Feral Jundi

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Industry Talk: Wartime Contractors Need More Federal Guidance

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:04 AM

     Not the point, said Thibault. “There are two parties that sign the contract: the government, and they have an obligation to keep track of what they’re doing; and the company, and they have an obligation to perform the contract in the most efficient and effective manner. And that’s why I say there’s ample remedial work for both.” 

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   The government is being somewhat unfair and kind of stupid about this. I put all of the blame on the feds for any issues that arise with this drawdown.  We have had plenty of time to plan and modify contracts, and there are plenty of reports that spell out exactly what the government should do in order to manage this stuff–but they continue to not do it.

    If folks would get off their butts and see for themselves what the companies are doing, then the government–who are the ones ‘writing the check’, should exercise the right to call BS on anything that is in direct conflict with the contract.  But if there is nothing in the contract about the drawdown, nor has there been any renegotiations with the companies about that drawdown, well then of course companies are going to continue doing what they are doing. So with that quote up top, I think it is backwards. It is the government who should have an obligation to perform contract oversight in the most efficient and effective manner.  The companies are just working off that current contract, and it is on the government to enforce it or modify it if there are issues. Or is this where companies are supposed to be doing their own thing now?  Pfffft.

   My other point with this, is that the government should be very careful in how they go about doing this.  Contractors have families back home, and they also vote.  If you screw over a contractor who signed an agreement/contract with their company, because of your poor planning and managment, well then you have just lost one more constituent. Especially during a time of extreme unemployment back home.

   Everyone working in Iraq knows that things are winding down. But there is a right way to cut away people, and a wrong way.  The right way, is for the government to effectively and quickly communicate to the companies exactly what it wants as the situation develops–and modify the contract to deal with that reality. Communicate, communicate, and communicate!!! The government should have lots of folks out there, looking at the operations of all the companies and work, and continually assessing how things are going.  There should not be any surprises, and it just takes leadership and getting off your ass and doing it, to make sure it is properly managed.

    And in turn, the companies should be honest with their contractors when they get any kind of contract news, and give them sufficient warning when they are to be let go. We just need a heads up, so we know when to start looking for another job. That is the descent thing to do, but somehow I just don’t see it happening that way. –Matt

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Wartime contractors need more federal guidance

March 30, 2010

By Suzanne Kubota

While the military is “aggressively accomplishing its drawdown” in Iraq, industry “is lagging in their efforts” to do so, according to the Commission on Wartime Contracting.

“In fact,” Commission co-chair Michael Thibault told Federal News Radio, “there are come very noticeable examples that were brought out (in a hearing yesterday) where there are a lot of people sitting around waiting to work.”

The problem, said Thibault, involves a lot of finger pointing.

This is one of those deals that’s kind of like “Where’s Waldo?” The military would tell you that they’re communicating reasonably effectively and that the contractor has a responsibility, when they see very substantial numbers of staff idle, to notify them and that it’s not occuring. And the companies will… play the other side out, which is they just weren’t getting the guidance (from Defense) and the only way they can work… I mean if they’re over-staffed, that’s unfortunate, but if the only way they can react is to get guidance from their contracting officer and absent that they’re obligated to keep that staff there.

(more…)

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Iraq: Aegis Defense Contractor Robbie Napier Killed, Others Wounded And Killed In Separate Incidents

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:11 AM

   I had no idea that this happened several weeks back, and there is nothing on the Aegis company website or Army Corps of Engineers website about this death, or even the other attacks. Supposedly another contractor was killed by a sniper, and others severely wounded, but there is nothing in the news about it.  If a reader could please pass on the news link to the death related to that sniper, I will definitely make an edit to this post.

