Washington Post « Feral Jundi

Monday, December 7, 2009

Afghanistan: Contractor Hirings in Afghanistan to Emphasize Locals

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk — Tags: Afghanistan, contractor, FOB Lightening, security contracting, Washington Post — Matt @ 6:27 AM

Now if Walter was reading Feral Jundi, he would have picked up on this story earlier and really impressed his editor. I posted this story back on the 19th of last month. Walter could have also included the other FOB’s on that list of guard contracts. Either way, it is always cool to see some focus on this stuff from the MSM.

The one to watch with this, is the expat contracts that will come down the pipe to manage these LN guard forces. And with that point, I would also like to remind folks how important it will be to really watch these guys and work with your guard force. I also want to emphasize with the companies how important it will be to back up your guard force commanders and do some proper vetting to insure you have quality folks in charge of that stuff. Trust but verify, and apply Kaizen to every aspect of the contract, and the companies will be happy. The customer will be happy too, but you don’t get it for free. You have to work hard to get customer satisfaction, and actually care what is going on with the contract. –Matt

——————————————————————

Contractor hirings in Afghanistan to emphasize locals

At least half of guards working at bases now required to be Afghans

By Walter PincusWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, December 7, 2009

New contract solicitations by the U.S. military for private guards at forward operating bases in Afghanistan require that at least half of those hired be Afghans who come from nearby towns or villages.

“The contractor shall hire a minimum of 50% of its guard force from within a 50 kilometer [30-mile] radius of the location requiring security,” reads a solicitation that the Joint Contracting Command-Iraq/Afghanistan posted Nov. 30 at FBODaily.com.

(more…)

Comments Off

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Afghanistan: Military Weighs Private Security on Front Lines

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk — Tags: ABC News, Afghanistan, CORs, security contracting, TWISS, war, Washington Post — Matt @ 2:50 AM

Walter and the rest of the media is a little late to this party, but we can deal with that. Although it would be nice for the Washington Post to add a little balance to their articles about such things. Like mentioning a crucial quote that Defense Secretary Gates gave in regards to security contractors. Here it is, and I posted the story below this one as the source.

“As recently as February, however, Gates called the use of private security contractors in certain parts of Afghanistan “vital” to supporting U.S. bases. A contract for the work also creates job opportunities for Afghans, he said.”

Also, the article mentions the dangers of these forward operating bases in Afghanistan, as if that is a new thing or something totally unreasonable for a private security company to handle. Guess what, we have been protecting bases for awhile now.(TWISS, etc.) I think what this article was trying to get at is that somehow contractors would not be up to the task of actually doing the job they are contracted to do. As if somehow Afghanistan is ‘too much for them to handle’. Pffft.

And then Michael O’Hanlon enters into the discussion with his thoughts on the matter.

“We don’t want to waste scarce Afghan army and police, so we must be creative,” said Michael E. O’Hanlon, a senior fellow and military expert at the Brookings Institution.

But O’Hanlon also said he is concerned that if contractors were to take over security at forward operating bases, they would be the first to see hostile fire, and they — not soldiers — would have to decide whether to employ weapons against an enemy.

Instead of hiring a private firm, O’Hanlon said, the Americans and Afghans could create a local version of Iraq’s Facilities Protection Service, the modestly trained but government-paid guard force that was pulled together to provide protection for government ministries in Baghdad and the oil fields. “We should create a different branch of the Afghan security forces that has minimal training,” he said.”

(more…)

Comments (3)