Feral Jundi

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Industry Talk: DynCorp CEO Bill Ballhaus Announces Departure, Steve Gaffney Takes Over

Filed under: Industry Talk,Leadership — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 10:19 PM

     Mr. Gaffney sounds like a star performer from his days at ITT and IAP, and DynCorp will be well served.  It sounds like Bill will still be involved with the direction of things with a seat at the board.

    So I just classify this as a reshuffling of some key leadership. Cerberus stands to do well with this arrangement, and will certainly be a powerhouse coming into the future. I just hope DynCorp is ready for WPPS in Iraq and their crisis management game is locked on. –Matt

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Dyncorp International President and CEO Announces Departure, Successor Named

August 20, 2010

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (August 20, 2010) – DynCorp International (DI) today announced that Steve Gaffney will become the company’s chief executive officer and president effective August 25, 2010, the date that current CEO and president, Bill Ballhaus, has announced that he will resign.  Mr. Ballhaus, who joined the company in May 2008, will continue to serve on the company’s Board of Directors as vice chairman and has accepted a position as a strategic advisor to DI’s new parent, Cerberus Capital Management L.P.

“Over the past two years the DI team has accomplished great things: we redefined our core values, strengthened our leadership programs, entered new business sectors and expanded our global footprint,” said Mr. Ballhaus. “The company is now in a position of strength and, while I am stepping down from my day-to-day role, I look forward to remaining actively engaged in DI’s future through my involvement on the Board and as a senior advisor to its owners.”

Mr. Gaffney, who already serves as chairman of DI’s Board of Directors and will operate out of the company’s Falls Church headquarters, joins DI from IAP Worldwide Services, Inc. (IAP), where he has served as CEO since January 2009.

“Bill and I have worked closely together over the past several months, discussing the company’s operations, management and future.  I look forward to continuing to work with Bill in his role as a key strategic advisor and on the company’s Board,” said Mr. Gaffney. “He deserves a great deal of credit for expanding the company’s global footprint and establishing a solid foundation of corporate goals and core values that will guide the company’s future success.”

(more…)

Friday, August 20, 2010

Afghanistan: Taliban Attack Afghan Guards In Deadly Raid

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 11:08 PM

     This sucks.  Rest in peace to the fallen and my heart goes out to the families and friends of these Afghan guards. My only comment on this is that I am sure there will be many lessons for this security company, and they will certainly be re-evaluating the defense of their main camps.  But from the sounds of it, the Taliban conducted a classic raid designed to turn a surprised force inside out. These things take guts to perform, and require planning, surprise and violence of action to be effective. It sounds like they had that in this attack. (Running over fleeing unarmed guards with their cars though?)

     The other point to bring up is this whole deal about companies using subcontractors who refuse to use local workers for projects in that locality.  Boy, that is rule number one in a new area you plan on doing construction or other types of work at, and that is always hire local.

     If you hire the locals, they are more likely to protect their cash cow job, and drop some hints that maybe the Taliban (their cousins and uncles) might want to attack that day or night.  Or the work force just doesn’t show up one because their cousins and uncles said not to go to work that day.  Using locals for work projects is the way to go, and the project lead on this should have known better.

     It would also help if the reconstruction team that handed out the money for this road project, also paid attention to what villages might be pissed off if they built a road through their area, and was not included in the project.  Or at least throw in a school or whatever to appease them, while making the case of why a road would be a good thing in their area. It sounds like no one talked these folks, to include the government or the reconstruction team for that area.

     The other option is that maybe these locals did talk with everyone, and because they were Taliban supporters, they will never be happy about anything the government or reconstruction teams tell them. –Matt

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Taliban Attack Afghan Guards in Deadly Raid

By ALISSA J. RUBIN and SHARIFULLAH SAHAK

August 20, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban fighters in a rural area near the Helmand River staged an audacious nighttime raid early Thursday, swooping down on several hundred sleeping Afghan private security guards who were securing a road construction project, and killing at least 21, according to guards who escaped.

The attack was striking not only for its scale and viciousness but because it took place in the Helmand River Valley, where thousands of British troops have been stationed for the past three years and where now American troops have entered to try to rout the Taliban.

News of the Taliban raid emerged Friday, as Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, met with President Hamid Karzai for the second time in four days to discuss corruption among members of the Afghan government, some of whom have been implicated in several major cases. Support for the nine-year war, and for Mr. Karzai, is ebbing in the United States, while Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has signaled that, if anything, the troops would need more time on the ground to accomplish their mission.

(more…)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Legal News: MPRI The Target Of Class Action Lawsuit For Operation Storm

Filed under: Croatia,Industry Talk,Legal News — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:16 AM

    Interesting case, just because it kind of highlights some history about Operation Storm and the work MPRI was involved with. I wouldn’t mind hitting on this in a future ‘history’ or ‘strategy’ post, because I am sure there are some very intriguing areas to explore when it comes to this operation.  It certainly sounds impressive.

