Walter Reed privatization deal delayed

[cal04]

An Army contract to privatize maintenance at Walter Reed Medical Center was delayed more than three years amid bureaucratic bickering and legal squabbles that led to staff shortages and a hospital in disarray just as the number of severely wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan was rising rapidly.

Documents from the investigative and auditing arm of Congress map a trail of bid, rebid, protests and appeals between 2003, when Walter Reed was first selected for outsourcing, and 2006, when a five-year, $120 million contract was finally awarded.

The disputes involved hospital management, the Pentagon, Congress and IAP Worldwide Services Inc., a company with powerful political connections and the only private bidder to handle maintenance, security, public works and management of military personnel.

(snip)
IAP is owned by a New York hedge fund whose board is chaired by former Treasury Secretary John Snow, and it is led by former executives of Kellogg, Brown and Root, the subsidiary spun off by Texas-based Halliburton Inc., the oil services firm once run by Vice President Dick Cheney.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070318/ap_on_bi_ge/walter_reed_iap_contract

[NYC]

1. Treas. Sec'y. John Snow & former execs of KBR (Halliburton).

...IAP is owned by a New York hedge fund whose board is chaired by former Treasury Secretary John Snow, and it is led by former executives of Kellogg, Brown and Root, the subsidiary spun off by Texas-based Halliburton Inc., the oil services firm once run by Vice President Dick Cheney...

Just highlighting important details.

[maddezmom]

2. Don't forget Dan Quayle is on the board of Cerberus

Cerberus Capital Management LP is large privately owned hedge fund. The firm is based in New York, N.Y., and run by 45-year-old financier Steve Feinberg. Former Vice President Dan Quayle has been a prominent Cerberus spokesperson and runs one of its international units.

Founded in 1992, Cerberus invests primarily in companies which are near bankruptcy and hopes to make the businesses it acquires profitable.

The company has been a voracious acquirer of businesses over the past several years and now includes sizeable investments in sportswear, paper products, military services, real estate, energy, retail, glassmaking, transportation, and building products, Its holdings amounted to $16 billion in 2005.

On October 19, 2006, John W. Snow, President George W. Bush's second United States Secretary of the Treasury, was named chairman of Cerberus.


~snip~
Government Services(Military, Energy, and Food&Drug)— owns IAP Worldwide Services, which bought Johnson Controls' World Services division in February 2005, and Netco Government Services.



Related Apparently, there's isn't enough war profiteer pie to go around for Bush administration officials. Cheney's KBR is going up against former Treasury Secretary John Snow's IAP:

WASHINGTON: A small defence contractor now controlled by a former Bush administration cabinet secretary is taking on Halliburton Co by bidding for one of three US Army contracts worth up to $50bn each to provide food and shelter to US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Within days of former US Treasury Secretary John Snow becoming chairman of the New York hedge fund that owns IAP Worldwide Services Inc, the company submitted its bid for huge US Army contracts that will be awarded by year-end. Cerberus Capital Management LP owns Cape Canaveral, Florida-based IAP, which is led by former executives from Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root. KBR is currently the US Army's sole contractor for providing food and shelter to the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the Army now wants multiple contractors for these services and KBR is bidding again. Some defence analysts are predicting both KBR and IAP, which is run by former KBR executives, will each win one of the 10-year deals that start in 2007.





IAP Worldwide Services awarded over $508 million to provide electricity to Iraq
Edited on Sat Mar-03-07 09:05 AM by maddezmom
By September 22, 2003, the total value of task orders on the contract had reached $22 million—$14.3 million going to activities for the war in Iraq and $7.5 million to activities in Afghanistan—nearing the maximum $29 million contract allowance. On September 25, the Army Corps of Engineers announced that based on potential contingency requirements of the U.S. Central Command it was increasing the contract's maximum value by awarding a $494 million task order for the full five year life of the contract to rebuild Iraq's electrical system, including equipment, operations, maintenance, and training Iraqi Ministry of Electricity personnel. The increase brings the total value of International American Products contracts in Iraq to over $508 million. A USACE spokesman told the Center for Public Integrity that the $496 million increase was "a fully competed, best-value negotiated procurement." Reg Pelham, president of IAP, said that all contract information was "considered confidential" and declined to comment on any IAP contracts or media reports.

