Feral Jundi

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Jobs: Personal Security Specialist, Israel And Afghanistan

This is cool. IDS was a partnership company that Kaseman and U.S. Training Center put together to bid on DoS stuff. (I could be wrong on the arrangement there, and if anyone wants to correct the record, please help me out)

IDS was mentioned in this contract award I posted awhile back. They now they have a web site up and jobs are flying for Afghanistan and Israel. They are looking for the standard WPS type positions–medical, designated marksman, etc. But I figured I would provide a link to their website, because I have pretty much done the same thing for all of the other companies listed on this award.

I am not the POC or recruiter for this job and please follow the link below if you would like to apply. Good luck and let me know how it goes? –Matt

Personal Security Specialist
Location: McClean, VA
Job # 627543
Date Posted: 08-18-11
Personal Security Specialist
International Development Solutions
All candidates should be willing and able to work in a high-threat environment and pass pre-deployment medical screening to include a Physical Training test.
Duty Location: Jerusalem
Security Clearance Required: Secret
Job Description:
Perform the day-to-day protective security functions as specified in daily post and detail orders .
Driving the lead vehicle (auto, aircraft, boat), principal’s vehicle, or follow-vehicle, whenever required in motorcade or similar operations.

(more…)

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Industry Talk: U.S. Training Center Wins $120 Million Afghan Contract

     Yep. They won it alright, and if anyone at all doubts how desperate the US government is for manpower in this war, this is proof positive. The only reason why a company like this, wins this kind of contract, is because they can deliver.

     Obviously Xe is disliked by the government, but the government dislikes dead federal employees or losing the war even more.  Plus time is not on their side.  The administration has to show success in Afghanistan, and part of that strategy involves the civilian surge.(along with this military surge) Xe and the rest of my community are essential for that civilian surge to happen.  The war strategists know this, DoS and DoD knows this, and that is just the way it is.

     While big military is out killing the Taliban and doing the heavy lifting, who do you think will be doing the convoy, static and PSD work for all of these civilians?  The Afghan companies? (wait, we are investigating them for their dealings with the Taliban-yikes)  We could initiate the draft? (Oh, now that is even more politically unacceptable–election killer) We could use the National Guard and IRR? (wait, we are using them for the border or gulf spill clean up) Congress could vote for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan? (that would make the venture even more of a re-election killer for a congress and administration already on the ropes) We could put the call out to more countries to send troops? (wait, no one can afford to send any more–something about a world wide recession) How about some Ugandans? (already using them in Iraq) Any others?…. We could contract with DynCorp or Triple Canopy instead of Xe for this job? (we will and are already using them for this work, and DoS has already made their choice as to who is more capable at this time and for this contract/location–best value)

     I guess my point is, is that using security contractors and companies like Xe is essential to the war effort at this time. That is the best way I can spell it out for the reader. How are we not, if the DoS is willing to bite it’s lip and contract with this company? How is it not if we are now in the quarter million range as far as contractor numbers in both Iraq and Afghanistan?  How are we not after close to 2,000 dead and well over 40,000 injured?

     For the protection of federal employees and property in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, the best forces available right now, are the ones the companies have to offer. That is this war, and that is the politics of this event. –Matt

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Firm once known as Blackwater gets Afghan contract

June 19, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — Part of the company once known as Blackwater Worldwide has been awarded a more than $120 million contract to protect new U.S. consulates in the Afghan cities of Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif, the U.S. Embassy said Saturday.

The United States Training Center, a business unit of the former Blackwater, now called Xe Services, was awarded the contract Friday, embassy spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.

The company won the contract over two other American firms — Triple Canopy and DynCorps International, she said. The one-year contract can be extended twice for three months each for a maximum of 18 months.

Under the name Blackwater, the Moyock, North Carolina-based company provided guards and services to the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere but came under sharp criticism for its heavy-handed tactics in those missions.

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Monday, April 5, 2010

Aviation: Planned Sale Of Xe’s Aviation Worldwide Services Likely To Mean Loss Of Jobs In N.C.

   This sucks for the families who will be impacted negatively by this sale in North Carolina. Hopefully they can get something else going. –Matt

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Planned sale of Xe company likely to mean loss of jobs in N.C.

By Jeff Hampton

April 4, 2010

Currituck and Camden counties, already struggling with high unemployment, could lose 240 more jobs after the sale of an aviation company operated by a private military company.

AAR Corp. announced last week plans to buy Aviation Worldwide Services for $200 million from Xe Services LLC, the company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide.

AWS operates a fleet of 58 customized aircraft, including fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters. Of the 540 employees working for AWS, 240 are based at the Moyock complex known as the U.S. Training Center, AAR spokesman Chris Mason said.

