Blackwater / Xe / IDS / Academi - R2

[Loopster]

A mandar blackjack.


Se acerca la renovación del WPPS (que equivale casi a la noche de los Oscar en la industria PMC americana) y Blackwater a abierto en las últimas dos semanas las siguientes posiciones para el WPPS:

WPPS Interpreter/Translator Blackwater Lodge and Training 03/31/2008
WPPS Protective Security Specialist Blackwater Lodge and Training 03/27/2008
WPPS Explosive Detection Dog Handler Blackwater Lodge and Training 03/27/2008
WPPS Search and Rescue Medic Blackwater Lodge and Training 03/27/2008
WPPS EMT-I Blackwater Lodge and Training 03/27/2008
WPPS Designated Defensive Marksmen Blackwater Lodge and Training 03/27/2008
WPPS PSS/ Translator-Interpreter Blackwater Lodge and Training 03/27/2008
WPPS Intelligence Analyst Blackwater Lodge and Training 03/27/2008
WPPS Fixed Wing and Rotary Aircraft Pilot Blackwater Lodge and Training 03/27/2008


PSS, DDMs, médicos, intérpretes, analistas de inteligencia... ¿pilotos de avión para el WPPS? madre como se está poniendo de interesante la cosa

[Loopster]

And the Oscar goes to.... Pedroooo... esto que diga, Blackwater

State extends Blackwater's deal a year
By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer
1 hour, 44 minutes ago



Amid investigations into fatal shootings of civilians and allegations of tax violations, Blackwater USA's multimillion-dollar contract to protect diplomats in Baghdad has been renewed, the State Department said Friday.

A final decision about whether the private security company will keep the job is pending, the department said. Moyock, N.C.-based Blackwater is one of the largest private military contractors, receiving nearly $1.25 billion in federal business since 2000, according to a House committee estimate.

Blackwater provides security for diplomats in Baghdad, where the sprawling U.S. Embassy is headquartered. Its private guards act as bodyguards and armed drivers, escorting government officials when they go outside the fortified Green Zone.

Iraqis were outraged over a Sept. 16 shooting in which 17 Iraq civilians were killed in a Baghdad square. Blackwater said its guards were protecting diplomats under attack before they opened fire, but Iraqi investigators concluded the shooting was unprovoked.

An FBI probe began in November. Prosecutors want to know whether Blackwater contractors used excessive force or violated any laws.

The State Department's top security officer, Greg Starr, told reporters Friday that because the FBI is still investigating the shootings, there is no justification now to pull the contract when it comes due in May.

Blackwater has a five-year deal to provide personal protection for diplomats, and its contract is reauthorized each year. The decision announced Friday extends Blackwater's deal for the third year.

Prosecutors investigating the shootings have questioned more than 30 witnesses in the U.S. and in Iraq, but they have announced no conclusions. One possibility is that individual contractors could be indicted, another is that the company could be indicted, or the FBI could conclude that there was no crime.

The company is also the target of an unrelated investigation into whether its contractors smuggled weapons into Iraq. Lawmakers have called for an investigation into whether Blackwater violated tax laws by classifying employees as independent contractors. The company says the claim is groundless.

Starr said that Blackwater's contract could be pulled at some future point, depending on what the FBI and an internal State Department inquiry conclude. He would not predict whether that is likely, and he said he has no information about when the FBI might act.

Starr's predecessor, Richard Griffin, resigned just one day after a State Department study found serious lapses in the department's oversight of private guards.

After the September deaths, U.S. commanders in Iraq complained that they often do not know security firms are moving through their areas of responsibility until after a hostile incident has taken place.

At the end of October, Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and reached a general understanding that more military control was needed over security firms operating in the war zone.

The Pentagon and the State Department agreed in December to give the military in Iraq more control over Blackwater Worldwide and other private security contractors.

The agreement spells out rules, standards and guidelines for the use of private security contractors and says contractors will be accountable for criminal acts under U.S. law. That partly clarifies what happens if a contractor breaks the law, but it leaves the details to be worked out with Congress.

The State Department also installed new safeguards after the September shooting, including a requirement for additional monitoring of Blackwater convoys.

