» 2010 » October Ms Sparky

Dyncorp answers payroll issues in Afghanistan with iPod Touch

Posted on: October 19th, 2010 at 7:29 am — by Ms Sparky

iPod Touch

If you’ve been following my Dyncorp posts you know Dyncorp has had consistent problems getting people paid on time and as agreed to in Afghanistan. I’m sure there is plenty of blame to go around on who’s at fault. The bottom line is, Dyncorp has been in Afghanistan for years and hasn’t been able to get 100% of their employees paid on time every time. In my opinion that is unacceptable.

Even KBR, with all their issues managed to get 10′s of thousands of people paid on time every month. No matter how hard I try that is just one issue I can’t fault them for.

Reportedly, Dyncorp has purchased 11,000 iPods and has implemented a new program whereby employees around the world will be able to submit time sheets via these devices.

In an email statement from Dyncorp’s Ashley Burke, she states,

DynCorp International has already launched the first phase of this program, which will reach across the company, not just LOGCAP and CIVPOL. The goal is to use the iPhone® and iPod touch® to provide employees who are deployed to remote locations around the world – or who do not have frequent access to computers – with 24-7 access to the company’s existing business applications, compliance and ethics training programs, and enhance communication with all employees.

During the pilot program this summer we deployed devices in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Oman, UAE and the United States. The broader distribution will cover Iraq and Afghanistan. We hope to deploy more devices to other remote locations.

According to Dyncorp, the system is based on cloud computing technology and Wi-Fi access. So apparently the remote mountainous regions of Afghanistan will not affect connectivity.

The majority of these are not phones, they are iPod touch® devices that are specifically programmed to access DI Mobile applications (the company’s timesheet system, download and watch the company’s compliance and ethics training videos, download leadership training programs, and access internal communications announcements), says Burke.

My next question……”Will the DoD and therefore the US taxpayer being footing the bill for this new program?” Burke states,

The cost is being borne by the company as a companywide initiative and is considered an investment in communicating better with our personnel.

With 25,000 employees deployed around the world we are always looking for ways to enhance access to the key training and business resources that we have available, and to improve communications. This is one initiative that we hope will improve our employees’ experience in working for the company and we will continue to look for opportunities in the future.

I have to admit when I first heard about this new program I was very critical. As I began to research the technology and applications I became cautiously optimistic. This might actually work to solve the long standing problem of employees not getting paid on time. If this is affective it could have broad applications for other contractors as well.

I would like to hear from Dyncorp employees in the field. Is this technology working?

Are you getting paid on time?
Are there any security concerns?
How are the devices holding up to the harsh conditions?

Ms Sparky

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, LOGCAP-Dyncorp, Security Contractors. Tags: DynCorp CIVPOL*, DynCorp*, iPod, Ipod Touch. 2 Comments »

Kustom Products provided military with faulty helicopter parts, U.S. alleges

Posted on: October 18th, 2010 at 5:51 pm — by Forseti

Pentagon targets CB firm

Jessica Musicar, Staff Writer - October 18, 2010

Military personnel call it “the Jesus Nut.”

So important is the aviation locknut to helicopter construction that its failure could mean death or serious injury for chopper crews.

The “flight critical” locknuts attach main rotors of some helicopters to their masts, including on the “Kiowa” OH-58 A/c helicopter.

“It would be like the lug nuts of your tire coming off while you’re driving,” said Jeffery Bass, President and CEO of the Hiller Aviation Museum, in San Carlos, Calif.

“It’s just going to fall apart.”

According to a Department of Defense special agent’s application for a search warrant against Kustom Products Inc., and Southern Oregon Sterling Parts and Service Inc., both located at 1084 S. Fifth St., Coos Bay, the companies may have provided 1,900 defective locknuts in the military aviation supply chain.

$31M in contracts
“By providing less-expense substitute parts, contrary to what the contracts and purchase orders required, KPI and SOS were able to secure contracts by underbidding its competitors, delivering nonconforming substitute parts, and substantially profiting from this practice,” Special Agent James E. McMaken wrote to the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

Since September 2005, Southern Oregon Sterling and Kustom have received about $31 million in contracts from the Defense Department.

