Feral Jundi

Monday, May 5, 2008

News: Iraq Orders 30 Boeing 737s, Planning Order for 10 Boeing 787s

Filed under: Iraq,News — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 3:29 PM

   Very cool.  I am glad that Iraq is finally able to start on this process of upgrading it’s air services.  This will be very beneficial for future commerce and stability of Iraq.  -Head Jundi 

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Iraq orders 30 Boeing 737s, planning order for 10 Boeing 787s
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE — A Boeing spokesman in Seattle, Peter Conte (CON’-tee), says an order from Iraq for 30 Boeing 737-800s is worth $2.2 billion.

He says Boeing and Iraq are still finalizing an additional order for 10 new 787s.

Conte says this is one of the first steps in re-establishing Iraq’s scheduled commercial aviation operations.

Because of Boeing’s backlog of orders, Conte says the planes would not be delivered until the next decade.

At a ceremony today in Baghdad with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S., British and Canadian diplomats, Iraq also ordered 10 planes from Canada’s Bombardier (bom-BAR’-de-ay) to upgrade the Iraqi Airways fleet.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

News: U.S. Seeks Contractors To Train Iraqi Military

Filed under: Afghanistan,Iraq,News — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 6:13 PM

     This is interesting to me.  These guys, that will be part of the MiTT teams, will be doing some very interesting stuff to say the least.  This will be something to keep an eye on.  -Head Jundi

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U.S. Seeks Contractors To Train Iraqi Military

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 4, 2008; A16

U.S. commanders in Iraq are for the first time seeking private contractors to form part of the small military teams that train and live with Iraqi military units across the country, according to a notice for prospective bidders published last week.

The solicitation, issued by the Joint Contracting Command in Baghdad, says the individuals that a contractor recruits — who would include former members of the U.S. Special Forces and ex-Iraqi army officers — will be trained in the United States with military transition teams (MiTTs) and shipped as a single team to Iraq. The recruits will live on Iraqi military bases “under Iraqi living conditions and participate with MiTT special operations and convoy duties,” the solicitation says.

Thus far, the MiTTs have consisted of specially trained teams of about 10 to 12 U.S. soldiers led by a field-grade officer that were embedded with Iraqi army units from the division level down to the battalion level. The MiTTs have included officers and noncommissioned officers from different service branches tasked with teaching and mentoring their Iraqi counterparts to make them self-sufficient. (more…)

Friday, May 2, 2008

News: US Missile Strike Kills Reputed Al-Qaida Leader in Somalia

Filed under: Africa,News,Somalia — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 11:55 AM

Aden Hashi Ayro 

US missile strike kills reputed al-Qaida leader in Somalia
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN – 20 hours ago

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — U.S. missiles destroyed the house of the man identified by the U.S. military as the top al-Qaida commander in Somalia, killing him and 10 others Thursday in a pre-dawn attack that analysts warned could torpedo peace talks.

The killing of Aden Hashi Ayro comes amid escalating fighting and a spiraling humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa nation.

Islamic fighters have staged a series of attacks on towns in the months leading up to the U.N.-sponsored talks, scheduled to start May 10. The insurgents typically hold the towns for a few hours, free people from jails, then withdraw with captured weapons.

Somali government officials have said Ayro, who was believed to be in his 30s, trained in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and headed al-Qaida’s cell in Somalia. (more…)

Thursday, May 1, 2008

News: Guard at US Base ‘Stranded’ in Qatar after Being Sacked

Filed under: News,Qatar — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 9:43 AM

     This really sucks for Mr. Dupont and others, and I hope they come out on top in this.  Hopefully, the negative attention placed on Dyncorp with this, will force them to re-write contracts and to be more honest with future employees.  There have been so many incidents like this in the past with Dyncorp and on that contract.  It is really sad.  To me, if a man or woman agrees to put their life on the line for that company and on that contract, then the company at least should have the integrity to be truthful and straight up with those future employees.  -Head Jundi   

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Guard at US base ‘stranded’ in Qatar after being sacked

Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 02:28 AM Doha Time
 
By K T Chacko
AN AMERICAN security guard recruited by DynCorp International to serve at the As Sayliyah base has been “stranded” in Qatar for over a year after he was sacked by his employers in April 2007.
Christopher Dupont has since challenged his termination in a Doha court but he has been left with no job and therefore no money to sustain himself. “My daughter in the US had to drop out of college and start working to support me,” he told Gulf Times.
DynCorp International is a US-based private military contractor and aircraft maintenance company, which, according to sources, receives more than 96% of its $2bn in annual revenues from the federal government.
Narrating his plight to Gulf Times, Dupont said he had high hopes when he signed the employment contract with DynCorp International in the US and wanted to serve in Qatar for at least five years.
“But things started to fall apart as I arrived here in October 2006. I was forced to sign an employment contract in which the emoluments were less than what had been promised and agreed in the US. (more…)

Friday, April 25, 2008

News: McGinnis to Receive Medal of Honor

Filed under: Iraq,News — Tags: , , — Matt @ 7:22 PM

McGinnis to receive Medal of Honor

By Michelle Tan – Staff writer
Posted : Friday Apr 25, 2008 16:54:10 EDT
  
Spc. Ross McGinnis, who was killed Dec. 4, 2006, in Iraq when he smothered a grenade with his body, will receive the Medal of Honor, sources told Army Times.

McGinnis, 19, is the second soldier to receive the nation’s highest valor award for actions while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who was killed April 4, 2003, fighting off insurgents in a fierce firefight south of Baghdad, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor two years after he died.

McGinnis, of 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, is credited with saving the lives of four fellow soldiers.

On Dec. 4, 2006, McGinnis was manning the turret in the last Humvee of a six-vehicle patrol in Adhamiyah in northeast Baghdad when an insurgent threw a grenade from the roof of a nearby building.

“Grenade!” yelled McGinnis, who was manning the vehicle’s M2 .50-caliber machine gun.

McGinnis, facing backwards because he was in the rear vehicle, tried to deflect the grenade but it fell into the Humvee and lodged between the radios. (more…)

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