Eventually, employees and aircraft based in Moyock would be relocated, Mason said. According to tax records, Presidential Airways, a subsidiary of AWS, keeps just one aircraft at the training complex and one at the Elizabeth City airport.

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Monday, March 15, 2010

Industry Talk: GAO Sides With DynCorp, The Dutch Are Leaving And Afghan Training Time Is Reduced..Hmmm?

   This is funny. If you take a step back and look at all the pieces–Xe, DynCorp and others are fighting for a chunk of a training contract that is vital to the war effort. But then the government decides to cut the already condensed training schedule from 8 weeks to 6 weeks.  All I know, is that for the next review that the IG does of this training program, it should be well documented that the government set up this contract for failure.

    How can they possibly expect a quality product with this kind of training program? All I know is that whatever companies get involved with this contract, they are going to be earning every penny of their contract. And the Coalition in Afghanistan should do a little more to support this industry in the media, seeing how we are ‘coming to the rescue’ it seems. All I know is that I certainly hope the industry can pull this off, and I will be cheering them on.

    Which makes me wonder.  Is this an outcome of the Dutch leaving, and is this an example of contractors ‘picking up the slack‘?  Boy, if it is, I think the Obama Administration, and the war planners, should do a little more to show their thanks to this industry.  Politically and militarily speaking, we are absolutely vital to the war effort right now.  Especially if any other NATO folks decide to bail out last minute. –Matt

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GAO blocks contract to firm formerly known as Blackwater to train Afghan police

By Joby WarrickTuesday, March 16, 2010

Federal auditors on Monday put a stop to Army plans to award a $1 billion training program for Afghan police officers to the company formerly known as Blackwater, concluding that other companies were unfairly excluded from bidding on the job.

The decision by the Government Accountability Office leaves unclear who will oversee training of the struggling Afghan National Police, a poorly equipped, 90,000-strong paramilitary force that will inherit the task of preserving order in the country after NATO troops depart.

GAO officials upheld a protest by DynCorp International Inc., which currently conducts training for Afghan police under a State Department contract. DynCorp lawyers argued that the company should have been allowed to submit bids when management of the training program passed from State to the Army. Instead, Pentagon officials allowed the training program to be attached to an existing Defense contract that supports counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan.

Xe Services, the new name of Blackwater, was poised to win one portion of a much larger group of contracts, shared among five corporations, that could earn the companies more than $15 billion over five years.

(more…)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Industry Talk: Xe Gets A Good Grade In Audit By DoS Inspector General’s Office

   Bravo to Xe and to all the hard working contractors out in the field that made this happen. It’s all about customer service and satisfaction, and applying Kaizen to all of your operations. If anything, the main things that the report hit on, was that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security just needs to continue insuring the company is being honest and providing a good service.  That to me shows that State wants to implement more quality control features into the process and they care about the services.  That is good.

    Like with building homes, you need to watch what the contractors are doing during the build process, and insure it is the product and service you asked for and paid for. That’s if you care about how your money was spent, or the quality of your home. It also let’s the contractors know that you actually care and are watching what they are doing.

   This isn’t rocket science, and this is purely a matter of demanding a quality product or service because you want the best value for the money spent. Government should be totally focused on that, because in this case, the service given, impacts DoS and the population’s lives in a war zone, the reputation and prominence of the DoS and US mission in Afghanistan, and the tax payer’s wallet. –Matt

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“In 2008, USTC conducted 2,730 personal protection missions in support of staff from the Department of State, including the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, USAID, and various Congressional delegations (see Table). In 2008, 257 (9.4 percent) of the missions were performed for USAID. During the entire time USTC has operated in Afghanistan, no one under USTC’s protection has been injured or killed, and there have been no incidents involving the use of deadly force. OIG observed personal protection missions and interviewed various representatives from the Department of State and USAID who regularly use USTC’s personal protective services. The representatives reported that USTC employees are professional, make them feel secure, and are respectful to both officials under chief of mission authority and their Afghan counterparts.”- Inspector General’s Office of DoS, recent performance audit for protective services for August 2009.

And………

  “I would like to pay special tribute to the brave and hard working personnel, RSOs and ARSOs, who have protected me and my missions in dangerous times. I would also like to acknowledge my respect for the men of DynCorp and Blackwater who ran my personal protection details in Iraq and Afghanistan. They performed with courage, judgment and restraint and one lost his leg in the process. Whatever opprobrium now attaches to others I owe all those gallant men—State Department and contractor employees–my gratitude and I am glad to have a public forum in which to express it.”-Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann, the former Ambassador to Afghanistan (2005-2007) had this to say at a congressional hearing.

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