Feral Jundi

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Industry Talk: Two American Contractors Killed By Afghan Soldier At Training Range, Mazar-e-Sharif Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Training — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 1:48 AM

      Rest in peace to the fallen.  This is the second shooting by an Afghani soldier this month that ‘turned’ and it is something that you constantly have to think about when working around these folks. The old saying of ‘Be polite. Be courteous. But have a plan to kill everyone that you meet‘, holds true for both the military and for contractors in this war. If anyone finds out more info, I will make the edit here, or you can add it in the comments section. –Matt

Edit: July 24, 2010 – Charles Buckman was one of the dead. The men worked for MPRI at the Regional Military Training Center.

Edit: July 30, 2010 – The Washington Times just published an interesting article about the details of this shooting.  It is currently being investigated by the FBI and others, but from what I can gather, there are numerous conflicting stories about what was going on.  They say the MPRI contractor and the Afghani were friends, but then the Afghani shoots him due to an argument?

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NATO says 4 dead in shooting at training range

July 21, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two American civilians and two Afghan soldiers were killed in a shooting on a northern Afghan military base, NATO said.

An Afghan soldier who trained others at the base outside Mazar-e-Sharif started shooting during a weapons exercise Tuesday, the international military coalition said in a statement.

The shooter was one of those killed, and it was not immediately clear if he targeted someone or if bullets had gone astray. It also was not clear how many people fired weapons.

NATO and Afghan forces are jointly investigating, Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said. There were no immediate details on the U.S. civilians, but contractors commonly work as trainers at such bases.

Intentional shootings by Afghans against coalition partners have occurred previously but still are rare.

Earlier this month, an Afghan soldier killed three British service members with gunfire and a rocket-propelled grenade in the dead of night.

The soldier fled after that attack, leaving his motive unclear. But the Taliban claimed he was a militant sympathizer taken in by insurgents after the assault.

In November, an Afghan policeman killed five British soldiers at a checkpoint in Helmand.

The attacks come as the international coalition is ramping up training of Afghan soldiers and policemen so they can ultimately take responsibility for securing and defending the nation.

The speed with which Afghan security forces are growing — the allies set an interim goal of expanding the Afghan army from 85,000 in 2009 to 134,000 troops by October 2011 — has raised concerns about infiltration by the Taliban and the professionalism of the forces.

Story here.

 

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Finance: Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Eligibility Online Tool

Filed under: Cool Stuff,Finance,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 11:13 PM

     This is an awesome little tool to use to see if you qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion. This is always an issue every year for contractors, and especially when you have worked multiple contracts and you are not quite sure if you qualify.

     Personally, I think the FEIE should be based on a pro-rated system*. Meaning for how many days you worked in country, is how many days you earned.  Guys who worked 330 days, earn the full exclusion–as they should.  Guys who could only get in half that many days overseas, should be able to get half the exclusion amount. The way it is set up now, you could spend 229 days overseas, and because you couldn’t get that one day, you do not qualify.

     That is a crappy set up in my view, and for many folks to get that 330 days overseas can be pretty difficult.  Especially if you have family obligations, you change contract or the company only gives a limited amount of days overseas, or some unexpected issue came up that would hinder your plans for staying overseas. Then your penalized for it, as if all those days worked didn’t mean anything.

     Either way, check it out and let me know what you think? –Matt

*it is only pro-rated if you start in one tax year, and promise to continue working overseas into the next tax year.

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Foreign Earned income exclusion eligibility online tool

While our online tool is designed based on years of experience and IRS source documentation, please remember that the most valuable advice we can give you for your foreign tax planning needs would be the result of proper analysis and live conversations. This online assessment can indeed give you a very good idea of your eligibility for the foreign earned income exclusion. Please click on the button below to begin the assessment (You are 5 minutes away from finding out if you qualify!):

Monday, July 19, 2010

Publications: CRS-DoD Contractors In Iraq And Afghanistan: Background And Analysis, July 2010

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Iraq,Letter Of Marque,Publications,Strategy — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:41 AM

     The 2010 QDR, which runs almost 130 pages, contains little discussion on the role contractors play in military operations. The QDR has a seven page section on counterinsurgency, stability, and counterterrorism operations, including a list of ten priorities for improvement. However, the word “contractor” does not appear once in the discussion, despite the fact that contractors make up more that 50% of DOD’s workforce in Iraq and Afghanistan, including more than 13,000 armed contractors. Some analysts argue that DOD missed an opportunity to address the issue in the most recent QDR.

*****  

     I like posting these, just because they are running records of where contractors stand in this war.  But what I really like about this publication is that Mr. Schwartz has taken aim at the folks who wrote up the QDR.

     The reason why I like that, is because I have been screaming on this blog as long as I can remember that contractors must be included into the discussion on strategy for these wars.  Especially when we account for over half of the manpower in these conflicts (and probably for future conflicts).