   The other deal with this, is that I found out about this because of a story a blogger put together, who also happens to be a contractor and artist.  Perhaps he can come over and fill in some of the blanks.  Good on him for at least writing the story up on this, because if it wasn’t for him, I would have never have known. I also checked the icasualties site, and others, and I could not find anything at all about these deaths. Yet again, if the Army Corps of Engineers or Aegis Defense posted a press release about this, I could have blogged about this awhile back–but there was nothing. (someone please correct me if I am wrong on this, but I found nothing in my searches)

   With that in mind, if you are reading this and you are seeing no attention at all about a security contractor death in your company, or a death you heard about somewhere else, please let me know and I will put it up on the blog.  I have a multitude of media folks reading FJ, and I will definitely get the word out.  These are our fallen brothers, and their deaths mean something.  But if know one knows that they were killed, other than their family, then no one will ever have an idea about that sacrifice.

   Iraq is also at a very interesting point in the war.  We are at the end there, but make no mistake about it, things are still dangerous and just because the media is not reporting it, doesn’t mean it is not happening.  With the draw down, it requires a lot of road work.  We are moving all this stuff out of theater, and contractors are going to be the guys doing it all–much like we were the ones that helped to bring it all in.  And as we see Iraq take more of the security duties, and Coalition forces take less, the possibility for attacks only increase, because the insurgency feels it has a better chance of getting in a punch or two as we are leaving. Watch yourselves out there. –Matt

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Wakefield bomb blast victim had just delivered baby

20 March 2010

By Stuart Robinson

A SECURITY contractor was killed in an explosion in Iraq just three months after delivering his baby daughter in the kitchen of his home.

Ex-Marine and father-of-two Robbie Napier, 36, from Wakefield, died after the explosion this month.

On Friday, his grieving father told the YEP that just last Christmas he had returned home and delivered his baby daughter at his family home in Stanley.

An inquest in Wakefield into his death heard that Mr Napier was a front seat passenger in the front of a three-vehicle convoy on March 10.

Coroner’s officer Anthony Lancaster told the hearing: “Mr Napier sustained fatal injuries in an explosion of a detonated explosive device.”

The court heard that following the explosion in Baghdad Mr Napier was taken to a nearby base but was pronounced dead a short time later.

(more…)

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Kidnap And Ransom: Family Rejoices At Release Of Contractor Issa Salomi In Iraq

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq,Kidnap And Ransom — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 3:32 AM

   Excellent news and I am glad this ended well for the family and Issa. –Matt

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Family rejoices at release of contractor in Iraq

By ELLIOT SPAGAT

March 28, 2010

SAN DIEGO — The family of an Iraqi-American contractor said to have been kidnapped in Baghdad in January rejoiced Saturday over his release, saying they did not believe they would see him alive again.

Issa Salomi, 60, spoke with his 27-year-old son Roger Friday and told him that memories of the birth of the oldest of his four boys sustained him during captivity, said Vivian Tilley, a niece.

A few hours later, Salomi called his wife of 30 years, Muna Salomi, and asked for her homemade tabbouleh when he arrived home.

“I was screaming,” Muna Salomi said in interview Saturday. “Really, I didn’t think he’d be alive … I can’t wait to hug him and put him in my arms.”

A Shiite extremist group claimed responsibility for the Jan. 23 kidnapping and posted a video online that showed a man wearing military fatigues, reading a list demands for the release of militants, the prosecution of Blackwater guards and an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal.

A Pentagon statement Saturday said only that Salomi was back under military control, but gave no details on his disappearance or return. The statement said the circumstances of the case are under investigation.

Muna Salomi was told to be prepared to reunite with her husband within the next week at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. She, like other family members, said she didn’t know the circumstances of his abduction, captivity or release.

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Saturday, March 27, 2010

Industry Talk: Triple Canopy and DoS In The Hot Seat Over Iraq Embassy Issues

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:32 AM

   First off, I want to thank all the contractors who are sending tips to POGO and the IG and revealing what is really going on with this contract. POGO will gladly take whatever you got, if it is pertinent to the embassy contract. If the company or DoS does not want to do the right thing with this contract and take care of their people or manage the contract properly, then I say report it.

