Posted on: May 31st, 2009 at 12:43 pm — by Ms Sparky
After the most recent round of KBR hearings on May 20th, the NY Times came out with an editorial (see below). It was good, but didn’t really get entertaining until Bill Bodie, Interim President of KBR responded. Pathetic attempt to redeem themselves. Just more of the same…..We didn’t do it. It’s not our fault. The media is being unfair. You got it all wrong.
Here it is. You decide.
New York Times Editorial KBR Does It Again
Published: May 23, 2009
Far from suffering for its shoddy military contracting in Iraq, Congressional investigators have found that KBR Inc. was awarded $83 million in performance bonuses. Even worse, more than half came after Pentagon investigators linked faulty KBR wiring to the electrocution of four soldiers intent on relaxation. One soldier died taking a shower and another in a swimming pool.
How such settings became part of harm’s way for the military was the question put to an electrical engineer hired by the Army who reported finding that 90 percent of KBR’s wiring work in Iraq was not done safely. Some 70,000 buildings where troops lived and worked were not up to code, according to the engineer, who told a Congressional hearing of “some of the most hazardous, worst-quality work I have ever inspected.” (Read the rest of the story here…)
Posted on: May 27th, 2009 at 2:46 pm — by Ms Sparky
I have received several emails in the last few months asking why KBR is not being investigated and prosecuted for Trafficking In Persons (TIPS) violations with regards to their own American KBR employees.
The United Nations definition of human trafficking is “The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation”.
That just screams KBR. I have to wonder if KBR actually used this definition as a model to establish their LOGCAP personnel management program.
There are COUNTLESS reports of KBR employees being subjected to threats and intimidation if they didn’t “comply”. I myself was threatened to be sent to Fallujah during the height of the conflict there if I didn’t “just shut up”! Those who know me are laughing their asses off right now. But seriously. KBR misleads you to get you over there. You are 1000′s of miles away of from home. It’s nothing like they said it would be. Most were not making close to what the recruiter promised. You get over there and find out you aren’t even working for KBR. Just as recently as last Wednesday, we heard testimony from a former electrician, who was threatened with “Chicken or Pasta?” if he didn’t do what he was told to do, and that was illegal. You have no “true” recourse against, harassment, intimidation, threats, assalt, rape, fraud or other crimes. If you do decide to quit, you are LAST priority on the manifest and could end up sitting at Camp Victory for days or longer. (Read the rest of the story here…)
Posted on: May 26th, 2009 at 11:52 am — by Ms Sparky
Most of my “blogging time” is actually spent talking to people and forwarding them on to subject matter experts, investigators or attorney’s. I spend way more time on the phone than I do on the computer. I am just too busy to sit there and try to figure out who is specifically visiting my blog. Every now and then I look at the top 50 or so IP addresses. I recognize most as the DCMA, Senate, House, OSD, Rock Island, US District Court, Pentagon, KBR, Fluor, K&L Gates (KBR Attorney’s), Stanley Consultants, McKenna Long & Aldridge (KBR attorney’s). This list goes on and on. Then there is this one IP address that has hit my site close to 4000 times in the last few months. “Hmmmmm. Who could that be?” I ask. You got to love the internet. As my six year old grandson says “just google it”! Low and behold, this IP address belongs to none other than Pathway Forensics LLC a private investigation company from Houston that specializes in computer forensics. (Read the rest of the story here…)
Posted on: May 24th, 2009 at 9:06 am — by Ms Sparky
Finally, a three day weekend. The Interstates are clogged with people anxiously trying to get out of town. Campgrounds and beaches are overflowing. Friends and family come together. BBQ’s are fired up and the beer is cold. The deafening roar of the Indy 500 as it gets underway. Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of Summer.
Posted on: May 23rd, 2009 at 4:08 pm — by Ms Sparky
When the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) issued a Level III Corrective Action Request (CAR) to KBR on September 11, 2008 a rumor surfaced that this CAR had actually left Iraq as a Level IV and was then lowered to a Level III by DCMA in Washington DC. But there was no way for me to prove that.
The issuance of a Level IV CAR would have meant sure termination of KBR’s contract. As it should have been.
After the last hearing the Senate Democratic Policy Committee published KBR’s most recent Level III CAR on their website. I was alerted by a very observant reader to take a look at the footer in the attachments. Of the 48 attachments to this CAR, 40 of them have this in the footer:
HQ-08-LOGCAP-001 LIV
Note the “LIV”. That means Level 4. This confirms to me that this CAR in fact did leave Iraq as a Level 4 and was downgraded by the DCMA in Washington. So now I must ask why? Why would the DCMA in Washington NOT take the recommendations of those with first hand knowledge of the issue? Those who investigated and wrote the CAR in Iraq?
Would it draw attention to the complete and utter failure of the DCMA to oversee KBR’s contract?
Did the DoD think that KBR could not be replaced?
Was there some back room DoD deal that KBR could stay at all cost?
They are correct on the first point. The DCMA oversight of KBR has been a complete and utter failure from the beginning. But, they are completely wrong on the second point. KBR could have easily been replaced by a competent contractor. It was not necessary to replace every single KBR employee. Bring in new management, because that is the biggest problem. Replace every manager from the top down to the PM or Site Manger level and then go from there. You could sweeten the deal and entice managers with bonuses to ensure a smooth transition. For those who won’t cooperate, escort them out of the country in handcuffs! It might be a little confusing at first. But you would be money ahead in the long run. You would at least be making forward progress. Right now you are just throwing good money after bad. And on the third point, I’m thinking YES!
