Stripes letter: (Not) Getting help from KBR (same deal as w/FEMA)

[lebkuchen]

The writer was right on target with “KBR won’t repair equipment” (letter, Aug. 29), about KBR’s work philosophy.

At Forward Operating Base Speicher, we have experienced similar issues with KBR. You drive by hundreds of air-conditioning units sitting idle, yet if you place a work order to have an A/C unit installed, it is denied. “There’s no money for new installations,” you are told by a man wearing a T-shirt and shorts inside a nicely cooled building. So you go back to your oven.

Then two of the three A/C units in your barracks unit break down due to an electrical problem at the breaker box. After attempts to get it fixed, you finally get an “emergency” work order response from KBR — a week after it happened. The gentleman tells you that it’s not an emergency (nothing is on fire) so there isn’t a thing he can (or will) do. But he does call the safety inspector because of the poor condition of the breaker box. The inspector calls “Facilities” and, next thing you know, there are six KBR employees standing around saying they can’t fix it. For them to fix it, they would have to install a breaker box, which is not authorized because it would be a “new” installation.

I agree the employees are not at fault. I have little doubt that, given the green light, they would have repaired, replaced, installed as necessary to help us out. Their hands are tied. If they do work they aren’t supposed to, they lose their job. I doubt they envisioned things being the way they are when they took the job.

It seems KBR, at the administrative level, has found a way to get paid for doing a job without ever actually having to do it.

Sgt. Gary M. Davenport
Forward Operating Base Speicher, Iraq


http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=31379