     It still amazes me that today’s strategists and war planners do not adequately cover this stuff.  If you read the QDR, it’s like we don’t even exist.  And yet we have thousands of expats, third country nationals, and local nationals, all interacting with today’s populations and militaries in today’s wars. We are also dying and paying our toll in blood for this war–yet nothing is really mentioned about us when it comes to strategy.

     Mr. Schwartz also took the time to cut and paste some key components of today’s COIN strategy out of some manuals, and how contractors should and could intermix with that strategy.  The bottom line is that if contractors are interacting with the populations of these war zones, then they ‘must’ be aligned within the strategies of COIN. We must be on the same sheet of music as the militaries are, or we will continue to inadvertently cause problems.

     Now for a couple of critiques.  In the beginning of this publication, Mr. Schwartz actually mentioned the use of contractors during the Revolutionary War, but he made no mention of the use of privateers or of Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 11 of the US Constitution.

     It’s odd to me that he wouldn’t, because our use of privateers is actually a fantastic example of using contractors during times of war to achieve a strategic goal.  Our privateer industry is what we had as a continental navy at that time. The damage they inflicted onto the enemy’s logistics, as well as the capture of enemy weapons and munitions were very significant components of that war. Not to mention the massive infusion of wealth into our young country from all of the commerce raiding done by this government licensed privateer force. And the Letter of Marque in the US Constitution is proof of that existence between private industry and government for ‘offensive’ operations against an enemy.  How’s that for ‘inherently governmental’? lol

     The only other critique that is missing is a combination of DoS’s and other’s numbers into a report like this. I know the DoD doesn’t want to mix with those ‘others’, but it gets kind of old for us to continue to see separate reports all the time. I say combine all of them to save a little money and time, and let’s see every last contractor be counted.  I would also like to see the deaths and injuries of all, and get that stuff on one nice (and complete) report for everyone to analyze and reference. Something to think about for all of you analysts out there who keep throwing this stuff together. –Matt

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Department of Defense Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan: Background and Analysis 

Moshe Schwartz

Specialist in Defense Acquisition

July 2, 2010

Summary

The Department of Defense (DOD) increasingly relies upon contractors to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has resulted in a DOD workforce that has 19% more contractor personnel (207,600) than uniformed personnel (175,000). Contractors make up 54% of DOD’s workforce in Iraq and Afghanistan. The critical role contractors play in supporting such military operations and the billions of dollars spent by DOD on these services requires operational forces to effectively manage contractors during contingency operations. Lack of sufficient contract management can delay or even prevent troops from receiving needed support and can also result in wasteful spending. Some analysts believethat poor contract management has also played a role in abuses and crimes committed by certain contractors against local nationals, which may have undermined U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(more…)

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Industry Talk: Hundreds Of Afghanistan Contractor Deaths Go Unreported

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 11:18 PM

     There’s no doubt things are hotting up.  Our convoys are being hit every day by IED and ambushes – often, combined.  The bad guys seem to be moving in larger groups and, to us, it seems that they are operating with virtual impunity on certain sections of Hwy 1, in particular in the vicinity of Hawz-e Madad where we can guarantee running an ambush as the convoy passes through the gardens that border the road.  We’ve lost four KIA in that 10km stretch in the past week alone. I know this small section of highway is only a fly-spot on the map of Afghanistan, but I do wonder just what the hell ISAF is doing about it.  They know this is a hot-spot but they don’t appear to be doing anything – worse, if they are doing something it is utterly ineffective.- From the blog Kandahar Diary

*****

     In a 10-month period between June 2009 and April 2010, 260 private security contractors working for the Defense Department made the ultimate sacrifice, while over the same period, 324 U.S. troops were killed. In analyzing the numbers, the report found a private security contractor “working for DOD in Afghanistan is 4.5 times more likely to be killed than uniformed personnel.” 

*****

     These quotes up top will give you the best idea as to how intense operations are for contractors in Afghanistan right now.  And this includes all types of contractors, and not just LN’s (Expats and TCNs). The article below identifies the latest numbers that came out of the CRS and it is stunning to say the least.

     But what is worse is the lack of accountability for all of these deaths.  To depend upon some hobbyist running icasualties.org is not cool at all.  Matter of fact, the accounting of all contractor deaths (LN, TCN, Expat) should be a law that congress creates and funds.  It is the least we can do.

     Another point I would like to make, is that we should also honor these deaths by letting the families display something similar to the Gold Star flag in the windows of their homes.  Contractors from all over the world have been killed in this war, and each contractor killed had a family who mourned their loss.  How does that family memorialize their lost loved one, other than a grave marker/headstone? Do they fly a flag, do they plant a tree, or what?  I say one way to help in this area, is that some kind of globally recognized symbol should apply to the civilian contractors who have died in this war.  If a Fijian family had lost a son in Iraq, they should be able to fly a ‘Gold Star flag’ in their window. If an Iraqi family lost a family member who was a contractor, they should at least have the option to be able to fly a flag in their window.(if they choose to do so) I think any way we can honor those deaths, as well as officially count them, is the right thing to do.  Rest in peace to the fallen. –Matt

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Hundreds of Afghanistan contractor deaths go unreported

By Justin Elliott

Thursday, Jul 15, 2010

In one of the least examined aspects of President Obama’s escalation of the Afghan war, armed private security contractors are being killed in action by the hundreds — at a rate more than four times that of U.S. troops, according to a previously unreported congressional study.