The DCMA in Washington should have paid a little more attention to detail when they downgraded the CAR and no one would have been the wiser. But, now we are and now we want to know why you are protecting KBR.
Updated May 24, 2009 8:24am PST: Click HERE to view CAR # HQ-08-LOGCAP-001 LIII Deficient Quality System – Level III Corrective Action Request, the CAR in question.
Posted on: May 22nd, 2009 at 1:34 pm — by Ms Sparky
I have to say Jim Childs testimony just blew KBR out of the water. Straight to the point, no sugar coating! Some of my favorite quotes from Jim’s testimony are below.
KBR did not do this work to any electrical code. KBR now claims to have used the British code BS7671 as its code, not the NEC. If you were to use the BS 7671 standards, there would be even more KBR code violations. Army inspectors interviewed KBR workers at the time of inspections. Almost all stated they were working to meet the NEC. They did not even know the British code and had never received any training related to the British code.
KBR’s claim that they were working to the British Standard at anytime prior to the most recent Level III CAR is complete BS (and that “BS” doesn’t stand for British Standard). For the two years I worked for KBR, one year as an electrician and one year in the maintenance office I NEVER heard the term “British Standard”.
Roughly 60 percent of KBR’s electrical workers were Third Country Nationals (TCNs),many of whom had no electrical training.
Why is it that the Americans and Brits have to have an electrical license and the other 1000′s of Third Country Nationals no not. If KBR is claiming there is a low ratio of KBR electrician to TCN, that is not always the case. I have had as many as 10 or more Filipino workers. There is just no way to watch the installations of that many workers. Then there is the language barrier.
KBR’s method would add huge additional costs to their cost-plus contract and, more importantly, would add significant work time which would, in turn, delay the date by which their facilities are made safe for our soldiers.
Our government had to force KBR to use the fastest and most cost efficient bonding method and KBR continues to fight these requirements to this day. In my opinion, this is because KBR does not want to admit that it is easy to properly install the cables, which they had not done, and correct the non-code compliant installations.
This is just self explanatory. It’s all about the money! Hmmmm
KBR needs to stop taking a “lawyerly” approach toward these inspections and requirements. The company needs to do what is right, cost effective, meets the code, and protects our soldiers’ lives. We still haven’t been able to get them to do the bonding work, even though it is easy. I think they are avoiding this work because bonding was one of the electrical defects that led to the electrocution of Ryan Maseth.
I love that word “lawyerly”!! Just how many lawyers does KBR have in theater? I believe bonding and grounding deficiencies are also the cause of death for SSG Chris Everett and Navy Petty Officer David Cedergren.
Posted on: May 21st, 2009 at 9:17 am — by Ms Sparky
KUDOS to Jim Childs and Eric Peters for their honest “no holds barred” testimony. After all these years I still am stunned at some of the things I hear.
There were so many “jaw dropping” moments during the hearing testimony it’s hard to zero in on one thing. But right now I want to talk about Eric Peters testimony. Here is a quote from his testimony that I find particularly disturbing.
Any refusal to sign off on electrical paperwork is frowned upon by the KBR management. At Al Asad Airbase, I was asked to sign off on paperwork that was incomplete. The person who had performed the initial work had not completed all of the steps necessary to ensure safe operation and installation. The electrician did not review the loop impedance by testing the entire circuit to ensure there was no fault in the grounding or reverse polarity. My KBR manager assured me that the work would be completed at a later date. But I did not believe them and I did not sign it.
Signing work off as complete or correct when it is not is called “pencil whipping”. It is fraud and I have blogged about this before. This is a common complaint among electricians in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan who are involved with the Bonding & Grounding work. People are asked, told, threatened, intimidated, harassed (pick one) to sign off on work they do not feel comfortable signing off on. Such as work they didn’t actually perform, work that is clearly incomplete, or work that is not done correctly. People who refuse to “pencil whip” are usually labeled as a problem and are “dealt with” accordingly. They are removed from the Bonding & Grounding work, they are transferred, sent home, or the electrician just quits. How many licensed electricians have been hired since August 2008 and how many of those have quit or been fired? 50%….60% If you are one of these electricians email me.
If an electrician did actually go back to finish the work at a later date, the company would have been able to charge the DoD again for work that should have already been done during the initial testing and inspection. Plus the DoD would be getting reports showing completed inspections, so DoD would believe the buildings are safe. Talking with electricians from other sites, this has become a common practice for KBR.
This is indicative of a management culture completely out of control. And, as far as I’m concerned, this is fraud on so many levels. I’ve been told on several occasions that Service Orders (SOR) or Work Requests are generated to repair the work that was signed off as complete initially but actually wasn’t. So KBR gets to maintain the manpower levels because they have all these outstanding Service Orders and Work Requests to do work that should have already been done in the first place. Well that is just stinks.
Where is the DCMA in all this? Where is the DCAA? Where is the CID? THIS IS FRAUD! How about a damn Corrective Action Request (CAR) on this!!! It’s time to ask the electricians at each camp if this is going on. I believe the majority of them will tell you the truth. I truly believe that most people want to do a good job and do the right thing. And given the opportunity, the tools, the material and adequate management I think they will.
I would love to hear from more electricians who were recently employed by KBR in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait who quit because they were not allowed to do their job or were told to “pencil whip” paperwork. This is your chance to tell your story. Leave a comment. For those still in country…..if the DoD asks you if this is going on, tell them the truth.
