Sunday, September 20, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
India: Becoming a Private Guard Becomes Tougher
Bravo, and I am pretty impressed with the standards they have put together. It is a start at least and hopefully we will get some feedback, good or bad, from any industry folks from India about this.
It is also important to point out, that incidents like the Mumbai attacks require competent first responders to stop the attack. Police cannot be everywhere, nor can the military, but all of the hotels in Mumbai use private security (I assume). This new focus on standards for guards is a good thing, if they want to increase the chances of stopping future attacks.
Strangely enough, it almost looks like they are implementing a system that looks a lot like what I have been promoting here on FJ. Something that resembles the Red Card system with the Federal Fire Services here in the states. Even the mentor program reminds me of the task book system that I am familiar with. Oh, and they are teaching disaster management? That sounds like Incident Command stuff there. Hmmmm, interesting. –Matt
——————————————————————
Becoming a private guard becomes tougher
Anil Kumar M, TNN
2 September 2009
BANGALORE: You’ve probably wondered how some podgy men in uniform ended up as security guards. Simply because it was open house with few standards. But not anymore.
The government has framed fresh guidelines — Karnataka Private Security Rules — and brought all private security agencies in the state under its ambit.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Industry Talk: Private Contractors Sought As Guards in Afghanistan
Hmmm. Walter must be reading FedBiz Opps too? LOL. I suspect that the TWISS program is the model for this gig in Afghanistan and hopefully some more jobs will be popping up soon. The real irony about the war and the state of the economy, is that if the allies wanted an instant army, they could snap their fingers and thousands of contractors would sign on. The only problem I see, is how the allies manage and regulate this massive resource of on-call professionals. We are a tool, use us correctly!
The security contracting industry, if regulated properly and well managed, will certainly be a force multiplier for the client. Arguably, it has, but with a few hiccups. It just needs some quality control, quality control, and more quality control, and this industry would be awesome. Did I say quality control enough? The companies cannot be expected to police themselves, and the client(that means you Uncle Sam and the rest of the world), needs to get off their ass and actually apply some quality control.
Use your sword to fight your enemies, not crush rock or cement with it. Industry can be incredibly useful in this asymetric/all volunteer/fourth generation war, and to not use us properly is just plain lazy and dumb. There are even some of us in this industry that would love to sit down with any of the decision makers out there and provide some solutions. Insh’allah! –Head Jundi
——————————————————————-
Private Contractors Sought As Guards in Afghanistan
By Walter Pincus
Monday, December 8, 2008; A17
The U.S. Army is looking to private contractors to provide armed security guards to protect Forward Operating Bases in seven provinces in southern Afghanistan. In a recent study, Anthony H. Cordesman, an intelligence expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described five of those provinces — Helmand, Kandahar, Nimruz, Zabol and Uruzgan — as among the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan.
The proposed contracts would be for a minimum of one year, beginning Jan. 1, but with options to continue for four years. The move to hire contractors to provide armed guards comes as the United States is deploying more American troops to Afghanistan and looking to double the size of the Afghan National Army from 80,000 to 162,000 over the next five years.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Maritime Security: Somali Pirates Hijack Ship, British Guards Escape
Boy, on the surface, the story does not sound good. Why are the guards jumping ship, and leaving their client to the mercy of pirates? And how did these guards miss this one? Most of all, were they even armed to defend the ship? Lots of questions about this incident, and I will not judge before I hear everything.
Like I have said before, sooner or later these pirates will catch on to the fact that most of these security companies that are posting guards on these ships are lightly armed, or worse yet, just outfitting them with less than lethal stuff like the LRAD. These guys are smart, and they will do all they can to sneak up on these ships. They will pose as coast guards, or a distressed ship in need of help, and as soon as they can get up on the craft, they will board. It is a tactic as old as the sea, and in my opinion, we need to start learning some of these ancient lessons on how to deal with pirates. –Head Jundi
——————————————————————-
Somali pirates hijack ship, British guards escape
By KATHARINE HOURELD
November 28, 2008
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Somali pirates hijacked a chemical tanker with dozens of Indian crew members on board Friday, and three British security guards were rescued by helicopter after jumping into the sea, officials said.
A warship on patrol nearby had sent helicopters to intervene in the attack, but they arrived after pirates had taken control of the Liberian-flagged ship, diplomatic officials said on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak with media.