   I also want to bring up a tidbit that one of the media rags brought up, that I thought was telling.  Here is the quote:

 

      A footnote buried in the report suggests that Triple Canopy officials may have tried to impede State Department investigators from getting the full story. Prior to a site visit by IG investigators, according to the report, Triple Canopy’s Iraq program manager, deputy program manager, and guard force commander coached the company’s guards on how they should respond to questions about working conditions and other matters. They circulated a memo containing “Pre-Inspection Guidance” that warned the guards about saying too much and contained what appears to be a thinly veiled threat:

     “Answer to break question for guards is 15 minutes morning, 30 minutes lunch, and 15 minutes afternoon. DO NOT SAY: “I do not have a relief supervisor today.” Instead, and only if asked, I am sharing a relief supervisor with (name other venue). Do not elaborate on answers to inspectors questions. Answer only the questions. What you say can and will be used against you.”

 

   If there is any question at all about how ineffective ‘open inspections that are broadcasted’ are, this would be it.  Managers of companies will obviously prep their people to answer the inspector’s questions, so that it will make the company look good or hide issues.  If inspectors want to know what is really going on, they either need to do surprise inspections or use mystery employees.  Another way is to just have a toll free number or email that contractors can use anonymously.  I would also have that information accessible by multiple inspectors, so that one inspector can’t just sweep that information under the rug and not do anything about it. Another idea is for contractors to just CC emails, and put POGO on that list, as well as multiple inspectors–just so everyone knows ‘that everyone knows’.  I guess my point is, is if DoS really cares about what is going on with the contract, there are all sorts of ways of figuring out the real deal.

   I also want to talk about living quarters and english proficiency.  I totally agree that if the contract states that contractors must have a certain standard for living quarters, then that standard should be met.  TC and DoS are both at fault there for not caring about their contractors.

   With that said, it is a war zone and living in poor conditions kind of comes with the territory on some contracts.  I looked at the pictures that POGO put up, and that actually looks pretty standard for many contracts out there.  Hell, to some folks, I am sure those quarters looked pretty good.  There are contracts out there where guys are living in tents or whatever they can find, and that just comes with the job.

   But in light of the Adam Hermanson death, where he was electrocuted in a shower do to faulty wiring, you would think that TC and DoS would have insured that living quarters were up to contract standards.

   I will disagree with the live wire thing that POGO brought up in the pictures.  Those are power chords, and guys string up power chords all over the place in these barracks.  They have to if they want to get some juice for their computers and TVs.  So I think that comment about ‘live wires’ was kind of stupid.  Hell, they sell power strips and power chords in the PX of bases all over Iraq, and they are used by contractors and soldiers, and in all sorts of ways.

   For english standards, I agree that all guards must speak english–if it is mandated by the contract.  But let me yet again interject some reality into this conversation.  If most of our private security forces are local nationals in this war, and troops and contractors are working side by side with those local nationals, then it would stand to reason that you would have situations where folks do not know how to speak english or communicate with supervisors or NCO’s and Officers.  In a perfect world, everyone would speak english, but that just is not the case in this war.  That is why it is not a shock to me, that guys would not know how to speak english for a static security assignment like at the embassy(even if they are from Uganda or Peru or where ever).  I am sure many of the local nationals who work on the embassy compound do not speak english either. I agree that it would be nice that everyone spoke english, and especially if it is mandated by the contract, but this is not that big of a shocker.-Matt

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IG finds gaps in State oversight of embassy guard contracts

By Robert Brodsky

March 26, 2010

Private security guards responsible for protecting the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad reside in unsafe living conditions, work as many as 39 days consecutively and are unable to speak required English, according to a leaked report from the State Department’s inspector general.

The Project on Government Oversight, a Washington watchdog group, obtained the report, which underscored many of same contract oversight problems discovered last year with ArmorGroup North America guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.

While the Baghdad guard force run by Triple Canopy “has been effective in ensuring the safety of chief of mission personnel in Baghdad’s volatile security environment,” the new report found training and language deficiencies with the Herndon, Va.-based private security company.

The IG credited State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security for its management of the embassy contract, but also highlighted serious lapses in the bureau’s oversight. The department plans to officially release the report next week.