~snip~

Legal Action/Investigations
In 1996, IAP was the subject of a week-long news cycle regarding sexual harassment charges by Hungarian female kitchen workers under the supervision of IAP employees subcontracted by defense contractor Brown & Root of Houston. CEO McBride traveled to the U.S. military base, which provided backup support to NATO troops in Bosnia, and admitted he found "serious wrongdoing and violation of company policy." An IAP supervisor was reprimanded for conducting repeated pat down body searches of the women. One woman claimed a male American IAP employee asked her to live with him, possibly in return for money; another claimed Americans offered money for sex. Local cooks, construction workers, and drivers complained that after their three-month employment contracts with IAP expired, the company offered one-month contract renewals to employees and new hires at one-third of the original salary. The workers formed a union to file their claims.



http://www.public-i.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=26

Full electricity in Baghdad 6 years off (2013)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

I guess they were doing such a good job on this, the US military decided to let them run Walter Reed.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x329928#330049

[bobthedrummer]

3. Fwiw, DU has an "investigative arm" too-on a number of things. IAP included.

DUers that want to add to the research can click onto the IAP thread from this parent thread (centered on Richard B. Cheney's National Energy Policy Development Group/NEPDG) or you could spend hours reading the background to this unacceptable privatization scandal.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x440721#441001

[Solo_in_MD]

4. What is missing here is that the BRAC decision may be reversed for Walter Reed

[tanyev]

5. K & R for sunshine.

Actual freeper thread: What is Wrong With Walter Reed? Socialized Medicine!

[Truthseeker013]

6. Walter Reed privatization deal delayed

Clearly, someone near the top here is clueless about the present state of affairs. More privatization here is *not* needed. The Guv'mint that swears such undying loyalty to the troops it send out to fight and die- does anyone else sometimes feel as though they're spitting into an F5 tornado?

[maddezmom]

7. kick

[Maraya1969]

8. Walter Reed deal hindered by disputes

Source: AP




Updated:2007-03-19 10:22:52
Walter Reed Deal Hindered by Disputes
By DONNA BORAK
AP
WASHINGTON (March 19) - An Army contract to privatize maintenance at Walter Reed Medical Center was delayed more than three years amid bureaucratic bickering and legal squabbles that led to staff shortages and a hospital in disarray just as the number of severely wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan was rising rapidly.

Fallout Over Troop Care
From the Blog: Outsourcing Stopped, for Now

Talk About It: Post Thoughts
Documents from the investigative and auditing arm of Congress map a trail of bid, rebid, protests and appeals between 2003, when Walter Reed was first selected for outsourcing, and 2006, when a five-year, $120 million contract was finally awarded.

The disputes involved hospital management, the Pentagon, Congress and IAP Worldwide Services Inc., a company with powerful political connections and the only private bidder to handle maintenance, security, public works and management of military personnel.

While medical care was not directly affected, needed repairs went undone as the non-medical staff shrank from almost 300 to less than 50 in the last year and hospital officials were unable to find enough skilled replacements.

An investigative series by The Washington Post last month sparked a furor on Capitol Hill after it detailed subpar conditions at the 98-year-old hospital in northwest Washington and substandard services for patients. Three top-ranking military officials, including the secretary of the Army, were ousted in part for what critics said was the Pentagon's mismanaged effort to reduce costs and improve efficiency at the Army's premier military hospital while the nation was at war.



IAP is owned by a New York hedge fund whose board is chaired by former Treasury Secretary John Snow, and it is led by former executives of Kellogg, Brown and Root, the subsidiary spun off by Texas-based Halliburton Inc., the oil services firm once run by Vice President Dick Cheney .

IAP finally got the job in November 2006, but further delays caused by the Army and Congress delayed work until Feb. 4, two weeks before the Post series and two years after the number of patients at the hospital hit a record 900.



Read more: http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/walter-reed-deal-hindered-by-disputes/20070318150509990001

[Maraya1969]

9. An important line

IAP is owned by a New York hedge fund whose board is chaired by former Treasury Secretary John Snow, and it is led by former executives of Kellogg, Brown and Root, the subsidiary spun off by Texas-based Halliburton Inc., the oil services firm once run by Vice President Dick Cheney

[xxqqqzme]

10. they never mention dan quayle being chairman of the board.

[Maraya1969]

11. How is this getting lost? Does everyone already know Halliburton caused the problem?

[Megahurtz]

12. Privatization This....

Privatization that....

Bleh! :puke:

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[donkeyotay]

14. This is such a big story. From 300 employees to 50, and more of our money

transferred to the private military-government. How is "outsourcing" to Cheney's cronies less expensive when, "IAP Worldwide Services Inc., a company with powerful political connections" is "the only private bidder..." How do you have a competitive bid with one bidder?