I actually think this is good news for the guards at these facilities, just as long as the pay doesn’t change. You can dress it up any way you want, but as long as you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys for these positions. What’s worse, is that if the government does hire someone who sucks, it is incredibly difficult to fire them. Trust me on that one, because I saw it time and time again when working for the feds.
On the plus side, these guys can hopefully participate in federal benefits (TSP, healthcare, education, etc.). That’s unless the feds hire them on as temporary employees or some other federal classification that allows the government to not hook them up.
As to the reasons for switching over, who knows. Congress somehow thinks that waving the federal wand over a project will somehow make it magically run better. I beg to differ, and I have seen some screwed up agencies and departments in the federal government. Poor management, poor communications between agencies and departments, and apathy amongst employees who think that the government will never fire them no matter what they do, seem to be the down sides with this.
The big one is management, and what applies to private industry, applies to the feds as well. And with government, managers tend to protect themselves with loopholes and government rules to do whatever the hell they want. Employees can use EEO to do some crazy stuff as well. As best I can describe, if you wanted to do zero work, you could figure out a multitude of loopholes in the system that would help you accomplish that. The feds are soooo inefficient, it’s not even funny. But hey, whatever floats congress’ boat.
What comes to mind is the TSA and how they are viewed by the public. Once you join the ‘govy’, you are now ‘the man’ that everyone loves to hate on. lol If you want to apply for this stuff, just follow the links below for USAJobs and type in ‘security guard’ for your part of the country. –Matt
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Army to hire 3,000 security guards
Apr 7, 2010
By IMCOM Public Affairs
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (April 7, 2010) — The Army is converting about 2,500 installation access control point security guard positions from contractor to federal employee status at nearly 50 stateside locations.Overall, Installation Management Command will be announcing 3,076 openings for guards that will be needed at every garrison, except those aligned under Base Realignment and Closure or those transitioning to joint bases where another service is the lead agency.Why is the conversion being made? Congressional mandates and the expected loss of a waiver established after 9/11 that allowed the Department of Defense to contract security guard services at military installations in the States, said Craig Shreiner, branch chief of physical security for IMCOM. And while the employment category of these guards will change, the service they provide seven days a week, 24 hours a day will not.”Throughout this process, we will ensure a well-coordinated transition that continues our support to the mission, Soldiers and families, and Army communities,” said Shreiner.In fact, the conversion will be completed in two group phases. The first phase consists of 28 garrisons and must be completed by Sept. 30. The second phase will consist of the remaining 18 garrisons and will be completed by July 26, 2011.Group one involves garrisons from IMCOM’s Northeast, West, Pacific and Southeast regions. Group two involves Southeast and West regions. A listing of garrisons within each region can be found on the IMCOM home page at http://www.imcom.army.mil/hq/.Once the job announcements are made, all qualified applicants – including contractors currently holding such positions – are encouraged to compete for the openings, Shreiner said.”Additionally, veterans’ hiring preferences are in place,” Shreiner said, “and previous experience with military security work is something we value.”Job announcements have been made at several installations and will continue to be published throughout the conversion.For more information, visit the Army’s Civilian Personnel On-Line site – – or USA Jobs – – and use the key words “security guard.”
Story here.