Thursday, August 19, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Jobs: Contingency Special Operations Team, OCONUS
Blackice Security put this one out, and I figured I would get on the band wagon and put it out as well. My guess is that there will be a huge requirement for bodies on this contract, and many companies are looking at those numbers and making their moves.
As for VxL? I have never heard of them, so job seekers beware. They have provided a phone number and email, so feel free to contact them if you have questions. I would also be curious if any of the readership have some input about the company?
I am not the POC or recruiter for this company, and please follow the directions and links below to apply. Good luck and let me know how it goes. –Matt
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Careers with VxL
VxL is always seeking highly qualified, experienced professionals who possess absolute dedication and the will to excel in everything they do.
Our review and screening process is intensive. All candidates are subjected to comprehensive investigations, psychological screenings, and drug tests. All candidates must additionally demonstrate proficiency in their area of expertise, and physical fitness. Certain standards, such as weapons qualifications and physical fitness, have a pass / fail score that must be met, other standards are less empirical. Candidates are not expected to be perfect – but our analysis of your capabilities will be uncompromising. For those candidates who successfully pass all screening requirements, you will find working with VxL to be an experience like no other.TO APPLY FOR ANY POSITION:To apply, you may click on the ‘APPLY NOW’ link following the job description. You may also email us at careers@vxlenterprises.com or call us at 202-449-3824. Be sure to reference the position title and code.
Current Opportunities
Professional Instructors and Operators wanted ISO the Department of State WPS Program:
All VxL operations are based on our ‘Contingency Special Operations Team’ (CSOT) support concept, which maximizes operational readiness and scaleability while promoting a sustainable ‘career path’ for our personnel. As such, our team members are not hired for specific programs – rather, they are hired based on the full scope of their capabilities and integrated into the CSOT program where they are able to support any number of requirements.
Currently, we are accepting applications from highly qualified personnel who, while assigned to a CSOT, have the capability and requirements needed to support various training and operational requirements of the WPS Program (formerly WPPS II). *The WPS program in particular is contingent upon award – however, the CSOT positions in general are NOT. Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply regardless of WPS award status.
For a more detailed position description, qualifications, and brochure, CLICK HERE.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Industry Talk: DoS Faces Skyrocketing Costs As It Prepares To Expand Role In Iraq
Officials in Washington said that the Defense and State cuts were interconnected in several ways, including the expectation that the Iraqi military could assist in providing security for an increased American civilian presence as the U.S. military relinquishes that task.
But while Iraqis are providing some help, officials said they were not yet comfortable depending on them. “We want to work with both the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police in bolstering our security,” a senior administration official said. “That has to be worked out in terms of the availability of trained personnel, and it will take time to achieve it.
“I’m not saying it’s never going to happen. I’m just saying it’s not going to happen tomorrow.”
*****
You guys think? lol What is interesting about what is going on now, is everyone on the hill is looking at things they can cut. And if defense is getting cut, all those congressmen who will lose jobs for constituents back in their districts because of these defense cuts, will certainly lash out to make sure others feel the pain. So of course they will attack budgeting for other programs that are not as protected as defense.
But reality dictates. The quote up top is the one thing that I keep thinking about. Can we depend upon the Iraqis to protect the DoS in Iraq? Or better yet, why have the DoS in Iraq in the first place, if they will not have the funding to move off the bases (which would require ‘dependable’ security). Obviously these requests for security related programs and equipment is necessary in DoS’s view, because they do not feel they could depend upon the Iraqis. The cheapest option would be to depend upon the Iraqis, but in this case, the Best Value option would be to take all things into consideration, and get their own capability.
The question is, can they sell this to congress? Because instead of going cheap on security, it sounds to me like they are cutting bases and programs. The only place they are going cheap for security, is cutting the fortification process for some Iraqi police stations. So yeah, the smart thing to do is not even open up a base if you cannot afford proper security for it. That also cuts into the overall mission in Iraq that DoS had in mind, which is essential to getting Iraq to a point of stability and good governance. Either way congress goes with this, State will always have to default to ensuring security is at it’s optimum. Especially if congress will not assign more troops to Iraq for DoS protection duties. –Matt
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State Dept. faces skyrocketing costs as it prepares to expand role in Iraq
By Karen DeYoung and Ernesto LondoñoAugust 11, 2010
As the last U.S. combat troops prepare to leave Iraq this month, the State Department is struggling to implement an expanded mission that it has belatedly realized it might not be able to afford.
Beginning in September, the State Department will take over all police training in Iraq from coalition military forces, and it has proposed replacing its current 16 provincial reconstruction teams spread across the country with five consular offices outside Baghdad.
But since planning for the transition began more than two years ago, costs have skyrocketed and the money to pay for them has become increasingly tight. Congress cut the State Department’s Iraq request in the 2010 supplemental appropriation that President Obama signed late last month; the Senate Appropriations Committee and a House subcommittee have already slashed the administration’s $1.8 billion request for fiscal 2011 operations in Iraq.
Gen. Ray Odierno, the outgoing commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and other U.S. officials are urging lawmakers to reconsider their plans, citing concerns that waning resources could jeopardize tenuous security gains.
