Feral Jundi

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Jobs: Aircraft Load Master, OCONUS

Filed under: Afghanistan,Jobs,Paracargo — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 9:53 AM

I wanted to post this one as a unique job to get into. This is a paracargo job or kicker job and you don’t see too many of these being advertised.

In the smokejumpers I used to partake in these types of operations all the time and they are pretty cool. Flying low and kicking cargo to the guys on the ground, up in some mountain range at some remote fire, is quite the experience.

As to this specific load master job, you would be working with a pretty unique aircraft (DHC 4T Turbo Caribou) and more than likely you would be working in Afghanistan. I did a post awhile back about FlightWorks winning an LCLA contract in Afghanistan and posted a video to go with it if you want to check that out.

My only advice to FlightWorks on this is that there should be some mention of the possibility of crashing or getting shot down, and that Load Masters and crew should be prepared for that possibility. Meaning they should have survival gear and weapons, and some background or training as a back up for that possibility. –Matt

 

Aircraft Load Master – OCONUS
Job ID: 2013-1076
Posted Date: 3/19/2013
Location: OCONUS
Category: Operations-Operation Management
Overview:
De Havilland DHC-4 aircraft. Employee will participate as a non-rated crew member on approved missions flown in support of an OCONUS US Government contract.
Responsibilities:
The Load Master is responsible for accomplishing all required Load Master (non-rated crew member) duties in accordance with FlightWorks policies and procedures to include existing company training programs. The individual will also perform duties in accordance with FAA, ICAO or OEM Regulations and other tasks required to service the aircraft. The employee must be able to read and write English, interpret and apply technical data and instructions in the performance of required duties. Load Master duties are performed under the supervision of the Pilot-Command and include but are not limited to, aircraft configuration changes to support alternate missions, aircraft cargo and personnel loading and unloading operations, passenger safety briefings and other tasks as assigned. In addition to the duties stated above, the load master will also accomplish the following.
OTHER OR ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Perform non-rated crewmember duties in accordance with aircrew training program requirements.
Plan and perform LCLA airdrop operations.
Plan and perform loading and unloading activities, compute the center-of-gravity position and ensure it is within prescribed limits at all times.

(more…)

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Military News: Soviet Soldier Missing For 33 Years, Found Alive In Afghanistan

Filed under: Military News,Russia — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:59 PM

The non-profit Warriors-Internationalists Affairs Committee, which falls beneath the Commonwealth of Independent States, found Khakimov after following a decades-old trail. He had fallen and cracked his head, he told them, and then a local village healer had found him and nursed him back to health.
Once he regained his health, he forgot Russian, picked up the local language, and took a wife, never seeking to reunite with his family. He has no children and is now a widower, and wishes to see his family, the report says.
The nonprofit which found him is dedicated solely to finding missing Russian soldiers. When they started, they had 271 to locate. Since then, they’ve found 29 alive in Afghanistan.–source

This is just incredible and I had no idea that the Russians were still finding folks in Afghanistan. I imagine that contractors and military folks have bumped into several Afghans over the years that were probably former Soviet Union soldiers. lol

If you think you have a good lead on one of those, be sure to contact Warriors-International Affairs Committee and let them know. Although you might want to Google Translate your message into Russian first. –Matt

 

 

The current photo of Bakhretdin Khakimov. Military photo of a younger Bakhretdin Khakimov.

 

Soviet Soldier, Missing for 33 Years, Found in Afghanistan
Bakhretdin Khakimov, the Soviet soldier who disappeared in Afghanistan for 33 years.
05/03/2013
There is a traditional healer living in the Shindand District in Afghanistan, known as Sheikh Abdulla, an elderly-looking, impoverished widower with a wispy beard leading a semi-nomadic life with a local clan.
His real name is Bakhretdin Khakimov and he is a Soviet soldier who has been missing in action since the first months of a nine-year-long bloody war that began when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in late 1979.
Khakimov, an ethnic Uzbek, was tracked down two weeks ago by a search party of the Warriors-Internationalists Affairs Committee, a nonprofit, Moscow-based organization, operating under the aegis of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), whose activists spent a year following the missing soldier’s decades-old trail.
That’s one down and 263 soldiers to go for the committee, which presented its latest findings in the search for Soviet servicemen in Afghanistan at a press conference in Moscow on Monday.
“Looking for missing soldiers is among our top priorities. And it’s a tough job,” said committee head Ruslan Aushev, who fought in Afghanistan and was president of the republic of Ingushetia in the Russian North Caucasus from 1993 to 2001.

(more…)

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Industry Talk: DynCorp International Honors Defense Of Freedom Medal Recipients

Filed under: Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 8:17 PM

Speaking on behalf of the Department of Defense was Lieutenant General William N. Phillips, and from the Department of State were Ambassador Patrick Kennedy and Ambassador William R. Brownfield.
“There about 17,000 DynCorp personnel serving in a combat theater today. They are serving alongside our warfighters and protecting our freedom. Bottom line – contractor personnel and all they do remains vital to our nation. We depend on them, we rely on them, and they are extraordinary for their execution of the mission,” Phillips said.

Good on DynCorp for honoring their fallen and I certainly hope other companies will follow the same path, if they haven’t done so already. I have written in the past about the process companies and families/friends of the fallen can go through in order to get the Defense of Freedom Medal for their fallen and I highly encourage folks to do this. We must honor the sacrifice of the fallen….

I was also intrigued by this bit of news that came out during the ceremony. The State Department will be building a memorial to honor civilians/contractors that were killed, defending the DoS in the war. Very cool.

