I have probably gotten hundreds of complaints from CSA employees past and present about what is going on with CSA in Kuwait. (click HERE to read some of those) It’s an OMG situation over there. I think CSA could be one of the DoD’s best kept dirty little secrets! I know I have made numerous reports to various agencies and referred countless current and former employees as well.
INSIDE WASHINGTON: Oversight lacking on war costs
By RICHARD LARDNER
Associated Press Writer
This digitally altered March 15, 2008, photo, provided in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for documents about the performance of defense contractor Combat Support Associates, was taken by U.S. military personnel, who included it in a March 2008 inspection report, and shows a for-hire guard asleep in a watch tower at a U.S. military base in Kuwait. The photo was digitally altered before release by the U.S. military to remove the guard's name. After the photo was taken the U.S. Army sergeant performing the routine inspection woke the guard, who, according to the report, said, "It's so weird that I can close my eyes for one second and then you appear out of nowhere." (AP Photo/Department of Defense)
WASHINGTON (AP) — During a routine check of a watch tower at a U.S. military base in Kuwait, an Army sergeant found the guard leaning back in a chair, his sunglasses on, apparently sound asleep. When the soldier woke the guard, an employee of a defense contractor named Combat Support Associates, he denied he’d dozed off while on duty.
“It’s so weird that I can close my eyes for one second and then you appear out of nowhere,” the guard said, according to the sergeant’s March 2008 inspection report.
The episode illustrates the problems between the U.S. armed forces and the industrial army supporting military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Demand for contractor services is heavy, while oversight of their work isn’t. That means problems often aren’t discovered until long after the payments have been made.
A major trouble spot is the business systems and procedures that companies use to bill the government. The numbers are eye-popping. Defense auditors have found at least $6 billion in questionable charges generated by sloppy accounting or, worse, contractors trying to bilk the military.
Yet, the Pentagon has done a poor job of recovering the money and forcing companies to improve, according to the independent Commission on Wartime Contracting. The panel cites dysfunction among auditors and contract managers, a shortage of personnel and a failure to be more confrontational with contractors who don’t measure up.
Based in Orange, Calif., Combat Support Associates is a largely unknown enterprise that, since 1999, has held an Army contract worth $2.7 billion to support U.S. troops at bases in Kuwait as they move in and out of Iraq. The company’s responsibilities include vehicle maintenance, warehousing, computer repairs and post security.
Between 2003 and 2007, when the U.S. invaded Iraq and then became ensnared in a lengthy counterinsurgency, there was little government scrutiny of the company’s business systems, according to interviews and government records obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act.
In late 2007, the military belatedly began paying attention. Numerous contract violations were found, several of them serious, leading to a flood of what contracting officials call corrective action requests. Last fall, the Army Criminal Investigation Command opened an inquiry to determine if Combat Support Associates overbilled the government. The case is ongoing.
The records obtained through FOIA show money flowing to Combat Support Associates despite an alarming catalog of problems later uncovered by Army contracting officials.
In one case, the company signed a $48 million deal with a Kuwaiti company to provide food, lodging and transportation for employees, but it did no detailed study to justify such a large expense. A memorandum supporting the buy included a price analysis three sentences long, which an Army review team called a “major systemic weakness.”
The documents detail other deficiencies. The company failed to properly secure classified communications gear and weapons stored in warehouses. And it was written up for having no system in place to check the identification of contract employees – who are often not American citizens – at U.S. maintenance facilities in Kuwait.
In the past two years alone, Combat Support Associates received dozens of warnings from the government to improve performance, the records show. Several of those have been Level Three warnings, which are issued only in cases of serious noncompliance with the terms of a contract.
None of this appears to have dented the company’s bottom line, however. Over the past decade, its performance has been rated as excellent, very good or good, according to the Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill. With those marks, Combat Support Associates has earned close to $90 million.
Part of the problem is a type of government contract that critics say diminishes the incentive for companies to keep down costs. The government agrees to reimburse the contractor for expenses, such as costs for equipment, leasing space and hiring subcontractors, plus a prearranged amount for profit.
For the military, however, these so-called cost-plus contracts are useful in wartime, when it can’t precisely define all the work that needs to be done.
Gary Lewi, a spokesman for Combat Support Associates, said all of the corrective action warnings have been or are in the process of being resolved to the “satisfaction of the client.”
As for the sleeping guard? He resigned, said Lewi, who provided no further details.
How the company’s contract will fare is up in the air. It expires in March, and Army officials say they’re contemplating changes in how they handle the base support work.
Jeffrey Parsons, executive director of the Army Contracting Command at Fort Belvoir, Va., said he expects the arrangement to be broken up into smaller, more manageable pieces that will generate competition and improve performance. (The original AP article no longer has an active link)
OK CSA employees. I know that CSA employees (past and present) can be very passionate about their complaints. Tell us more about what is going on.
Ms Sparky
Fattest
We seem to agree – I just tend to be on the less optimistic side. I personally love living and working overseas, but it is not for everyone as you well know. And yes if there are positions then it is easier to get hired if you are already there and have a good work reputation – basically because the previous guy has gone through all of the expense and hassle to get you there.
I think you are going to see some of the camps go away from the KBOSS – pretty sure you can figure out which ones – based on the mission and when they were added to the contract.
In any event it will be quite interesting to see who ends up with the new contract. Agree that it will most likely not be AECOM – hell they are now under investigation for their direct Iraq contracts.
Keep safe – stop by Ruby T’s and have a Blue Hawaiian for me.
