AGNA « Feral Jundi

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Industry Talk: AGNA Awarded $8m for Bahrain and UAE Security Guard Services

Filed under: Bahrain,Industry Talk,UAE — Tags: AGNA, ArmorGroup North America, Bahrain, dangerzonejobs, Industry Talk, security contracting, UAE — Matt @ 12:51 PM

More AGNA news. I am not the recruiter for this contract(s) and please do not send me a resume in reference to this story.

I hope AGNA realizes, along with their owners, that we are all watching and we are all demanding excellence out of your management. Your performance in Afghanistan was dismal and because you did not care about what was going on with that contract, all of us paid a price. And whomever is the COR on this contract, please do your job and make sure this contract is carried out properly. That means getting out from behind your desk, actually checking on operations, and getting some shared reality about what is happening. Then you can actually make an assessment as to how things are going. Most of all, be a man (or woman) and have the courage to do things right when it comes to evaluating the performance of this company. It’s not hard and all it takes is self-discipline and attention to detail to be effective.

Or you guys can be ‘marshmallow eaters‘, and take the easy way out on managing these contracts. Thanks to Bill over at Dangerzonejobs for getting this one out there. –Matt

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United States DoD contracts for September 29, 2009

Armor Group North America Inc., McLean, Va., is being awarded an $8,073,841 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N33191-07-D-1357) to exercise option 2 for provision of security guard services at Naval Support Activity Bahrain.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Quotes: Wartime Commission Stuff and the Isenberg Analysis

Filed under: Industry Talk,Quotes — Tags: AGNA, analysis, commission on war time contracting, David Isenberg, security contracting — Matt @ 9:36 AM

MR. THIBAULT: Well, the reason that’s important is, so often in whistleblower cases, there’ll be one or two individuals that bring the whistle and allege wrongdoing, and they’re kind of — the history says sometimes they’re summarily dismissed as disgruntled employees, or about-ready-to-be-fired employees. And in this case, it’s not everyone, but it’s — you know, have you experienced that kind of referral in your past?

MS. BRIAN: That’s a great question. I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and there has not been a circumstance that I can point to where such an enormous percentage of individuals have come forward essentially as whistleblowers. It’s — it’s — out of 150 English- speaking guards, we’re speaking to 20 of them. I mean, it’s really quite extraordinary. So it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and it’s a testament to the magnitude of the problem.

*****

I wanted to post this as a reminder of how significant this case is. Danielle Brian of POGO said 20 AGNA whistleblowers? Amazing. And I am sure those are just the ones that felt strong enough about their case to come forward. I am sure there are others who have experienced equally abusive circumstances on this contract. This is pathetic, and I cannot believe how poorly managed this contract was.

Also, I want to give a heads up to the ‘Isenberg Analysis’ over at PMH. What David Isenberg is doing is going through the commission transcripts with a fine tooth comb, and providing the context and the historical details that would escape most of us in regards to what these guys are saying. He has been reporting on this industry for a long while, so to hear his perspective is fascinating. It is also a three part series, and he has already pumped out part 1 and part 2. Check it out. –Matt

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Sunday, September 20, 2009

Industry Talk: PMH Exclusive–David Isenberg Analyzes Gordon Vs. AGNA

Filed under: Industry Talk — Tags: Afghanistan, AGNA, David Isenberg, Industry Talk — Matt @ 7:50 AM

Check it out folks. David went through the entire suit and commented on each aspect of the thing. What is key about that, is David’s vast knowledge base about AGNA and AGI and his ability to remember all the cool little details that only add to this stew of information. Bottom line, I wanted to puke after reading this, and I am so sorry that Gordon and company all had to go through what you went through on this contract. (according to Danielle in the PMH show, there are at least thirty plus guys who have reported problems)

Those lewd party pictures are stupid, but the actual details of this contract are the real story here. I highly recommend reading through this if you have the time, and learn what not to do on a contract. –Matt

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In a Private Military Herald exclusive David Isenberg, author of Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq dissects James Gordon’s suit against ArmorGroup North America.

Read this important and insightful analysis here.

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Friday, September 18, 2009

Industry Talk: Interview With AGNA Whistleblower John Gorman and How Congress Did Nothing About This in 2007!

Filed under: Industry Talk — Tags: AGNA, congress, John Gorman, security contractors, wartime commission, whistleblower — Matt @ 9:32 AM

This is crap. How is it that all of these politicians, to include key politicians currently on the wartime commission, knew exactly what happened in Kabul with this contract, and are now showing shock and dismay about it–two years later! This little tidbit of info, made the hearings that were on CSPAN the other day seem like a joke now.

That is great you guys are trying to get down to the bottom of it now, but where was your outrage when this was first going on? Are you saying that it took pictures of a frat-style party, to awaken your inner responsibilities as leaders? And what committee is going to put these politicians on a stand, and ask them why they didn’t do anything about this in 2007? Especially Shays. (I am still shaking my head on that one, as I remember watching Shays go off on Samuel during the hearing)

Here at FJ, we have put blame on AGNA and State, but when Congress knew about this as well and did nothing about it at the time, then they are just as bad in my book. The buck stops in DC, and this is certainly a prime example of poor leadership.

Also check out the story below this interview. Samuel Brinkley, VP of Wackenhut and in charge of this contract, could be in some trouble. He swore up and down during the hearings that he just found out about this stuff in August of this year, and according to Gorman, he knew about it in July of 2008. Interesting.

Semper Fi John and Marie Anne, and good job! –Matt

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Interview with ArmorGroup Whistleblower John Gorman

John Gorman — Marine, Patriot, Whistleblower

By Marie Anne St. Jean

John Gorman, retired U.S. Marine, was hired by ArmorGroup (AGNA) in 2007 to support security at the American Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Numerous reports of AGNA activities are available elsewhere in the media, as well as my own articles here and here. John has previously provided a written press release as well as televised interviews with major networks, as seen here. With this interview, I’m allowing John Gorman to tell his story, what he believes needs to be said.

John, you and I go back several years. I remember how excited you were when hired by ArmorGroup to be the Camp Commandant in Kabul, to have this opportunity to once again serve your country. We never really hang up our uniforms, do we?

When you first reported AGNA’s shortfalls in 2007, what was your expected outcome? What do you think should have happened that didn’t?

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Industry Talk: The Difference Between Fault and Responsibility, by Jake Allen

Filed under: Industry Talk — Tags: AGNA, Combat operator, Jake Allen, private military herald, security contractors — Matt @ 5:12 AM

Excellent post by Jake about the AGNA stuff, and the difference between fault and responsibility. Check it out, and this was also posted at Combat Operator and Private Military Herald. –Matt

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The Difference Between Fault and Responsibility

Sep 16, 2009

By Jake Allen

The more I read about our government in the mainstream media the more I realize how neither one seems to understand the difference between ‘fault’ and ‘responsibility’. The ArmorGroup fiasco at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul is only the latest incident but I will use it here because it is fresh on everyone’s mind and it is particularly illustratrative.

It’s critically important that we separate the terms fault and responsibility. Sometimes a person or an entity is both ‘at fault’ and ‘responsible’ but the two are not synonymous. In other words there is room for ‘blame’ or ‘fault’ at both ArmorGroup and at the State Department but the ‘responsibility’ for what happened only comes down in one place.

There is little doubt that the antics being conducted primarily by C-shift on the expatriate guard force was nearly 100% the doing of immature and poorly supervised and lead ArmorGroup contractors. ArmorGroup is ‘at fault’ for hiring these low-end nonprofessionals.

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