“The contracting officer’s representative in Baghdad does not verify either the guards’ attendance at their posts or the accuracy of personnel rosters (muster sheets) before they are submitted, to ensure contractor charges for labor are accurate,” the report stated.

Triple Canopy has roughly 1,800 employees on the embassy contract — more than 90 percent are third-party nationals from Peru and Uganda. The audit, conducted by the IG’s Middle East Regional Office, found that due to their low levels of English proficiency, some guard supervisors are unable to adequately communicate with their subordinates, which could lead to serious problems during an emergency.

(more…)

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Book: Living In The Shadow Of The Iraq Conflict–From A Military Contractor’s Wife, By Linda Johnson

Filed under: Books,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 11:43 PM

    I am glad a book like this is out there.  The haunting truth about this industry, is that there is absolutely no support mechanism for the families of contractors.

   With the military, there are all sorts of resources available to the families of soldiers, all with the intent of helping wives or husbands and the families through long and tough deployments.  Or worse yet, helping families during times when their loved one has been hurt in time of war.  With contractors, there is nothing.

   Often times, families just create their own support mechanisms and do what they can to survive.  The one real benefit with contracting is that guys can just go home if things get too rough for the family. That and deployments are usually shorter.

   Another factor of contracting, is the families of third country national contractors.  Often these contractors are in Iraq or Afghanistan for years and not months. They too must create their own family support mechanisms back home, in order to support such long deployments.  Yet again, these contractors could go home to deal with problems, but the jobs they fill are highly competitive and most guys and gals who are contractors fear losing their job more.  Hence why you have folks who work for such long deployments.

   So with that said, I would like to present to the readership a book written from the perspective of the families back home.  Like the military family, the ups and downs and yearning for loved ones far away is just the same for this community. If you have a wife or girlfriend or family who would like to read a book about what to expect as a family member of a contractor serving overseas, this is it.  I have not read the book yet, so I will not give it a thumbs up or down, but I will promote such things, just because there isn’t anything else like this out there. If any of the readership has read the book or has something to say, feel free to share in the comments. –Matt

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Shadow of Iraq

     This book is being dedicated to all of those brave men and women who have sacrificed home and country to work inside Iraq or Afghanistan during a time of conflict. You have worked alongside our military, and I thank you for your valiant efforts. To the families left behind, I applaud your bravery and selfless dedication as you supported your loved ones in their decision to go. ….I also wrote this for him, he will have a more cohesive and complete picture of what this journey has been like for me …back home with him gone.

Summary

     Many Americans only know military contractors from the little they have read in the media, which hasn’t always portrayed a pleasant picture.

Now, Linda J Johnson is bringing to light the real story behind her family’s sacrificing for their country in this capacity. She believes her story reflects thousands of American families who have been involved in the deployment of a loved one in support of our troops!

Faced with a job shortage on the Island of Kauai; Linda’s husband responded to a recruitment ad for a military contractor and his decision changed their lives forever. Since 2005, Linda began writing a journal to capture what he and their youngest son was seeing out on the battlefield, as well as what she was seeing in the changing of America. That journal became her new book. Through drastic ups and downs, Linda and Richard persevered with faith and pride in his work and in the U.S., constantly battling the negative attitude portrayed by the MSM towards military contractors and the war.

Learn what their lives are like when Living in the Shadow of the Iraq Conflict. Richard returned home in August of 2009 after having served four consecutive years as a military contractor in Baghdad, Iraq.

     About The Author

Linda J Johnson received her doctorate in Christian education in 1999. She also holds certification as a CISD (critical incident stress debriefor) counselor. She is an ordained minister and an internationally endorsed community services chaplain with the Church of God, Cleveland, TN.

Currently, Linda resides in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she contributes to the community as a substitute teacher and has headed up the 9/11 project for Awakening America. She has welcomed home her husband of thirty-two years and they are pursuing this project together as they tour and speak and sign books across the country.

Contact Linda J. JohnsonContact Linda J Johnson to book speaking engagements, book signings, or purchase author-signed copies. Leave your contact information in the body of the message.

Book website here.

Buy the book here.

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