Both businesses are owned by Harold Bettencourt II, who employs his four sons.

Properties searched
Late last month, agents from the FBI, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Department of Defense Inspector General’s Office with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, searched several properties and vehicles belonging to the Bettencourt family in Coos Bay, North Bend and Myrtle Point.

The searches were part of an investigation into allegations of fraud involving aircraft or space vehicle parts, false claims, conspiracy to commit or defraud the government, wire fraud, tampering with a witness, victim or informant, engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, and money laundering.

No arrests
Gerri Badden, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, District of Oregon, said no one from the Bettencourt family has been arrested and the investigation continues.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in A Soldiers Story, GOV. CONTRACTORS, Reports & Investigations. Tags: Coloc Manufacturing, DCIS*, Defense Criminal Investigation Service*, DoDIG*, Harold Bettencourt II, Inspector General-DoD*, Josh Kemp, Kentucky Army National Guard, Kustom Products Inc., Nick Bettencourt, Reports & Investigations, Southern Oregon Sterling Parts and Service Inc.. 2 Comments »

Kuwait’s Agility expects tough 2011

Posted on: October 18th, 2010 at 5:28 am — by Ms Sparky

KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility (AGLT.KW), which is accused of multibillion dollar fraud in its dealings with the U.S. Army in Iraq, expects 2011 to be a difficult year with net profit declining in 2010, its chairman said on Monday.

Tarek Sultan, Chairman and Managing Director of Agility. He looks great in white. I wonder how he would look in an orange jumpsuit?

“We are going forward. The next year or so will be a difficult year for the company as it seeks to transition completely away from military business (to commercial),” Tarek Sultan said at the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit. Agility, formerly Public Warehousing Co, K.S.C. (PWC) was dropped from supplying food to the U.S. Army in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan after being accused of overcharging the military.

The company held contracts worth $8.5 billion spanning more than three years. “We are trying our best to resolve this matter amicably,” Sultan said, adding that he sees the company’s legal position as “very strong.”

Agility sees “tremendous” growth opportunities in emerging markets including India, China, Brazil and Egypt, Sultan told the Middle East Investment Summit held at the Reuters office in Kuwait.

(Reporting by Diana Elias and Eman Goma; Editing by Mike Nesbit) (Click HERE for original article)

Posted in Agility/PWC/GCC, Indictments, Convictions & Arrests, Qui Tam. Tags: Agility/PWC/GCC, Indictments, Tarek Sultan. 30 Comments »

Contractors on the prowl, protective orders and other news

Posted on: October 17th, 2010 at 12:00 am — by Forseti

U.S. Embassy Employee in Iraq Charged with Theft of Public Funds and Conflict of Interest
WASHINGTON – October 15, 2010 - A foreign national employed at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, was charged today with theft of public money and acts affecting a personal financial interest in connection with $237,236 in U.S. Government funds, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia and Acting Assistant Director in Charge John G. Perren of the FBI Washington Field Office.

An indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia charges Osama Esam Saleem Ayesh, 36, with two counts of theft of public money and one count of acts affecting a personal financial interest, commonly known as a conflict of interest charge. Ayesh was arrested on Aug. 16, 2010, based on a criminal complaint charging him with one count of conflict of interest.

According to the indictment, Ayesh held the position of shipping and customs supervisor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Ayesh was responsible for preparing the necessary documents and logistical support for customs clearance and delivery of shipments coming into Iraq for the embassy and embassy officials and personnel. While Ayesh worked at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, his primary residence was in Amman, Jordan. (Click HERE for article)

Judge Limits Discovery in Defense Contractor Case
BARBARA LEONARD - WASHINGTON (CN) – October 15, 2010 - Halliburton and another defense contractor accused of inflating construction costs at military bases in Iraq won protective orders that narrowly limit their deposition and discovery obligations.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled in July that Harry Barko could seek “limited jurisdictional discovery” against Daoud & Partners, one of the contractors Barko sued in 2005 on behalf of the federal government.

