KBR inc. lands another victory in Supreme Court

January 14, 2019 | Justice Abroad

Professional Overseas Contractors

Hundreds of veterans and their families, who have spent eight years in federal court trying to prove that burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan made U.S. troops sick, are worried they'll hit a legal dead end if a Maryland judge decides the company that ran the smoke-belching disposal sites can't be sued -- because it was working on behalf of the government.

This week the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal in which veterans sought to hold private companies responsible for their use of open-air burn pits that have been linked to scores of often fatal illnesses, from cancers to neurological damage.

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U.S. contractor that worked for Lockheed Martin beaten up on Special Forces base in Iraq

January 7, 2019 | OVERSEAS INTEL, The Danger Zone

MARSOC

The military has launched an investigation into how a U.S. contractor received fatal head wounds while working with special operations Marines in Irbil, Iraq, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the investigation.

The Lockheed Martin employee died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany last week, just days after he was found in his barracks room with severe head trauma, according to two U.S. officials.

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Two new U.S. military bases in Africa for 2019

January 3, 2019 | OVERSEAS INTEL

New in 2019: Two new US air bases in Africa nearing completion

By: Kyle Rempfer — U.S. Africa Command is hoping to finish two new air bases in 2019, one in Niger and one in Somalia, to stage operations against militants in the region.

Niger Air Base 201, a future hub for armed drones and other aircraft, was supposed to be completed this year. The region’s difficult weather and harsh conditions are pushing completion back to the middle of 2019, officials told Air Force Times.

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Air Base 201 will eventually house the U.S. armed drone mission in Niger that currently operates out of Niger’s capital, Niamey.

In the Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia, a former Soviet-built air base called Camp Baledogle is being refurbished and converted to better handle the evolving multinational mission in the country.

“The runway repairs were just contracted this fall, and are not scheduled to be completed until later in 2019,” Air Force Maj. Karl Wiest, an AFRICOM spokesman, said.

AFRICOM confirmed to Air Force Times that it operates the facilities at Camp Baledogle alongside African partners, but remained scant on details regarding what aircraft are planned to fly from there.

Camp Baledogle’s runway will be 10,092 feet long, 140 feet wide and made of asphalt, according to Mike Andrews, the public affairs director for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, which executed the military construction contract. Those dimensions will be able to support virtually all aircraft in the U.S. Air Force inventory.

“The runway is still being utilized for limited operations,” Wiest said. “Also, there are some other projects underway at Camp Baledogle, such as mitigation efforts to improve camp drainage as a result of rainfall events, improvements to force protection measures, as well as regular camp refurbishment resulting from normal wear and tear of facilities.”

Somalia has become a growth point for AFRICOM, as the combatant command conducts airstrikes and ground operations against al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants in the country.

The U.S. carried out more than 30 airstrikes last year in Somalia, according to FDD’s Long War Journal. American involvement in the country has grown since President Donald Trump early in his term approved expanded operations against al-Shabab. Since then, two U.S. military personnel have been killed in Somalia.

The Pentagon fields about 7,200 troops in Africa, but plans to cut about 10 percent of those forces over the next few years in an effort to realign priorities in an era of great power competition. AFRICOM officials do not expect those cuts to impact the new air bases.