Defense Logistical Support Contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan

Defense Logistical Support Contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan
Author: Valerie Bailey Grasso
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2010-10
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1437934099

This report examines DoD logistical support contracts for troop support services in Iraq and Afghanistan administered through the U.S. Army¿s Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP), as well as legislative initiatives which may impact the oversight and management of logistical support contracts for the delivery of troop support services. LOGCAP is an initiative designed to manage the use of civilian contractors that perform services during times of war and other military mobilizations. Contents: (1) Intro.; (2) Major Developments: AF Contract, and Logistics Civil Augmentation Program; (3) Background: Awarding of Defense Contracts; (4) Potential Oversight Issues: Contract Oversight and Admin.; Use of Overhead Fees; Gansler Comm.

Private Military and Security Contractors

Private Military and Security Contractors
Author: Gary Schaub, Jr.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2016-06-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1442260238

In Private Military and Security Contractors (PMSCs) a multinational team of scholars and experts address a developing phenomenon: controlling the use of privatized force by states in international politics. Robust analyses of the evolving, multi-layered tapestry of formal and informal mechanisms of control address the microfoundations of the market, such as the social and role identities of contract employees, their acceptance by military personnel, and potential tensions between them. The extent and willingness of key states—South Africa, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Israel—to monitor and enforce discipline to structure their contractual relations with PMSCs on land and at sea is examined, as is the ability of the industry to regulate itself. Also discussed is the nascent international legal regime to reinforce state and industry efforts to encourage effective practices, punish inappropriate behavior, and shape the market to minimize the hazards of loosening states’ oligopolistic control over the means of legitimate organized violence. The volume presents a theoretically-informed synthesis of micro- and macro-levels of analysis, offering new insights into the challenges of controlling the agents of organized violence used by states for scholars and practitioners alike.

War for Profit

War for Profit
Author: Charles M. Smith
Publisher: Algora Publishing
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2012
Genre: History
ISBN: 0875869297

WASHINGTON — The Army official who managed the Pentagon's largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR..." (James Risen, New York Times, June 17, 2008) This book by that very Army official provides an eye-opening firsthand account of how the US Government hands over your tax dollars to support contractors like KBR and Halliburton, rather than supporting the troops. This authoritative and well-documented record of the LOGCAP contract in Iraq and Afghanistan is at the same time a study of US participation in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the workings of government agencies and Congress. The first chapter sets the scene, briefly narrating the author's work on behalf of US military efforts, especially in Iraq. Subsequent chapters illustrate specific issues in contractor relations that resulted in unsafe conditions for the troops and blew millions of taxpayer dollars. Loyal and hard-working government officials and employees who tried to keep things on track were turned away and those who sought to rein in the free-for-all were sacked. The author reveals problems with KBR's provision of transportation, electricity, food and water. Other chapters are more analytic and evaluate Army logistics, Congressional oversight and the question of whether letting contracts for this kind of support is appropriate at all--the kind of problems that concern military policy leaders, defense analysts, public policy analysts and scholars in these areas, as well as the citizens in whose name this is all done.

A Fatal Addiction

A Fatal Addiction
Author: Thomas Block
Publisher: Algora Publishing
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2012
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0875869327

America, one of the most religious countries in the world, is also the most violent. Do God and war define the American spirit as much as apple pie and baseball? This unsettling book illustrates how bellicose, war-like language is used to explain the spiritual quest. It explores the violence of God tradition as it exists in all religions (including Buddhism), and then examines how this dynamic is flipped, with political leaders using spiritual and religious language to sell war to the general public. Although God and religion have often been used to sell war in the United States, this has been especially true since 9/11. After surveying the relationship of war and the spiritual quest in the major world religions, this study concludes with an overview of how that dynamic has affected the contemporary American public discourse on war. Does this intermingling of war and spirituality prepare the population for the coming of war? The institutional blending of the sacred and human aggression appear to be fundamental to human society. The second section of the book concentrates on the political language and speeches of American politicians since 2002, following the run-up to the Iraq war and its continuation over the past decade, showing how this mystical/war conflation permeates American society.

U.S. Military Leaving Iraq

U.S. Military Leaving Iraq
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations
Publisher:
Total Pages: 70
Release: 2011
Genre: History
ISBN:

Defense Base Act (DBA): The Federally Mandated Workers’ Compensation System for Overseas Government Contractors

Defense Base Act (DBA): The Federally Mandated Workers’ Compensation System for Overseas Government Contractors
Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2008
Genre:
ISBN: 1437932282

Many overseas federal contractors are covered by the Defense Base Act (DBA), which mandates that they provide workers compensation insurance for their employees. As the U.S. military has increased operations in Iraq, the size of the DBA program has grown, and in 2007 over $170 million in cash and medical benefits were paid to nearly 12,000 DBA claimants who were injured or killed while working under contract to the federal government. Congress has become increasingly concerned with the costs involved in the DBA program because the federal government usually reimburses its contractors for their DBA premiums. The Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have seen some cost savings since adopting a single-source model for their DBA insurance in which contractors for each agency are required to purchase insurance from a single company selected by the agency. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is currently testing such a model for its DBA system. For the rest of the Department of Defense (DOD), however, including the Army's large Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) contract, individual contractors are free to select their own DBA insurers and negotiate their own rates.

At What Cost?

At What Cost?
Author: Michael J. Thibault
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 121
Release: 2011-08
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1437985025

In 2008 Congress established the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan (CWC) in response to increasing indications of widespread waste, fraud, and abuse in gov¿t. contracting. The CWC is charged with evaluating and reporting on America¿s wartime contracting for logistics, reconstruction, and security. This Interim Report describes the CWCs work to June 2009, which includes hundreds of meetings and briefings, analysis of existing reports and audits, hearings on Capitol Hill, and factfinding trips to the theaters of operation. This Report highlights some timesensitive issues, especially given the challenges of the drawdown in Iraq and the buildup in Afghanistan. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.