“We can’t spread ourselves so thin that we don’t have the capacity to do the job in the places where we put people,” said Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew, who has told Congress that State will not deploy civilians where it cannot protect them. “If we don’t put people in a place where they have mobility, where they can go out and meet with the people and implement their programs,” he said, “there’s very little argument for being in the place we send them.”
The State Department has signaled in recent weeks that it will need up to $400 million more than initially requested to cover mushrooming security costs, but lawmakers seem in no mood to acquiesce.
Kidnap And Ransom: Chinese Seek Anti-Terrorism Training For Work Abroad
More and more Chinese workers head to places like Iraq, Nigeria and Pakistan to work in mining, oil-drilling and the sale of all things “Made in China.” But there is an underbelly to this economic growth.
Increasingly, Chinese workers abroad are being confronted with the security risks in these turbulent countries. Chinese topped the list of kidnapped foreign nationals in 2008, followed by French and Germans, according to Special Contingency Risks, a British kidnap insurance firm.
*****
The quote up top really caught my eye for several reasons. The Chinese are everywhere out there, and they are sending folks into some dangerous places. I have talked about their ventures into Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa in the past, and I am always on the look out for any information about their PSC or PMC related activities.
Although with this story, it looks to me like these Chinese companies are dependent upon foreign training companies to increase their worker’s survivability out there. But as demand increase, so will the amount of companies able to provide such services. More than likely, it will be Chinese companies who will continue to grow and probably with the assistance of foreign advisors. At least until Chinese folks get their own industry expertise, and go it alone.
But what intrigues me is that once a training industry takes hold, it usually evolves. Will the next step for these companies be actually providing security services? Much like how the US market evolved with some of it’s training companies (Xe started as a training company for example).
The other question is would the Chinese even allow a training company to evolve to that level? I think the answers to those questions will be how wars and regional instability will impact all of these really risky ventures they have taken on out there. The Chinese are not immune to the ‘foreigner’ label, and a Somali pirate or a jihadist will find value in attacking them, just like they do with all other countries and their private ventures. The article made this point pretty clearly with the statistics presented.
The article also mentioned the oil giant CNPC. I would be very curious to read a briefing on any security issues they have come across. According to the report below, they have operations in ’19 high risk regions’. I have to think that out of all of those operations, they must have some sort of Chinese security firm tasked with force protection? And yet we hear nothing about this security? Maybe they are using all local military forces or local national PSC companies? Who knows, and that is the kind of stuff I would like to read more about. –Matt
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Chinese seek anti-terrorism training for work abroad
By Coco Liu
August 10, 2010
SHANGHAI, China — Hired by Chinese businesses, Adi Talmor robs, kidnaps and does his general best to make thousands of workers suffer.
But Talmor isn’t a criminal; he’s a consultant. The 38-year-old former Israeli paratrooper instructs Chinese workers in what he calls personal security training. It’s a field that has recently emerged across China, mirroring the country’s expansion into some of the world’s more perilous markets.
In accordance with Beijing’s “go-global” strategy, state-owned enterprises have signed multibillion-dollar deals in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Meanwhile, trade has flourished. In 2008, China bypassed the United States to become Africa’s top trade partner.
More and more Chinese workers head to places like Iraq, Nigeria and Pakistan to work in mining, oil-drilling and the sale of all things “Made in China.” But there is an underbelly to this economic growth.
Increasingly, Chinese workers abroad are being confronted with the security risks in these turbulent countries. Chinese topped the list of kidnapped foreign nationals in 2008, followed by French and Germans, according to Special Contingency Risks, a British kidnap insurance firm.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Industry Talk: New Century Security Contractor Shot Dead In Afghanistan By Prisoner
Rest in peace to the fallen, and my heart goes out to the family and friends. I don’t know much about the company New Century, but it sounds like it is one of the many companies out there involved with training Afghans. Tim Collins is the CEO and he has definitely been busy with TV shows and books after his career in the military.
If anyone else has something to add about this incident, please feel free to post in the comments section. –Matt
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Ex-Northern Ireland policeman shot dead in Afghanistan by prisoner
10 August 2010
A former Northern Ireland police officer working as a security contractor for Nato in Afghanistan has been shot dead by an escaped insurgent prisoner.
Ken McGonigle, 51, from Co Derry, died on Saturday night when the prisoner in Musa Qala, northern Helmand province, overpowered his guards when being taken to pray. He seized his captors’ weapons and shot McGonigle before killing two US marines as they followed him into nearby buildings. The prisoner was eventually shot and killed.
McGonigle was working for the Nato training mission as part of a group supplied by a private security firm to mentor and train the Afghan police force.
“Our hearts are broken,” said McGonigle’s father, Joe, speaking from Trillick, Co Tyrone. “It is an awful thing to happen but there’s nothing we could do about it … Kenneth was the first man [the insurgent] saw – he opened [fire] and Kenneth hit the ground.”
Ken McGonigle was working for New Century. The firm is based in Guernsey and is led by the former British colonel Tim Collins.
The company yesterday offered its condolences to his family after the “tragic but isolated incident”.
In a statement, it said: “His presence and contribution will be sorely missed by everyone in the company and at the Nato training mission. Ken was a highly professional, deeply competent, well-admired and thoroughly committed colleague who made a material difference through his work.”