Feral Jundi

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Industry Talk: Congressman Announces Plan to Reform U.S. System to Care for Injured Civilian Contractors

Filed under: Industry Talk,Medical — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 8:10 PM

    Interesting stuff, and I hope Rep. Cummings can produce something that is supported on both sides of the isle. –Matt

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Congressman Announces Plan to Reform U.S. System to Care for Injured Civilian Contractors

by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica – September 9, 2009

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said Wednesday that he will introduce legislation later this year to improve the delivery of medical care to civilian contractors injured while working with the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cummings declined to provide details about his proposal but said he hoped it would reduce the $300 million a year paid by defense contractors to insurance companies.

“The system is broken, and the insurance companies have reaped the benefits,” said Cummings, who pushed for hearings [1] earlier this year after investigations [2] by ProPublica, ABC News and the Los Angeles Times found that insurance carriers routinely denied claims by injured contractors.

(more…)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Industry Talk: With U.S. Forces in Iraq Beginning to Leave, Need for Private Guards Grows

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 7:15 AM

   Hey, I finally found a story about security contractors that did not mention the Nisour Square deal or the fiasco in Kabul.  In fact, this story only highlight’s the increased use of security contractors in this war. You know, the reality of the situation.

   The two things that interested me, beyond the obvious intent of the article, was the amazing use of security contractors.  Contractors were the ones used to back fill when the Georgian troops had to ditch back in August.  Security contractors will be taking over security at Camp Victory in Iraq as well–which is huge! (it will require 2,600 guards).  This is the story that the MSM refuses to recognize, and I continue to be amazed at how we are used.

   I think the other reason why the Kabul fiasco story wasn’t mentioned here, is because it looks like the military is dealing with alcohol related issues in Afghanistan as well. (if the military does the same jackass thing as contractors, then it kind of loses some oomph…. you would think)  So it looks like General McChrystal tried to get a hold of some folks after the latest tanker bombing incident that resulted in some dead civilians, and his ‘goto guys’ were all hungover from partying the night before. –Matt

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With U.S. Forces in Iraq Beginning to Leave, Need for Private Guards Grows

By Walter PincusTuesday, September 8, 2009

As the United States withdraws its combat forces from Iraq, the government is hiring more private guards to protect U.S. installations at a cost that could near $1 billion, according to the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.

On Sept. 1, the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) awarded contracts expected to be worth $485 million over the next two years to five firms to provide security and patrol services to U.S. bases in Iraq.

Under this contract, the firms will bid against one another for individual orders at specific bases or locations. These “task orders” in the past have ranged from supplying one specialist to providing as many as 1,000 people to handle security for a major base.

(more…)

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…)

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