OVERSEAS INTEL

HELP WANTED: Civilian Expeditionary Workforce, once in a lifetime opportunity to work with CENTCOM overseas

March 19, 2015 | OVERSEAS INTEL

Use your experience and expertise to support Defense Department operations overseas by volunteering to deploy as a member of the U.S. Central Command’s Civilian Expeditionary Workforce. The CENTCOM CEW allows current DOD civilian employees to use their initiative, capabilities, experiences, skills and knowledge to support the DoD in accomplishing its mission overseas.

Employees interested in applying their expertise in a challenging, sometimes austere and unique environment can volunteer for positions supporting the U.S. military in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility. Deployable civilians are needed to fill critical vacancies in Afghanistan and other locations within the AOR. Volunteering to deploy provides an extraordinary opportunity to exercise talents and expertise while directly supporting operations in support of our national security objectives.

Continue Reading ▼

Traveling and living abroad

Currently, our priority deployment opportunities are in Afghanistan, although there may be limited positions available in Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar. Civilians who deploy will live in a variety of U.S. or NATO bases with U.S. and partner nation military and government colleagues. Locations vary in size and environment and each position provides for a slightly unique experience, that civilians get training and equipment for.

Enhance your career while supporting national objectives

Working in a deployed environment, while both mentally challenging and stimulating, may also be arduous, at times. Operating in this kind of environment builds skills and character that greatly enhances professional and personal development. The CEW Program offers an unparalleled career enrichment opportunity that allows civilians to augment their resume and set themselves apart from your peers.

Having the ability to support your country’s mission, and augment our military is a unique opportunity that brings a sense of camaraderie and satisfaction of achievement that few civilians will ever experience. We are rebuilding nations and providing regional stability. Opportunities exist across a multitude of disciplines, including accounting, auditing, engineering, logistics and transportation.

Opportunities

CENTCOM is looking for qualified, permanent DOD employees in the following career fields and series: Safety and occupational health management; fire protection and prevention; recreation specialist; equal employment opportunity; miscellaneous administration and program; miscellaneous clerk and assistant; program management; logistics management; accounting; auditing; general engineering; engineering technical; construction control technical; civil engineering; survey technical; environmental engineering; mechanical engineering; electrical engineering; general attorney; procurement clerical and technician; production control; housing management; operations research; facility operations services; general inspection; investigation, enforcement and compliance; general supply; transportation operations; carpentry; maintenance mechanic; and engineering equipment operating.

Benefits

Increased pay: As a civilian deployee, you may be eligible for 35 percent differential pay for post differential; differential pays for hazardous duty; and overtime compensation, in addition to your base salary.

How to apply: Are you considering a civilian deployment experience? Congratulations! Your experience and knowledge are greatly needed!

Department of the Army employees should submit the endorsement of their command leadership along with an application and their resume to the Assistant G-1 for Civilian Personnel CEW team. Full details of the Army application process are available on the CPOL.Army.Mil CEW homepage at http://cpol.army.mil/library/mobil/

Air Force civilian employees who want to support the CEW program must first fully coordinate an Air Force application before volunteering on the CEW website for deployment consideration. Full details of the Air Force application process are available at http://www.cpms.osd.mil/expeditionary/air-force-employees.html

Navy civilian employees who want to support the program must first fully coordinate a Navy application before volunteering for the CEW program. For full details of the Navy application process send any enquires to: [email protected]

CENTCOM also encourages all DOD civilian employees to send their resume directly to [email protected]

U.S. Central Command press release

Military Contractor Whistleblower: HANDS UP — CAN’T SHOOT

March 18, 2015 | Justice Abroad, OVERSEAS INTEL

Americans are at risk all over the world. Our military, still the best in the world, can’t be everywhere, all the time. In recent years, the government has increased its reliance on private security contractors. Unfortunately, the results are not always great. Probably the most striking examples of failed private military or security operations involve the defense of the Benghazi consulate in Libya and the killing of 17 Iraqis by Blackwater Security Consulting employees in 2007.

Continue Reading ▼

A recent report released by the State Department’s Inspector General found that many of the companies hired to protect our foreign consulates and embassies do a poor job of vetting their employees. The Benghazi report suggests that none of the private guards fired a single shot in defense of the consulate. Now, a whistleblower complaint filed against a private security contractor, Triple Canopy, claims that the company falsified marksmanship scores of its guards.

Whistleblower Omar Badr claims he was hired as a medic for Triple Canopy. In 2009, the company had a contract to protect our airbase at Al Asad, Iraq. To fulfill the contract, the company recruited 332 “marksmen” from Uganda. But there was a problem, Badr claims most of the men couldn’t shoot straight.

When efforts to train the men failed, Badr said he was ordered to falsify their scores. As we understand his complaint, American airmen were relying on a supposedly highly trained guard force for protection, American taxpayers were paying premium prices for “marksmen,” but the company was supplying guards that couldn’t shoot.

