Monday, September 14, 2009
Iraq: KBR Employee Lucas Vinson Shot Dead at Camp Speicher
Tragic. I hope PTSD wasn’t a factor, and that there was some mistake at a post or whatever. I guess there could be a crime of passion thing going on too? Maybe Ms Sparky will post in the near future and give us what she knows? Who knows, and eventually the investigators will lay down the real story.
My heart goes out to the family and friends of Lucas. -Matt
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KBR Employee Lucas Vinson Shot Dead at Camp Speicher
09/13/2009
BAGHDAD — A civilian contractor was shot and killed Sunday on an American military base in the Iraqi city of Tikrit and a U.S. soldier has been detained in connection with the incident, the military said.
The contractor was shot at 8:30 a.m. at Camp Speicher, the military said in a statement.
Houston-based KBR confirmed the man killed was one of its employees, 27-year-old Lucas Vinson from Louisiana.
“As the Army is leading the investigation of the incident, KBR is not providing further comment at this time,” spokeswoman Heather Browne said in an e-mailed statement. “We are of course fully cooperating with the Army on its continued investigation.”
Monday, August 31, 2009
Bounties: AT&T Ups Bounty to $250,000 For Leads on Fiber Bandits
Check it out. If you are interested in investigating this, you will have to talk to AT&T’s investigative unit that is looking for these leads. I am not the point of contact for this stuff, and I am just trying to spread the word. A quarter million is a pretty nice little bounty, and I hope some locked on FJ reader is able to crack this one. –Matt
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AT&T Ups Bounty To $250,000 For Leads On Fiber Bandits
Telco Looks For Help In Finding Vandals In San Francisco Bay Area
By Todd Spangler
April 11, 2009
AT&T on Friday afternoon announced it increased the reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the parties who cut fiber-optic cables in the San Francisco Bay Area to $250,000.
The telco announced a $100,000 reward on Thursday, but boosted the reward to $250,000 “as the full scope of the vandalism became more clear,” the company said in a statement.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Law Enforcement: On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
This is an excellent read, and I want to thank Matt for sending me this. I love it when readers are inspired by stuff, and send it in for the rest of us to enjoy.
I put this under ‘law enforcement’, but really, this could apply to military and security contractors. It is a really good definition of what we are and what drives us. It also defines the correct mindset to have in order to survive and win the fight. Enjoy. –Matt
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On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs
(From the book, On Combat, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman)
“Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself.
The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?”
– William J. Bennett
In a lecture to the United States Naval Academy
November 24, 1997
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Crime: British Contractor Kills Two Colleagues in Iraq
Tragic. For those that know the deceased and for the families, I am sorry you are having to go through this. –Matt
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British Contractor Kills Two Colleagues in Iraq
By Ernesto LondoñoWashington Post Foreign ServiceSunday, August 9, 2009
BAGHDAD, Aug. 9 — A British private security contractor was taken into custody by Iraqi authorities in Baghdad’s Green Zone early Sunday after he fatally shot two colleagues, Iraqi officials said.
The gunman, identified as Danny Fitzsimmons, also shot an Iraqi as he attempted to flee the compound, according to Iraqi officials and two other sources familiar with the incident. The Iraqi man was critically wounded, Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, a spokesman at Iraq’s Interior Ministry said.