A former contract administrator, Barko accused Daoud, Halliburton, Kellogg Brown and Root, and five KBR subsidiaries of inflating the costs of building laundry facilities on military bases in Iraq.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

David Isenberg: This Waste Really Hurts

Posted on: October 16th, 2010 at 6:07 am — by Forseti

Photo from VA Watchdog dot Org

October 15, 2010 – As this is something I have written on previously it seems appropriate to note that today the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report on open-air burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq.

U.S. forces generate a lot of waste. According to the GAO U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq generate about 10 pounds of waste per servicemember each day. This waste may consist of plastic, styrofoam, and food from dining facilities; discarded electronics; shipping materials such as wooden pallets and plastic wrap; appliances; and other items such as mattresses, clothing, tires, metal containers, and furniture.

Assuming 50,000 troops in Iraq that is half a million pounds of waste a day. In Afghanistan it is nearly a million pounds a day. That doesn’t count waste produced by contractors or other DOD components. It also doesn’t include hazardous or medical waste. No matter how you look at it that is one heck of a log of garbage to burn.

Lawsuits have been filed in federal court in at least 43 states in which current and former service members have alleged, among other things, that a contractor’s negligent management of burn pit operations, contrary to applicable contract provisions, exposed them to air pollutants that subsequently caused serious health problems.

The contractor, KBR, has moved to dismiss the suits, arguing, among other things, that it cannot be held liable for any injuries that may have occurred to service personnel because its burn pit activities occurred at the direction of the military.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in Burn Pit Lawsuits, Burn Pits, CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, George Lundy vs KBR - class action, Huffington Post, Lawsuits Against KBR, LOGCAP III - KBR, LOGCAP-Dyncorp, LOGCAP-Fluor, Reports & Investigations, Senate & House Committee Hearings. Tags: Burn Pits, David Isenberg*, GAO, Kevin Wilkins, Lawsuits Against KBR, Susan Burke. 6 Comments »

Sad day in appellate court for Mr. Smiley

Posted on: October 15th, 2010 at 4:36 pm — by Ms Sparky

Court Upholds Firing of ‘Touchy/Feely’ Supervisor
TIM HULL – (CN) – October 14, 2010 – The Federal Circuit upheld the firing of a Defense Department supervisor who argued that his sexual remarks and uninvited physical contact with women were “harmlessly amorous” and stemmed from his decade-long immersion in Italy’s “touchy/feely” culture.

The Defense Logistics Agency fired Thyrman Smiley from his supervisory position in Pennsylvania in 2009. According to the ruling, female employees claimed that he had “inappropriate uninvited physical contact with them and that he had, over a course of time, made numerous sexual comments referring to the physical assets of the women and revealing [his] considerable sexual appetite and his desire to share that appetite with the women.”

The Merit Systems Protection Board affirmed the firing after an investigation “unearthed detailed recollections from the women in question recounting the occasions on which Mr. Smiley had made unwanted physical contact or directed sexual comments to them,” the ruling states.

In his defense, Smiley, who described himself in his brief as “charismatic, likeable, hard working, [and] harmlessly amorous,” argued that he “should have been given credit for an ‘unusual’ mitigating circumstance, which was the fact that he had lived and worked for 10 years in Italy, where it was customary for people to be ‘touchy/feely’ with each other.”

Smiley also claimed that the agency had coerced employees into portraying him as a “monster,” pointing to statements made by other employees that “they had never heard Mr. Smiley make any sexual statements.”

The panel was unconvinced, however, and upheld the board’s decision.

“At the end of the day, the deciding official concluded that the nature of the offenses, his lack of trust in Mr. Smiley’s ability to act as a supervisor, and Mr. Smiley’s slim chance for rehabilitation counseled in favor of removal as the appropriate penalty,” the three-judge panel concluded.