On another note…what I’ve been hearing is that Kuwait is a great place to network for other positions with other companies… is this true?? and you know opinions are like assholes everyone has one…but when you have 10 guys and 7 out of them say that girl is ugly, and the other 3 say she looks ok…that girl is ugly…NO questions asked…if you know what I mean…so far that has been tha same statement for CSA…I’ve been hearing about all these security positions, but I’m not security..just a HVAC tech..does this change the scope of things with CSA?I spoke to my KBR former boss at BAF and he tells me that Fluor is taking all KBR employees and then will be filling in the blanks with folks from stateside.. Feedback people!!!!!
Interesting analogy!! You could have said DOG instead of GIRL. My 10 cents is CSA is a the winner of the ugly DOG contest!!
Don’t get me wrong…but I remember when I was in houston headed to BAF last year I heard so much stuff bout KBR good and bad…my head was spinning so fast it was crazy…so I said fuck it I need to judge for myself…I would say they were a 6.5 from 1-10…I was on a quiet FOB no headache…no big brass…didnt like the money..it was to short…but a cake walk…Ok Ms Sparky I’m gonna play this thing out as long as ni can…maybe Fluor calls me it 30 days or less…we will see. Hey I like dog too…..lol
I’m gonna change my name to slinginshit
Its not KBR people…the boots on the ground people who are supporting our troops. We need you there. Every camp is as different as night and day. My second manager was great to work for and I enjoyed my job. My first one was the anti-Christ! Made my life a living hell! It’s the big KBR picture that I look at now. Management from the DPM level on up.
Keep doing a good job!
So could we use the same analogy for judging CSA??? upper management??? SUCKS
When I say slingin shit that mean posting my resume with all companies stateside and overseas…it’s nice to have options…I’m gonna wait a little longer…CSA has my work visa and are trying to make travel arrangements…I told them I have some business to handle stateside and need 30 more days…what about the networking…and what would happen if I do go 2 kuwait and fluor calls me…then what??????
Don’t rely on being able to jump ship when you get to Kuwait. Labour law there requires your current employer to allow you to leave your job to join someone else. It’s all related to immigration.
CSA (and others) have a history of NOT allowing that so you end up at home without your last pay check.
Do the ground work from home.
THANKS A LOT FOR THAT INFO…HEY DEBBIE, I GOT A QUESTION FOR YOU…THINGS ARE HAPPENING SO FAST IT’S CRAZY…I JUST GOT A CALL FROM AN KBR RECRUITER WANTING TO KNOW IF I WANT TO GO TO IRAQ…WELL HELL YA!! CSA KUWAIT OR KBR IRAQ????? I THINK THAT ONE IS EASY…I SPOKE TO AN FLUOR RECRUITER AND SHE TELLS ME THAT THEY WILL HAVE IRAQ IN ABOUT 6 MONTHS, SO HOLD ON…ALSO THEY HAVE AFGHAN ALREADY AND WE KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE…TALKING TO ANOTHER FORMER KBR SUPERVISOR HE TELLS ME THAT ALL THE KBR FOLKS ARE GOING TO BE FLUOR FOLKS IN ABOUT 60 DAYS…I THINK I SHOULD GO TO IRAQ WITH KBR AND WAIT IT OUT TILL FLUOR COMES ON THE BLOCK…WHAT YOU THINK…CSA OR KBR??
AND YOU KNOW SOMETHING THERE IS NOT ONE CONTRACTOR THAT DOES’NT HAVE ANY ISSUES…I GUESS NO ONE IS PERFECT..BUT AT LEAST I KNOW ABOUT KBR FIRST HAND…CSA WOULD BE LIKE WALKING IN A DARK ALLEY BLIND FOLDED….YES?
That’s easy. KBR Iraq. Afghanistan is so screwed up right now with this transition, stay away if you can. I don’t know how a Fluor recruiter can tell you they will have Iraq in 6 months, the task orders haven’t even been awarded yet. There is only one task order that I am aware of that will be announced within the next couple of months and that is the CTP (Corp Logistics, Transportation & Postal). I suspect Fluor will get it, but as far as I know it’s not a sure thing yet!
YEP, KBR IT IS….I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED ON THE HAPPENINGS…STAY TUNED!
Does anyone know if this TO is replacing CSA, DynCorp or someone else?
ITT Awarded Task Order to Support U.S. Military Prepositioned Equipment
Colorado Springs, Colo., March 4, 2010 — ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT) has been awarded a contract to provide maintenance, supply and transportation services to the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps on Camp Arifjan and other locations in Southwest Asia. The award is a task order under the Field Installation Readiness Support Team (FIRST) contract vehicle, for one base year with four one-year options. The expected value of work completed in 2010 is approximately $45 million, with a total potential contract value of approximately $230 million with all options exercised.
I’m a police detective and worked for CSA for about 9 months in 2008/09….although I wouldn’t admit that in public. I was one of the lucky ones who were able to transfer to Law and Order Police after about 6 months as an FPO. The biggest shocker for me was the low caliber of personnel they were recruiting to positions requiring the handling of weapons and crew serve weapons. I know for a fact that at one camp one of the FPO’s was a convicted felon because he prided himself on it. The company as a whole had a very “ghetto” mentality and as a cop I found myself working with people I normally would have arrested in the real world. If you want more info on CSA, get the January 2010 issue of Soldier of Fortune Magazine. A buddy of mine and former FPO wrote a 4 page article on them and made the cover too.
I will see if I can find a copy and get it posted. Thank you very much and thanks for serving!