracting oversight, according to McCaskill. The military has structures in place and they are now making an effort to track what they buy and keep account of that equipment, she said.

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

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Training — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:41 PM

   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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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Pakistan: Afghan Taliban Military Chief Captured, Aides Confirm

Filed under: Afghanistan,Al Qaeda,Military News,Pakistan — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 5:12 PM

   Wow.  What a catch, and I certainly hope they are able to get all the information they can out of this guy in order for us to get closer to Usama Bin Laden or Mullah Omar.  We can only hope, and this is some outstanding war news. –Matt

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Afghan Taliban Military Chief Captured, Aides Confirm 

By Eltaf Najafizada and James Rupert

Feb. 16, 2010

The Afghan Taliban’s top military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was captured by U.S.-led forces in what may be the most significant blow to the eight- year insurgency.

Baradar, who has directed daily operations as deputy to Mullah Omar, was seized last week, two Taliban officials said. They disputed a report by the New York Times earlier today that he was nabbed in Karachi by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence teams. Baradar is undergoing joint interrogation, the Times said, citing unnamed American government officials.

The capture of Baradar, whom various reports say is about 40 years old, comes as U.S., British and Afghan soldiers advance into Southern Afghanistan in the biggest offensive against the Taliban since the beginning of the war in 2001. His detention could hamper insurgent operations for months, said Waheed Mujda, an Afghan analyst and former Taliban official.

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