Rep. David Price, D-N.C., author of a House-passed bill that would subject all contractors to criminal liability, called the agreement "an important step toward improving transparency, management and accountability in security contracting."

"There is no question that it comes in response to significant congressional pressure ... but the agencies deserve credit for reading the writing on the wall and taking substantive steps to deal with a clear and critical problem," Price said.

___

Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080404/ap_ ... blackwater

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Lleva un mes entre Moyock y el aeródromo de Virginia el SuperTucano de Blackwater. En principio es para adiestrar en doctrina COIN y antinarcóticos a aliados de EEUU dentro de la Iniciativa Mérida, aunque quien sabe donde acabará la cosa.

Un blogger español ha sido el primero en conseguir las fotografias y está esperando a que el autor le deje ponerlas, por lo que no seré yo quien las ponga aquí hasta que salgan en el blog. Así que felicidades a El Tirador Solitario por su buen ojo y un tirón de orejas a Washington Post, NYT, etc etc por no andar al loro

[Loopster]

Hace ya bastante tiempo avisamos aquí de que Polonia iba a condecorar a los hombres de Blackwater que reforzaron al convoy atacado del embajador polaco en Iraq y que más tarde evacuaron al embajador Pietrzyk (gravemente herido) y al resto de militares polacos de la escolta, incluyendo el cuerpo del miembro de la unidad BOR, caido durante el ataque.

Bueno, la revista del Department of State publica una fotografia y recoge la historia. Es la primera vez que Polonia otorga estas condecoraciones a ciudadanos extranjeros desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Embassy’s Contract Security Staff Saves Polish Ambassador

On January 25, Poland’s ambassador to Iraq, Edward Pietrzyk, honored the heroism of 18 members of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s regional security office who helped rescue his motorcade when it came under attack in Baghdad in October.

The motorcade was struck by four roadside bombs and a barrage of small-arms fire from more than two dozen assailants. One member of the Polish Special Forces security detail was killed, several were wounded and Pietrzyk was severely burned. During the midday attack, the Polish security detail contacted the RSO’s tactical operation center, which dispatched two helicopters.

The arriving personnel found the motorcade group sheltering in a residential compound and provided first aid while evacuating the wounded. Ambassador Pietrzyk was flown to a combat surgical hospital and later to Poland. After several months of treatment, he returned to Iraq.

In the award ceremony, with gloves still protecting his badly burned hands, the ambassador pinned on the shirts of his rescuers Poland’s Silver and Bronze Star medals, the first time these awards had been given to foreigners since World War II.

Attending were U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus, commander of the Multi-National Forces-Iraq. Ambassador Crocker noted the long history of Polish-U.S. mutual assistance.

The award recipients are employees of the contractor Blackwater and work with the RSO to protect Mission Iraq staff.

El tipo con bigote del centro es Dan Laguna, hermano de Arthur "Art" Laguna, caido en combate en Enero de 2007 en Bagdad, el Blackwater Down. El embajador polaco todavia lleva las manos vendadas, a la izquierda el General Petraeus (para que luego algún "experto" diga que los militares odian a los contratistas) y junto a Pietrzyk en el embajador Ryan Crocker

[SR-71]

Loopster, eres una enciclopedia, de las buenas, te lo curras a base de bien, haciendo tus post de lo más interesante para los que sentimos
curiosidad en esto. Gracias x tu trabajo.

PD. Por cierto, el homenaje del gobierno polaco, parecidito a lo que
tenemos por aquí...

Saludos.
SR-71

[Loopster]

Muchas gracias SR-71, se hace lo que se puede.


Entrevista a Jeff Gibson, Vice Presidente de la división International Training de Blackwater Worldwide, acerca del entrenamiento de unidades afganas por contratistas para la lucha contra el narcotráfico. Ya hablamos de los NIU y el trabajo de Blackwater en Afganistán hace... ¿8 meses?

