Feral Jundi

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Quotes: DoS Department Spokesman on Contract Oversight

Filed under: Afghanistan,Funny Stuff,Quotes — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 9:59 AM

   This just says it all.  I mean everyone has seen the pictures and heard all the crap with Armor Group at the Embassy, but to me, this was the most relevant bit of information about the whole deal.  It is also the funniest quote ever.  Jake put it up on PMH too. Enjoy. –Matt

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DoS Department Spokesman

Daily Press BriefingWashington, DC

September 1, 2009

AFGHANISTAN

QUESTION: But if you could just describe that and what is DS’s role.

MR. KELLY: Sure. I mean, DS’s role, I think, is mainly to over -the oversight of the guard program. But that’s a good question, and we’ll get you the info on it.

QUESTION: And what is the oversight of this particularcontractor? Does DS have an oversight of that contractor? Becausein the whole Blackwater situation there was a lot of complaintsthat DS didn’t have enough oversight over the contractors. So who specifically –

MR. KELLY: Well, I do have a specific answer to that question.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. KELLY: The contracting officer is assigned here inWashington, D.C., and that person has overall responsibility for oversight of the contract and participates in weekly meetings between the program office and AGNA, or the Armour Group. And this person is also the one who has interactions on a more frequent basis –

QUESTION: From here?

MR. KELLY: From here in Washington.

QUESTION: So there’s no adult supervision of this contractor on the ground?

MR. KELLY: I’m getting to that.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. KELLY: In Kabul, there are two assistant Regional Security Officers designated as the contracting officer’s representative and assistant contracting officer representative, respectively. There is also always a duty RSO who deals with the routine guard force matters such as access requests and on-compound events. So that’s – I guess that goes some way to answer your question. Right? It does appear that they do have the guard force responsibility.

QUESTION: Meaning the Armour Guard force?

MR. KELLY: Well, I mean, it’s an embassy guard force, and Armour has the contract for it. Can we –

QUESTION: To guard the perimeter of the embassy? Is that what they do?

MR. KELLY: Well, let’s find out exactly.

QUESTION: Okay.

Afghanistan: U.S. to Boost Combat Force in Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 9:28 AM

      Most of the dozens of combat outposts and outlying bases in Afghanistan have soldiers or Marines assigned to gates or guard towers. But the Pentagon official said those troops could be shifted to more valuable duty.”They just stare out from the tower. So let’s bring in contractors,” the Pentagon official said. “Now you can have a thousand more troops in the field.”

     Here we go guys and gals.  Despite the negative news about security contractors recently, the military still has a mission to accomplish, and we are an important part of that mission.  We are the ones that will be freeing up the combat forces, so that they can go out there and fight.

     What we have to work on, is ‘being the guys that do it right when no one is looking’ and ‘having the courage to do what is right’. Be a leader out there. –Matt

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U.S. to boost combat force in Afghanistan

Support units will be replaced by up to 14,000 ‘trigger-pullers,’ and noncombat posts will be contracted out, Defense officials say. The swap will allow the U.S. to keep its troop level unchanged.

By Julian E. Barnes

September 2, 2009

Reporting from Washington

U.S. officials are planning to add as many as 14,000 combat troops to the American force in Afghanistan by sending home support units and replacing them with “trigger-pullers,” Defense officials say.The move would beef up the combat force in the country without increasing the overall number of U.S. troops, a contentious issue as public support for the war slips. But many of the noncombat jobs are likely be filled by private contractors, who have proved to be a source of controversy in Iraq and a growing issue in Afghanistan.The plan represents a key step in the Obama administration’s drive to counter Taliban gains and demonstrate progress in the war nearly eight years after it began. (more…)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Afghanistan: Lack of Troops + Lack of Afghan Police and Military + High Security Demand = Using Security Contractors?

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Logistics — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:10 AM

   I would like to put this out there that this industry is ready to pounce on whatever the war effort requires.  If you need more security for your civilian surge, then hot damn, the security contracting industry will jump on it and meet your needs.  If you need to secure convoys and guard routes up in the north, then security contractors could totally do that.  If you need to train up thousands of Afghan police and military, then security contractors can totally do that as well.  Whatever the war effort needs, it could be solved by utilizing the free market power of the security contracting industry.  With just one caveat though.

     The government must take responsibility for contracting those services. You must manage these contracts by providing the necessary man power to watch the companies, and you must write smart contracts that give the companies everything they need to accomplish the mission yet still makes it easy to control them.  This is not a difficult concept to understand, and each contract should be treated with the utmost respect and care.  Give the contract what it needs to be successful, by applying quality control measures and some Kaizen. Be like the worried home owner, watching over the building of their house, and the government will do just fine with managing these contracts.

     The deal is that we have been doing these jobs in the war for awhile, and the only reason they have faltered is because of the lack of oversight by the government.  This lack of oversight allows the environment necessary for poor management to happen within the companies.