“The testimony of the women involved … belies his claim to being harmlessly amorous, and the record is devoid of evidence to support a charge that the agency coerced anyone to testify against him.” (Click HERE for original article)

Posted in Rape, Hazing, Discrimination & Harassment. Tags: Defense Logistics Agency*, DLA*, DoD*, LAWSUITS, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Thyrman Smiley, U.S. Dept. of Defense*. No Comments »

KBR maintains that their strong arm policy is effective

Posted on: October 14th, 2010 at 7:19 am — by Ms Sparky

KBR “maintains strong and effective sexual harassment prevention and reporting programs.”
~Heather Browne~

Excuse me? I believe that consistent reports and evidence shows that not only does KBR look the other way, they persecute the victims while protecting the perps. It appears that the behavior not only continues but that the violence has escalated. Since when is locking up a rape victim (Jamie Leigh Jones case), letting an accused rapist high tail it back home (Anna Mayo case) or keeping alleged attackers on the payroll (Dawn Leamon case) effective? Is aiding and abetting considered a valid corporate policy by the DoD, for the companies it rewards with government contracts? Instead of turning the other cheek, maybe the DoD needs to look at how many of these perps and their protectors hold security clearances. Pedophiles, pimps and criminals are a risk to national security, HELLO!

KBR takes complacency and greed to a whole new level of repulsion in my book. Evidently Heather Browne needs to do some KBR time in the Middle East! ~Ms Sparky

KBR Subsidiary Sued by Former Employee Who Claims Sexual Assault in Iraq

Miriam Rozen – Texas Lawyer - October 14, 2010 – In an Oct. 1 petition, Rachel Wright alleges Houston-based KBR Inc. and seven of its subsidiaries are responsible for the conditions under which she was sexually assaulted. Wright is a former morale, welfare and recreation department coordinator for a KBR subsidiary operating in Iraq, Service Employees International Inc.

In her petition in Rachel Wright v. Kellogg Brown & Root Services Inc., et al., filed in Harris County’s 157th District Court, Wright also names as a defendant another former employee of the same KBR subsidiary, David Charles Breda Jr. Wright makes a claim of sexual assault and battery against Breda.

On Feb. 8, Judge Gray H. Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston sentenced Breda to 24 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of abusive sexual contact.

Roderick White of the Law Offices of Roderick C. White in Fort Worth, who represents Breda in the criminal case, declines comment and says he does not represent Breda in the civil matter. Court records do not list a lawyer for Breda in the civil suit.

Breda could not be reached immediately for comment on Oct. 11 because a receptionist at the Federal Correctional Institution at Bastrop says Liz Eskew, the press contact, is out today due to the holiday.

In her Oct. 1 petition, Wright’s causes of action against the KBR corporate defendants include intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, fraud and breach of contract.

She seeks damages in excess of $100,000 from KBR, its subsidiaries and Breda for past and future medical treatment and past and future emotional distress, as well as exemplary damages from all the defendants for gross negligence and “legal malice.”

L. Todd Kelly, founder of The Kelly Law Firm in Houston, represents Wright.

Wright alleges that on Oct. 8, 2008, as she started moving from one living quarter to another in Iraq, Breda pinned her down on a bed and sexually assaulted her. She alleges that: “[M]any women have come forward to place KBR Defendants on notice of the sexually violent environment that it created. . . . [Her] attack never would have occurred but for the complacent ‘boys will be boys’ toleration of sexual abuses that continue to permeate the environment that KBR Defendants first created, then failed to warn Rachel about — an environment that was excused, if not encouraged, and of which KBR Defendants had ample prior notice.”

In response to questions about Wright’s state court petition, KBR director of media relations Heather Browne writes on behalf of KBR and its subsidiaries: “The safety and security of all employees remains KBR’s top priority. KBR maintains strong and effective sexual harassment and assault prevention and reporting programs to protect its employees. These programs include multiple trainings, communications, reporting mechanisms, and investigation procedures. KBR adamantly denies the allegations in Ms. Wright’s complaint that sexual misconduct is encouraged, tolerated, or ignored. KBR responded immediately to Ms. Wright’s report of inappropriate sexual contact and reported it to military authorities. KBR also fully cooperated with the criminal investigation of Ms. Wright’s claims.”

Browne says the company has not yet selected outside counsel in Wright’s suit. (Click HERE for original article)