At the same time, the Obama administration has drastically increased the military’s reliance on private security contractors, the vast majority of whom are Afghans who are given the dangerous job of guarding aid and military convoys, the new Congressional Research Service study found.

In a 10-month period between June 2009 and April 2010, 260 private security contractors working for the Defense Department made the ultimate sacrifice, while over the same period, 324 U.S. troops were killed. In analyzing the numbers, the report found a private security contractor “working for DOD in Afghanistan is 4.5 times more likely to be killed than uniformed personnel.”

Unlike when a soldier is killed in action and the military promptly issues a press release describing the circumstances of the death, contractor deaths go almost entirely unreported by the Pentagon, and, by extension, the media. As a result, both the level of violence and the number of people being killed as part of the U.S. effort in Afghanistan are being significantly underreported.

(more…)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Industry Talk: DoS Doubling Their Security Contractor Force In Iraq?

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:55 AM

     But according to a joint statement issued by commission co-chairs Michael Thibault and Christopher Shays, the State Department may also need to more than double its private security force, from around 2,700 today to 6,000 or 7,000 personnel. 

*****

     All I have to say, is wow!  That is a lot of jobs for the industry.  I posted awhile back about the DoS’s coming requirements in Iraq as troops draw down, and it is amazing to me that congress or anyone covering this would be surprised by what will be required of this contractor force. Rescuing downed air crewmen or diplomats won’t be the only jobs for these types of forces, now that the troops will be gone.  Other scenarios might present themselves as well, and taking care of these problems was usually the task of troops.

     With the troops in Iraq, the mission of searching for and destroying mortar teams or rocket teams was their task.  (even counter sniper missions, but DoS and others have always had their own contractor designated marksmen)  But now that the troops will be leaving, who will take over these jobs?  The Iraqis?  Well I hope for the sake of the DoS and their various camps throughout Iraq, that they trust the Iraqis enough to take care of these kinds of attacks. Because as the troops leave, I think attacks will surge, and the insurgency or others will be focusing on making the phased withdrawal look like a bloody retreat.  That means an increase in attacks, and it is what I would do if I was the enemy.

     With that said, it does not surprise me that DoS would want this kind of hardware and manpower.  It would also not surprise me that the missions of contractors will include a lot more responsibilities.  Rescuing downed crewmen in aircraft or sending quick reaction forces to aid convoys and motorcades in trouble will require equipment and capability that mimics what the military had for such operations.  Anything less, and now you are putting those crews at risk, as well as putting the lives of folks doing work in the field at risk.  Congress must know that if DoS does not have dedicated reserves, either military or contractors, that it cannot safely do what it has to do.

      I will take it a step further.  Contractor QRF’s will be the ones responding to these indirect and direct attacks on the bases, and these QRF’s must have all the tools necessary to do the job.  Whatever a platoon in the military has, a contractor force should have, and I see no reason for limited that QRF or hamstringing them by only allowing them small caliber weapons with limited range or capability.  I say contractor QRF’s, because what happens when the Iraqis refuse to do the job?  It’s either use that contractor QRF, or sit in your base and take fire indefinitely, and watch as your casualties grow and your compound gets reduced to ashes and rubble?  Or you could send up a Blackhawk with weapons mounted on it, and that contractor crew will have to take care of the problem from the air.

     My point with all of this, is that in order for us to achieve this troop draw down, as well as maintain a civilian presence in Iraq so we can continue to help that government stay on track, congress is going to have to face some realities. I think that is the overall message that DoS was sending to congress, and it is the message I got out of all of this.  The way I see it, security contractors are all they have….. unless congress wants to implement the draft or halts the troop drawdown. But then of course you have Afghanistan and all their troop requirements.  So yet again, we are presented by a scenario where contractors are the best thing we got in order to fill a manpower/security vacuum, during a crucial phase of a war…..  Your welcome. lol –Matt

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U.S. Contractor Use in Iraq Expected To Rise

By WILLIAM MATTHEWS

12 Jul 2010

As the U.S. military pulls troops and equipment out of Iraq, the State Department will have to rely increasingly on contractors to perform such services as flying rescue helicopters and disarming roadside bombs, a congressional commission warned.

That is not an ideal solution but none other seems available, members of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan said during a July 12 hearing.

While the Defense Department works to reduce its dependence on contractors, the State Department will have to greatly increase its use of hired help.

“Boy, that really troubles me,” said Dov Zakheim, a commission member and former Pentagon budget chief. “You’re going to be getting contractors not only doing what they’re doing today, but doing things that are inherently governmental.”

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