     And what really kills me is that we have seen an increase of security contractors in Afghanistan this year, so this post is completely relevant to the discussion about what is possible. Once there is good leadership on the government’s part, the companies will fall in line. We have a chance to do this right, but it takes real effort and an application of lessons learned to get it done.  The pay off will be mission accomplishment and victory, and that would be something we could all be proud of and celebrate.   –Matt

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Taliban grab foothold in north

By Jonathan S. Landay

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Monday, Aug. 31 2009

BAGHLAN-I-JADID, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents have taken over parts of two

northern provinces from which they were driven in 2001, threatening to disrupt

NATO’s new supply route from Central Asia and expand a war that has largely

(more…)

Friday, August 28, 2009

Industry Talk: No Respect, By Col. Oliver North

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 10:43 PM

    Bravo to Col. Oliver North for having the courage to say what is right.  Contractors are an important part of this war effort, and there has been very little recognition of that fact. Semper Fi. –Matt

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No Respect

Friday , August 28, 2009

By Col. Oliver North

Bagram, Afghanistan

It is amazing how a change of geography can alter perception. In the weeks leading up to this, my 16th FOX News deployment to cover the fight against radical Islamic terror, the news was full of attacks on civilian contractors. The target: Those who have been providing support for U.S. military and intelligence operations since Sept. 11, 2001.

“Contractor” is the new dirty word in the so-called mainstream media and in Washington. On Capitol Hill, contractors are the Rodney Dangerfields of the war – they just don’t “get no respect.” Here, where the war is being fought, contractors are regarded as essential to victory.

The attacks on civilian contractors didn’t begin with this summer’s hemorrhage of congressional leaks, sensational disclosures of classified information, threats of inquisitions and the appointment of a special prosecutor. Civilian contractors have been in the crosshairs of Congress since George Washington had to defend buying beans, bread, bandages and bullets from sutlers accompanying the Revolutionary Army. In the opening days of World War II, then-Senator Harry Truman became famous for threatening to “lock up” civilian contractors for producing sub-par munitions and President Dwight D. Eisenhower ominously warned against the threat of a “military-industrial complex.”

— Catch the ‘War Stories Classic: Flashpoint Vietnam: The Road to War,’ Monday, August 31 at 3 a.m. ET — only on FOX News Channel

However, all that is pale by comparison to the viscera now being aimed at civilian contractors supporting the campaigns in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates and in the shadow of the Hindu Kush. Though the mainstream media and congressional critics initially ignored the essential role played by civilian security and logistics contractors in the opening months of Operation Enduring Freedom, they went into high dudgeon when the Bush administration began preparations for liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein.

It has gone downhill since.

Critics on the left are quick to point to events like the 2007 incident in Baghdad that led to the prosecution of security contractors for using excessive force in carrying out protective duties. On Capitol Hill, members of Congress have threatened to cut the budgets of federal agencies that use security contractors instead of government employees to protect key personnel and sensitive installations. At the Pentagon — which uses more civilian contractors in the war effort than any other U.S. government entity — the response to the criticism was capitulation.

In April, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans to hire 30,000 additional Department of Defense employees to cut the percentage of work being done by contractors. The FY 2010 Defense Budget request replaces nearly 14,000 contractor personnel with government employees, even though the “lifetime cost” — counting government benefits and retirement — will more than double the expense to American taxpayers. The numbers don’t mesh, but when it comes to getting the press and politicians off the backs of Pentagon poobahs, cutting contractors loose is apparently a small price to pay.

Unfortunately, dollars may not be the only thing lost.

(more…)

Monday, August 24, 2009

Afghanistan: U.S. Panel on Wartime Contracting to Return to Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 11:42 PM

The commission’s visit to Afghanistan comes as US commanders weigh cutting back on desk jobs and other support staff to free up troops for combat, a move that could require more private contractors to fill the gap.

   I know, why don’t we send the cooks to the frontli….. oh, my bad, the cooks are all KBR contractors.  lol (I had to say it) 

   Outstanding news, and I hope the team is able to collect some good scoop on how things are going.  One thing this group might want to consider though, is the massive dog and pony show that will go on as soon as these folks hit the deck.  Now will they get an accurate assessment of how things are really going, who knows?  But I guess it is the thought that counts.       If you are one of the folks that this group visits, please do not be vocal in any issues you might have.  How can anything be fixed, if no one says anything about it? I am sure the latest Program Support report is floating around in the team’s heads right now, as is the enormous pressure from the administration to not have any more embarrassments that could impede the war effort, so now is a perfect opportunity to get this right because folks actually care.

   The other part of this article that I wanted to point out, was the latest troop shuffling game that General McChrystal and gang has been throwing around. The article mentioned briefly the idea, and I thought it was important to mention it again seeing how the MSM kind of glanced over it.  All joking aside, that is scraping the barrel if the goal is to use support personnel to throw to the front lines.

    The MSM is missing the big story on this as well.  We have more contractors in Afghanistan than troops, we have a massive surge of security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet the MSM is fixated on the idea that we are evil and not worth the attention because of a company called Xe.  Really?  It seems to me that it is contractors that are saving the day when it comes to man power issues for these wars, and yet the media and the public continues to ignore that fact.  Yet again, if you read the reports, the dirty little secret seems to be that contracting is a good idea to the Obama administration and the Generals of this war.  Losing the war in Afghanistan or Iraq tends to weigh pretty heavily on the minds of our leaders, and obviously contractors have become an important part of that strategy of not losing. –Matt

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US panel on wartime contracting to return to Afghanistan

August 22, 2009

WASHINGTON — A US commission investigating wartime contracting said it plans to return to Afghanistan on Sunday as part its effort to stem fraud and waste by private defense contractors.

(more…)

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