Mar 31, 2009 Industry News
Police subsequently arrested Richard Lowell “Rick” Blanchard and charged him in the convenience store robbery; the Shelbyville Times-Gazette said he was being held at Bedford County Jail on $150,000 bond.
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Mar 29, 2009 Africa, Jake's Posts, Piracy, Somalia
I’ve seen a bit of interesting traffic on the forum lately with some well thought out responses to what is a complex problem in the Gulf of Aden. But despite the fact that two more ships were taken by pirates last week don’t expect to see armed contractors aboard many merchant vessels anytime soon. As stated it’s a complex issue with a number of stakeholders and it is precisely this complexity that the pirates are exploiting. The world of commercial shipping is a complex mosaic of players. I’ve tried below to lay out the basics of what is at going on here as most people seem not to fully understand the intricacies of the situation.
I described in a post a while back my belief that armed contractors, while not the answer, should be a component in the current the stop-gap measures being attempted. But as we continue to see these measures are at best inadequate and perhaps entirely ineffective.
So why not just tool-up and get to work?
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Mar 28, 2009 Industry News
LA Times–Two more lawsuits have been filed in San Diego federal court against the former Blackwater Worldwide security firm by families of Iraqis allegedly killed by Blackwater guards. The lawsuits, filed this week, allege that Blackwater, which has changed its name to Xe, “fostered a culture of lawlessness among its employees.”
One suit was filed on behalf of the family of a teacher killed Sept. 9, 2007; the other was on behalf of 15 families of those killed Sept. 16, 2007. They are seeking unspecified damages.
A week ago, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the widow and children of an Iraqi security guard killed on Christmas Eve 2006.
The lawsuits were filed in San Diego because the North Carolina-based Xe has two training facilities in San Diego, lawyers said.
Mar 27, 2009 David Isenberg, Dogs of War
WASHINGTON, March 27 (UPI) — For more than six years, Iraq has served as a test case of the strengths and weaknesses of private military and security contractors. They most often operate well. At times, they are primarily bad. But most of the time, they have elements of both — meaning that even if a contractor does exactly what it is supposed to do, the end result may still be negative.
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DUBAI, (Reuters) - Pirates have hijacked two foreign ships off Somalia within 24 hours in a new spate of attacks in the lawless waters, foreign navies patrolling the region said on Thursday.
The seizure of the ships undermined hopes that the arrival of a flotilla of ships from Western and Asian countries was starting to rein in piracy near one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
The European Union’s Maritime Security Centre said a 9,000 tonne Greek-owned Panamanian registered vessel, with 19 crew, was attacked east of Somalia on Wednesday while a 23,000 tonne Norwegian owned and Bahamian registered vessel was captured on Thursday.
A U.S. Navy spokesman identified the second vessel as the Bow Asir.
“The cargo is unknown. There are 23 crew members aboard,” said Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
NATO said the other ship was the Nipayia.
Mar 26, 2009 Afghanistan
They are also building bigger roadside bombs to meet the expected crush of American armour vehicles surging into southern Afghanistan as part of U.S. President Barack Obama’s renewed emphasis on the war-torn region.
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Mar 26, 2009 Commentary, Jake's Posts
One of the critiques often leveled against private security contractors is that we have the audacity to accept a pay check for our services. It’s a silly argument and one to which I have two stock responses for.
1) Most often I politely engage the usually over-educated and under-experienced antagonist remind him that he too is receiving compensation for his services and that it seems judgmental and condescending that he would begrudge me for feeding my own family through the application of skills I have spent many years to learn.
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Mar 23, 2009 Afghanistan, Industry News
By ANNE FLAHERTY
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The military buildup in Afghanistan is stoking a surge of private security contractors despite a string of deadly shootings in Iraq in recent years that has called into question the government’s ability to manage the guns for hire.
In recent online postings, the military has asked private security companies to protect traveling convoys and guard U.S. bases in troubled southern provinces such as Helmand and Kandahar. And if truckers hired to transport fuel for the military want protection, they can hire their own armed guards, the military says.
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Mar 22, 2009 Commentary, Jake's Posts
One of the aspects that amuses me about contracting is the free-flow of people between companies and contracts. It’s not uncommon to join a project and see a number of familiar faces with whom you have a shared history even if each has worked for multiple companies in the interim. The down side of this reality is that you also see a few nardowells who probably should be either in prison or committed to an institution for lunacy or just general stupidity. How does this happen? Simply stated, it’s ‘the buddy system’ that is to blame. In this business people recruit and even promote their mates in absence of, or often worse, in violation of standing company policies.
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Mar 22, 2009 Industry News
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