Under the federal False Claims Act, whistleblowers can file lawsuits in the name of the United States. If the suit is successful, up to 30% of whatever is collected can be awarded to the whistleblower. That’s what Badr filed and so have thousands of others. Last year, the Justice Department claims that over 700 whistleblower suits were filed and $435,000,000.00 in awards paid out.

Badr’s case is still pending but last week a federal appeals court handed Badr, the government and taxpayers a major victory. In 2013, Triple Canopy sought to have the case dismissed and a Virginia judge agreed. Earlier this year, however, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals partially reversed the decision and said that since the guards were hired under false pretenses, the fake marksmanship scores constituted a “false claim”.

There is a split among courts as to how to handle implied certifications. We think the appeals court decided this case correctly. When you bill the government for marksmen, there is a clear implication that the people hired can shoot and that the contractor is in compliance with all necessary laws, regulations and contracts. (The trial judge took a much narrower view and had decided that the case couldn’t proceed because the government could not prove that it specifically relied on the altered shooting scores.

The ruling means the case is now headed to trial. Badr, the Justice Department and Triple Canopy will all get their day in court. The government seeks approximately $10.3 million in damages. If the government wins, the damages can be tripled.

Whistleblowers have become the new American heroes. They are on the front lines in the fight against fraud and corruption. In Omar Badr’s case, he was also on the front line in the war against terrorism.

STORY BY: Brian Mahany — [email protected]

Supreme Court to move foward with lawsuit against KBR, Inc. for burn pits it operated on bases in Iraq and Afghanistan

March 11, 2015 | Justice Abroad

Recently, the Supreme Court found that lawsuits against the American contractor that operated the burn pits, KBR, could move forward. KBR had argued that it couldn’t be sued because it had operated the burn pits for the government. The Court issued no statement, but the lawsuits will go back to trial courts.

The high court denied a petition by the Houston-based company to consider arguments in cases that allege the contractor and former parent corporation, Halliburton, acted negligently while operating open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan and other facilities, resulting in death and illness of U.S. troops.

Continue Reading ▼

KBR had sought the court's opinion because it says the suits should be dismissed on the basis that, as a combat-support company, KBR should share the same immunity that shields the U.S. government from litigation over war injuries. KBR also says the judicial branch does not have authority to rule on political decisions made by the executive branch.

The burn-pit lawsuits, known as Alan Metzgar et al v. KBR Inc., are a collection of suits from across the country by plaintiffs who say they developed respiratory illnesses, neurological disorders, cancer and skin diseases from living and working near open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They say the pits were used to incinerate refuse that included plastics, computer parts, medical waste and heavy metals, releasing toxins such as dioxin and volatile organic compounds into the air.

The following is a list of locations where burn pits allegedly operated:

Iraq:

Abu Ghraib Prison
Al Asad Air Base
Al Quo
Al Taqaddum (Ridgeway)
Ali Air Base (formerly Talil Air Base)
Al-Sahra aka Camp Speicher
Baghdad International Airport (BIAP)
Balad Air Base
Baqubah (FOB) (Warhorse)
Camp Adder, Talil Air Base
Camp Al Taji (Army Airfield)
Camp Anderson
Camp Ar Ramadi
Camp Bucca
Camp Cedar I and I, Talil Air Base
Camp Chesty
Camp Courage, Mosul
Camp Cropper
Camp (FOB) Delta, Al Kut
Camp Echo, Diwaynia
Camp Geiger
Camp Liberty (aka Camp Trashcan)
Camp Loyalty
Camp or LSA Anaconda
Camp Ridgeway (Al Taquaddum)
Camp Rustamiyah
Camp Scania
Camp Shield, Baghdad
Camp Speicher aka Al Sahra Airfield (formerly FOB)
Camp Stryker
Camp Victory
COB Meade, Camp Liberty
Diwaynia
Fallujah
FOB Caldwell, Kirkuk
FOB Endurance, Qayyarah Airfield West/Saddam Air Base
FOB Freedom, Kirkuk
FOB Gabe, Baqubah
FOB Marez, Mosul
FOB Summerall (Bayji and Taji)
FOB Sykes (Tall' Afar)
FOB Warrior, Kirkuk
Green Zone or International Zone
Kalsu
Kirkuk
Kut Al Hayy Airbase
Mosul
Navstar
Q-West, Qayyarah Airfield West/Saddam Air Base
Scania
Taji
Talil Air Base (now is Ali Air Base)
Tall' Afar

Afghanistan:

Bagram Air Base
Camp Bastion Airfield
FOB Fenty, Jalalabad
FOB Orgun-East
FOB Salerno
FOB Sharana
Jalalabad
Kabul
Kandahar

Other or Undisclosed Countries:

Camp Arifjan, Kuwait (Camden Yards)
Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait
Djibouti, Africa
Doha, Qatar
FOB Andrea
FOB Hammer aka Butler Range
FOB McHenry
Former FOB Gains Mills

« Previous 1 … 198 199 200 201 202 … 302 Next »

Top ↑