Feral Jundi

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Industry Talk: Two Security Contractors Killed In Afghanistan

    Rest in peace to the fallen.  This warrior below has certainly given his all in this war, as have many contractor/veterans whom have perished, and all of them have my deepest respect and appreciation. When the news comes out about the second man, I will put up an edit. Semper Fi. –Matt

Edit: 09/09/2010- The name of the other fallen security contractor is Matt Attilia. Thanks to all who sent me information about this so the sacrifice of these men could be counted. Rest in peace. Also, here is Matt’s obituary page where friends and family can sign the guest book.

Matt Attilai

Afghanistan casualty has U.P. ties

September 09, 2010

A memorial service is planned for this weekend at Faith Lutheran Church in Tilden Township

MARQUETTE COUNTY — A Canadian man with connections to Upper Michigan has been killed in Afghanistan.

Twenty-six-year-old Matthew Attilai was working security for a private contractor when he was killed by an IED.

He was on the Finland Calling program with his grandfather, George Koskimaki, who’s a World War II veteran and author.

Attilai followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by serving in the U.S. Army until 2009.

A memorial service is planned for this weekend at Faith Lutheran Church in Tilden Township.

Story here.

—————————————————————–

Chris Vaile

Randallstown native killed by bomb in Afghanistan

He worked for private security firm after serving five years in Marine Corps, three tours in Iraq

By Jessica Anderson

September 8, 2010

When Chris Vaile was severely wounded by an improvised explosive device in January 2008, the Marine Corps sergeant refused to leave his squad in Iraq.It was his final tour. The wound permanently left shrapnel in his foot and earned him a Purple Heart, but he would not leave.”He was fearless and full of adventure,” Cara Vaile said of her son.Chris Jarrod Vaile, 25, a Randallstown native, was killed Sunday by an IED in Afghanistan, where he was working for a private security firm. The bomb exploded while Vaile was riding in a vehicle, killing him and another man, his mother said.

(more…)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Call to Action: Contractors Should Review USA and USMC COIN Lessons Learned Slide Show

   Please take the time to review these excellent slide shows about COIN lessons learned in Afghanistan.  They are simple to understand, and each slide communicates clearly what principle they are trying to convey.  These are all recent lessons learned, and contractors and military can all learn from this.

   Especially for contractors, because the companies nor the military is doing anything to teach us about this stuff.  In order for there to be a ‘unity of effort’, we all need to be on the same sheet of music out there. Contractors work around the local populations all the time.  Your convoy mission, PSD mission, or static security operation all have an impact on the war effort, and how you interact with the local populations can either win the day for us, or damage the fragile efforts of the troops. Plus there are some vital lessons about the operational environment of Afghanistan, and what you have to prepare for to be effective there.

    Get on board, take the time to review the slides, and pass it on. I also highly recommend getting the blog I posted below on your RSS reader. I also advise the companies to pass this around to your contractors, and communicate how important this. The purpose is to ensure that we don’t screw up the current war strategy. It is free, it is excellent knowledge, and there is no reason in the world why you shouldn’t pass this around to get the word out. –Matt

——————————————————————-

USA and USMC Counterinsurgency Center Blog

Lessons Learned in Pictures

We obtained two great PowerPoint presentations that are just right for the troops: lessons learned matched to photographs. One lesson learned picture tells a thousand stories? One is from the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines titled “COIN in Helmand Province, After the Clear – Thoughts and Tips on Non Kinetic Actions.” See it here. The second is from Afghan National Army, LTG Zazai, the Corps commander for the ANA 205th Corps, titled “The Counterinsurgency Fight in 205th Hero Corps”. Click here to view.

Blog post here.

Powered by WordPress