During his remarks, Ambassador Brownfield announced that, later this year, the Department of State will unveil a new memorial at the U.S. Department of State to honor civilian personnel, including contractors who have lost their lives serving on police training missions abroad.
“On the thirteenth of May this year, with the support, assistance and my personal gratitude to Under Secretary Kennedy, I hope we will unveil and dedicate a memorial to all those civilian police personnel who have given their lives up in overseas operations,” said Brownfield.

With that said, I certainly hope the new Secretary of State John Kerry will be in attendance, once this memorial is unveiled and dedicated? Better yet, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and the new Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel should all be in attendance. Because all of them owe their lives to the brave actions of security contractors who rescued them off a mountain in Afghanistan! For that matter, most of congress and our senior leadership should be in attendance–past and present, because most of them have been protected by contractors in some capacity in Iraq or Afghanistan, and at some point in this long war. –Matt

 

 

DynCorp International Honors Defense of Freedom Medal Recipients
February 28, 2013
DynCorp International hosted the families of 17 employees who were killed while serving U.S. government missions abroad as they received the Department of Defense’s Defense of Freedom medal, posthumously recognizing the contributions their loved ones made for their country. The honorees were killed while working on U.S. Department of State police training missions in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2004 and 2011. The award recipients’ families, representatives from the Department of State and Department of Defense, along with nearly 200 DI personnel were in attendance at the ceremony held February 11, 2013, in the Washington, D.C. area.
Speaking on behalf of the Department of Defense was Lieutenant General William N. Phillips, and from the Department of State were Ambassador Patrick Kennedy and Ambassador William R. Brownfield.
“There about 17,000 DynCorp personnel serving in a combat theater today. They are serving alongside our warfighters and protecting our freedom. Bottom line – contractor personnel and all they do remains vital to our nation. We depend on them, we rely on them, and they are extraordinary for their execution of the mission,” Phillips said.
During his remarks, Ambassador Brownfield announced that, later this year, the Department of State will unveil a new memorial at the U.S. Department of State to honor civilian personnel, including contractors who have lost their lives serving on police training missions abroad.
“On the thirteenth of May this year, with the support, assistance and my personal gratitude to Under Secretary Kennedy, I hope we will unveil and dedicate a memorial to all those civilian police personnel who have given their lives up in overseas operations,” said Brownfield.
Steve Gaffney, chairman and CEO of DynCorp International, placed a special emphasis on the family members who were in attendance, “Each of the 17 individuals who we honor tonight had a profound and lasting impact – not just on our company but on our country – and we often talk about their bravery and strength. But I also want to highlight the bravery and strength of those family members who are here tonight, and who continue to share the stories of their loved ones.”
The Defense of Freedom Medal, the civilian equivalent of the military’s Purple Heart, was presented to the families of the following DI personnel:
Roland Carroll Barvels of Aberdeen, S.D.
Brett Patrick Benton of Dry Ridge, Ky.
Brian Morgan Brian of Camden, Ark.
Michael Wayne Butler of Rembert, S.C.
Mike Dawes of Stilwell, Okla.
Arsenio Ducusin Domingo of Wadmalaw Island, S.C.
Richard Thomas Hickman of Cave Springs, Ga.
Leon Vincent Kimbrell of Boiling Springs, S.C.
Deborah Dawn Klecker of Redman, Ore.
Rudy Guerrero Mesa of Maxwell, Texas
William Lawrence Juneau of Orange County, Calif.
Douglas Stephen Thomas of Lexington, S.C.
Robert McDonald Timmann of Tallahassee, Fla.
Donald Bruce Tow of Lake Havasu, Ariz.
Darrell Leroy Wetherbee of Raymond, Maine
Gary Wayne Willard of Resaca, Ga.
Ronald Austin Zimmerman of Glenwood, Ind.

Link to post here.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Publications: Contractor Support Of USCENTCOM AOR, 1st Quarter FY 2013

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Iraq,Publications — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 11:21 PM

For those looking for the source of this data, here is a link to the DASD Program Support that puts these reports together every quarter. They have been very useful and I have put everyone of them into my Scribd if you would like to reference and check this stuff out.

William over at Danger Zone Jobs has been tracking this data over the years and he has put together some excellent graphics showing exactly what the trends are over the last seven quarters.

Interesting stuff and check it out below. –Matt

 

Contractor Support Of USCENTCOM AOR, 1st Quarter FY 2013 by Feral Jundi

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Finance: If You Worked In Afghanistan Last Year For Aegis, Foreign Taxes Paid Not Shown On W2’s

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

This is an important tax deal specifically for Aegis contractors/employees who worked in Afghanistan this last tax year. A big thanks to Luke Fairfield for putting the word out about this, and I will put this note up in the Taxes For Contractors section. Spread this around to any Aegis folks if you read this. Also, if you are an employee with another company and you worked in Afghanistan last year, be sure to check your W-2’s to see if foreign taxes paid are present. If not, definitely call your HR department about the matter. –Matt

 

TO ALL AEGIS EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED IN AFGHANISTAN IN 2012:
FOREIGN TAXES PAID NOT SHOWN ON W2’S

Fairfield Hughes, CPA’s, prepares and files the taxes for a large number of security contractors working in various combat zones.  We understand that Aegis has issued W2’s without including the amount of foreign taxes paid to Afghanistan on behalf of their employees working in the country on the W2 Form.  These foreign taxes paid represent a very large tax benefit called the “Foreign Tax Credit”.  If an individual sends their W2 to their CPA or tax preparer and that person is not aware of the foreign taxes paid, the employee could potentially miss out on the benefit.  We are asking our clients to send their final pay stub from Aegis (which reports the Afghanistan tax paid) along with their Aegis W2 to make sure they receive the tax savings.

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