How Mentoring Works

The Department of Defense (DoD) mentoring approach shows promise for the long-term battle against illegal drug production in Afghanistan. In interviews, Afghan police officials from the Narcotics Interdiction Unit (NIU) and contractors who worked on the program say that mentoring under a public-private partnership can provide long-term support for Afghan forces with greater continuity and at lower cost than if done by uniformed or civilian U.S. government personnel. Serviam interviewed Jeff Gibson, vice president for international training at Blackwater Worldwide, for company insights into how the DoD and DEA mentor Afghan trainees.

Serviam: What’s the basic logic behind mentoring Afghan counternarcotics police?

Gibson: To make changes in the way people think and operate, you have to take this mentoring approach. You have to think in a very long-term timeframe. In Colombia, we started 20-plus years ago and we’re still there. In implementing the program in Afghanistan and keep it running for years, we must transition it slowly to Afghanis. The only way to change the mind set is by generations. You get the first group now—we’re teaching them how to manage programs and train, and as the first generation gets older and a new group comes in, they’ll have an established program that becomes second nature.

Serviam: Is there a problem with recidivism?

Gibson: Not if you really stick with it at the ground level. I love working with the Afghans. They’re proud people. They take pride in their work. If we just train them and walk away, they’ll backslide. But if you guide and mentor them over time, they’ll take ownership of the program. We’ve been there for four years and because of the one-on-one mentoring, with mentors embedded with them, they’re really accelerated from where they were.

Serviam: How does DoD’s mentoring of the NIU differ from previous training strategy?

Gibson: This program is successful. NIU guys do a six-week basic counternarcotics course, with basic military weapons handling, high-threat tactical training, then we stay with them. We work with them side-by-side. We make sure they live by their training. Their units are more cohesive and self-sustaining. We selected a few of their great guys to become unit trainers. Mentoring and being embedded with the NIU has made a significant impact.

Serviam: Why do it through private contractors and not directly with military or DEA personnel?

Gibson: As soon as our military people start to make a difference, they get rotated out. They go in for six, nine, or 12 months and then they leave and get replaced by someone brand new. The new people have to start over again. From scratch. Some of them don’t really want to be there and are counting the time to leave. There’s better continuity with private contractors. Some of our guys have been in Afghanistan for four years.

Serviam:Afghanistan hasn’t been able to secure its own borders despite the rise in trafficking and insurgency. What about the new border police?

Gibson: This mentoring approach is catching on. In the DoD border patrol program the mentors go out in the field and live with the Afghans, watching them do their job and advising them. At NIU, we train them and support their missions up north or east. These relations with the Afghans are priceless. The trust is hard to measure.

Del último número de Serviam

http://www.serviammagazine.com/mag/MarA ... debar2.htm

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No van a ser solo C-212 y 235 los que opere Blackwater en Afganistán, el Departamento de Defensa ha adjudicado otro contrato a Presidential Airways:

Presidential Airways, Inc., an Aviation Worldwide Services Company of Moyock, N.C., is being awarded a $16,346,186 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract for rotary wing aircraft, personnel, equipment, tools, material, maintenance and supervision necessary to perform passenger and cargo air transportation services. Work will be performed in Afghanistan and is expected to start May 01, 2008 to be completed by Nov. 30, 2008. Contract funds will expire at the end of this current fiscal year. This contract was a sole-source acquisition. The contracting activity is United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. (HTC711-08-D-0021).

¿Bell 212/412? ¿Little Birds? ¿Superhawks?... estaremos atentos

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" we've come to a good modus vivendi "

Quedaos con esta frase que los de Corporate Communications se están frotando las manos:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iWgg ... gD902HGN00

Rice vouches for diplomats' commitment
By ANNE FLAHERTY – 21 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday defended the commitment of the nation's diplomats, despite recent resistance by many foreign services officers to a proposal to require tours in Iraq.

Last fall, several hundred diplomats convened for an hour-long "town hall meeting" to discuss an order that would have mandated some service at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and outlying provinces. Some questioned the ethics of sending people against their will to a war zone, with one calling the forced assignments a "potential death sentence" to loud applause.

"I was deeply offended myself, and deeply sorry that these people who had self-selected into this town hall went out of their way, to my view, cast a very bad light on the foreign service," Rice told a House panel.