    As to the case, I will not comment too much because I don’t know a lot about either side’s position.-Matt

Edit: 08/20/2010 – David Isenberg has far more to say about this, and the consensus he found is that this is a weak case. David also reported on MPRI back in the day, and interviewed the participants of Operation Storm.  So I tend to think he has this one nailed.

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U.S. Mercenaries Accused of Abetting Genocide

By ROBERT KAHN

August 18, 2010

     (CN) – A private U.S. defense contractor “trained and equipped the Croatian military for Operation Storm and designed the Operation Storm battle plan,” which killed or displaced more than 200,000 Serbs in 1995, in the largest European land offensive since World War II, the Genocide Victims of Krajina say in Chicago Federal Court. They demand billions of dollars in damages from MPRI, founded by U.S. military officers who were “downsized” at the end of the Cold War, and L-3 Communications, which bought MPRI for $40 million in 2000.”This is a class action brought by ethnic Serbs who resided in the Krajina region of Croatia up to August 1995 and who then became victims of the Croatian military assault known as Operation Storm – an aggressive, systematic military attack and bombardment on a demilitarized civilian population that had been placed under the protection of the United Nations,” the 40-page complaint begins.”Operation Storm was designed to kill or forcibly expel the ethnic Serbian residents of the Krajina region from Croatian territory, just because they were a minority religio-ethnic group. Defendant MPRI, a private military contractor subsequently acquired by Defendant L-3 Communications Inc., trained and equipped the Croatian military for Operation Storm and designed the Operation Storm battle plan. Operation Storm became the largest land offensive in Europe since World War II and resulted in the murder and inhumane treatment of thousands of ethnic Serbs, the forced displacement of approximately 200,000 ethnic Serbs from their ancestral homes in Croatian territory, and the pillaging and destruction of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Serbian-owned property. The victims of Operation Storm and their heirs and next of kin herein claim that Defendants were complicit in genocide.” (more…)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Kidnap And Ransom: Chinese Seek Anti-Terrorism Training For Work Abroad

Filed under: Afghanistan,Africa,China,Kidnap And Ransom — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:59 AM

     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.

(more…)

Monday, August 9, 2010

Mexico: ‘Plomo O Plata’, Lead Or Silver For Law Enforcement In Mexico

Filed under: Law Enforcement,Letter Of Marque,Mexico — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:44 AM

     This stuff always sucks to hear about, but is the reality of this drug war.  In the market of force, the police are every bit a part of that mechanism.  If the states or government cannot pay more than the cartels, or at least provide a living wage to their police force, well then the decision for poorly paid cops is pretty simple.

     Couple that with this Plomo O Plata concept.  The cartels do pose a threat to these officers and their families, and I am sure the cartel’s intelligence apparatus is able to find out where the cops live no problem. And when they get a hold of them, the cartels usually torture them, kill them, and mutilate the body to send a message. Some message, huh?

     I will say this again, the way to deal with these cartels is to create an industry out of capturing or killing them (preferably capture them, so you can find more of the scum and their loot through interrogations).  The government could start issuing Letters of Marque (LoM) to companies and individuals world wide (or just North America) who could profit off the destruction of cartels.  They would allow these companies and individuals to capture folks for the bounty (Mexico would fund this and possibly tap into Rewards For Justice) , and take their assets through a Prize Court system.

     The state would also get their cut, and if any of the companies and individuals who were issued an LoM steps out of line based on the terms of that LoM, you put them on the list of most wanted and turn the industry on them. lol With any luck the industry would dry up within a couple of years, and LoM’s would then reach their expiration date, just like how it worked for hundreds of years pre-Declaration of Paris. –Matt

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Police in Mexico

Aug. 7: Federal police officers beat fellow police inspector Salomón Alarcón Olvera, aka “El Chaman” after accusing him of being linked to drug cartels and having participated in kidnappings, executions and extortions in Ciudad Juarez, northern Mexico.

4 Mexican federal police commanders suspended following complaints of corruption, drug links

August 07, 2010

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Four federal police commanders have been suspended from their posts in a violent Mexican border city following allegations from subordinates that they have links to drug traffickers.

The action by the Public Safety Department comes just hours after 200 federal police officers detained one of their superiors at gunpoint, alleging that he had connections to drug cartels and had participated in kidnappings, killings and extortion.

The Department said in a statement late Saturday that the commander held by officers earlier in the day was transferred to Mexico City along with three other officials. All will be investigated for “possible irregular conduct.”

The four worked in Ciudad Juarez, a city across from El Paso, Texas, plagued by drug-related violence.

Story here.

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Mexico: Cartels Pay Corrupt Cops $100 Million a Month

August 9, 2010

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Mexican authorities said at a forum that drug-trafficking gangs pay around 1.27 billion pesos (some $100 million) a month in bribes to municipal police officers nationwide

Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna said that figure was calculated based on perceptions of municipal officers themselves and an analysis of a list of cops recruited by the cartels that was found during a police operation.

“Organized crime pays some 1.27 billion pesos a month to municipal police, because that’s the portion of the salary the government does not pay the officers so they can live with dignity,” the high-ranking official said Friday.

(more…)

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