The State Department eventually found enough volunteers for the 48 vacancies, and the call-ups were never enforced. But the agency could face another round of protests as it opens up its "bidding cycle" this spring for jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan that will be vacated in the summer of 2009.

Fearing a new staffing crisis at hardship posts amid uncertainty about how the next administration will approach Iraq, the department is separating the process of filling jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan from that of other positions.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said he thought the protests against a mere four dozen vacancies for the heavily fortified embassy in Baghdad was pathetic considering the lengthy combat tours by service members.

"I thought it was a sad commentary when you have tens of thousands of soldiers and Marines laying their lives on the line who are re-enlisting for that combat and you have State Department people standing up and saying they were not going to go to Iraq," said Hunter, R-Calif.

In response, Rice said the comments made were isolated and prompted a visceral response by the rest of the diplomatic corps, including those serving in dangerous posts outside Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I will tell you, the blogs were lit up in the Department of State by people who were offended. . . who were absolutely offended by those comments," she said.

Rice said not only did she find enough volunteers to fill the posts, but four diplomats gave up ambassadorships elsewhere to serve at the Baghdad embassy under Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

The State Department has changed dramatically its approach to deploying diplomats since the Sept. 11 attacks, including shifting foreign service officers from Europe to places like Pakistan and Afghanistan and increasing the number of political officers serving alongside military commands.

In its 2009 budget proposal, the administration has requested 1,100 new foreign service officers and 300 new USAID officers. Also requested is some $249 million to develop a corps of diplomats, other federal employees and private-sector volunteers willing to deploy to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to aid reconstruction.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would like to see increased deployments of federal personnel outside the State and Defense departments. Recently, about a dozen Treasury Department officials were sent to Baghdad to help the ministries better execute their budgets — an invaluable asset in the reconstruction effort, Gates said. But more could be done faster if the government was better prepared.

"I would give, frankly, the departments probably an A for will, but we'd have to talk about their repeating the semester when it comes to performance," he said.

On another matter, Gates and Rice said the government in recent months has been able to increase substantially its oversight of private security contractors. In December, following a shooting involving Blackwater Worldwide employees, the departments of State and Defense reached an agreement that gave the military in Iraq more control over such contractors.

Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, recently submitted a favorable report on the subject, Gates said.

"I would say that while State is still doing their own contracting in an operational sense, the lack of visibility that was part of the problem before the Blackwater incident, as far as Gen. Petraeus is concerned, that problem has been solved and he's quite satisfied with the arrangement that exists today," Gates said.

Rice said she agreed.

"I do think we've come to a good modus vivendi for working through the problems. And to my knowledge, at this point, it is a system that is much better," she said.

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Consejera legal de la Cruz Roja defiende el papel de las PMCs.

Documento completo: http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.ns ... endocument

Cordula Droege, legal adviser to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), recently gave some comments about the role of private security contractors (PSCs) on the international scene. Her remarks underlined the legitimacy of this business sector and the legal framework in which it operates.



Journalists and even experts often claim that there is a gap in the law when it comes to PSCs, she said. For the ICRC, on the other hand, it is clear that in situations of armed conflict there is a body of law that applies, namely IHL [international humanitarian law], which regulates both the activities of PSC staff and the responsibilities of the States that hire them. The law also places obligations on the governments of countries where these companies are registered or incorporated, and where they operate. In case of breaches of IHL, the legal responsibility of PSC staff and of the States that hire them is quite clear.

She pointed out that these laws exist to protect the contractors themselves as well as those around them.


We shouldn’t forget that the law is also there to protect the personnel of these companies, under certain conditions. The protection they are entitled to will vary, according to the type of activity they are carrying out.

Habrá novedades respecto a Blackwater próximamente, sobre Grizzlys, el SuperTucano, el MacArthur y uno de los Mobile PSD.

Y merchandasing nuevo, incluyendo tumbonas de playa

Saludos.

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¿Error del webmaster u otra cosa?




Por cierto, hay nuevo catálogo de cursos en la web, y alguna novedad más si cotilleis bien. Me vuelvo al bunker, hasta mañana