Where in the World is Kathleen Watson, Part 2

Here is a follow up on an earlier post this week.  Follow the link to see the contract.  Ms Watson was formerly a lawyer with the CIA, in human resources I believe.  Her recent area of interest has appeared to be intel.  -GFS

G. Florence,
 
Where in the world is Kathleen Watson?
 
G Florence you are sailing on course.  McNeil Technologies was awarded a $500 million dollar defense contract in September 2010.  The U.S. Special Operations Command five year linguist support services contract award is public knowledge.
 
http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4366
 
How is Kathleen Watson and the Defense Security Service connected?  Stay tuned.
 
The Old Navy Man

For those of you who want a quick look:

Found on defense.gov on March 30, 2011 by GFS as advised by Old Navy Man on 3/29/11.

 

CONTRACTS

U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

                “McNeil Technologies, Inc., Springfield, Va., has been awarded a $500,000,000 maximum value, five-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity linguist support services contract by U.S. Special Operations Command.  The contractor will provide all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, supervision/management, and other items and services necessary to provide foreign language interpretation, transcription, reporting, and translation services to support overseas contingency operations.  The initial obligation amount is $50,000,000 for the first task order.  The contract number is H92222-10-D-0007.”

Where in the World is Former DSS Director, Kathleen Watson?

Former DSS Director, Kathleen Watson Acceptes Position with McNeil Technologies, Virginia

The word on the street is that she has quick as a bunny, hopped right over to a defense contractor and is now in their employ.  Doesn’t anyone have to adhere anymore to the six months to a year wait period before leaving a government oversight job and jumping right into a contract with a defense contractor?  I hear that a lucrative contract was awarded by the government the very same day Watson signed her new contract with the contractor. 

 Check out her new digs at McNeil Technologies in Virginia:

http://www.mcneiltech.com/

Defense Logistics Agency Audit Failures: They want to combine DSS with this one?

A contributor sent this in today.  Thanks!  I appreciate contributions from my readers.  It seems like I have heard nothing good about DSS for a very long time, other than the management has seemingly been successful at pulling the wool over any number of politicians eyes.  It is one long progression of bad decision after bad decision from this observer’s perspective.  GFS

G. Florence –

Rumors on the contracting street back here in the beltway are that the Defense Security Service and its industrial security mission will be handed back to the Defense Logistics Agency.  Some agency employees have shared,  that the employee pay and benefits program has already been given back to the Defense Logistics Agency.  Handing a failing agency back to another failing agency doesn’t seem like a very good idea to this old navy man.  Isn’t it time for the agencies who actually own the programs to takeback ownership of their programs?

 The Old Navy Man 

The Washington Post

Report criticizes defense agency’s auditing

By Robert O’Harrow Jr., Sunday, March 20, 6:54 PM

 

It is supposed to be an A Team that keeps a close eye on the Defense Logistics Agency, the $41 billion-a-year operation that supplies Meals Ready-to-Eat, uniforms, spare parts and just about everything else to troops around the world.

But the agency’s accountability office does F-grade work when it comes to conducting audits, according to a recent report by the Pentagon’s Inspector General.

Many of the audits are improperly performed. Investigators often do not have enough auditing experience and don’t follow generally accepted government auditing standards. In six of eight offices reviewed, planning was found to be deficient, according to the report.

“As a result of the significant deficiencies described . . . we are issuing a fail opinion on the DLA audit organization’s system of quality control,” said Randolph R. Stone, deputy inspector general for policy and oversight.

The DLA did not respond to requests for comment.

The IG report raises questions about the Pentagon’s ability to properly oversee contractors vital to its far-flung operations.

For years, Congress has heard testimony that the Pentagon’s logistics operations are hampered by questionable practices, poor planning and overpriced goods and services. The DLA’s accountability office contributes to the problem by failing in its oversight role, the findings conclude.

“The report confirms the alarming trend we are seeing where Pentagon management has relegated audits of contracts and internal controls to a back seat,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project On Government Oversight, a private nonpartisan oversight organization that tracks Pentagon spending. “Despite rhetoric to the contrary, senior DOD leadership has been on a tear to reduce or even eliminate any type of audit oversight, whether related to contractors or DOD’s own internal controls.”

The DLA faces a mammoth task. Its 27,000 employees provide support to nearly 1,900 weapons systems and eight supply chains moving 5 million items. The wars in the Middle East have added to the strain.

The accountability office was formed in early 2008 to focus investigators and auditors on improving “efficiency, accountability and warfighter support.”

The IG criticism deals with the quality control of audits, which are crucial to identifying theft, fraud and other abuses. The IG report found an “absence of official quality control policies and procedures” and a lack of independence among auditors.

The report notes that only “one quality assurance auditor position” was established, in late 2009, but that person has not conducted “any reviews of DLA audit work and therefore could not provide any evidence of quality assurance monitoring.”

The IG made nine recommendations, including calling for revisions of the audit policies. The DLA agreed with all nine, the report said.

“We determined that the DLA audit organization did not exercise professional judgment due to the vast array of noncompliances,” the report said. “The DLA Accountability Office, Audit Division, and the DLA Disposition Services audit offices did not have a clear understanding of what constituted an audit.”

Link to original: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/report-criticizes-defense-agencys-auditing/2011/03/18/AB4kT02_story.html

 

Senate Intelligence Committee Plans to Strip Whistleblowers of Their Federal Retirements

First, of all, it has been some time since federal employees had a true pension.  At least three different retirement systems exist.  Employees have been put in to one of them based on when they started their federal service.  It used to be that workers had something more like a pension in many federal and state jobs, including teaching.  But over time, that was abandoned by the employers as it was seen as too expensive. (for them)  Currently federal employees who have been working for around 20 years have essentially just a 401 K, which is called the Federal Thrift Savings Plan.  For a short while, employees got a small percentage of matching funds, but I am not sure if that is still being honored.  The money these federal employees have in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan is their own money, deducted out of each paycheck and put away for their own retirement, should they live long enough to collect it. 

 Several years ago, the Executive Branch made the decision to borrow a bunch of money from these federal employees personal savings accounts to pay for war expenses.  Supposedly they were supposed to pay it back.  The withdrawal was done very quietly.  Most federal workers did not know their funds were being taken out.  Does anyone have good knowledge of this and do you know if it indeed was paid back?  Somehow I doubt it, in which case, it more resembles theft.  It would be like someone going to your bank, with out your knowledge or permission, accessing your personal individual savings account and withdrawing a large portion of your savings and leaving you an “iou” sitting in the account.  If you didn’t go in to check your balance and account status, you would not even know it happened.  For those of you who will be irritated by my clarifying that situation, please read on.

The real issue of this article appears to be efforts by at least part of the Senate Intelligence Committee to take away the retirements of anyone they deem to be a whistleblower.    Just great.  Many federal and other government whistleblowers are individuals who were trying to do their jobs following the laws and ethical demands so stated in their employment oath and/or job description.  Due to the extreme amount of corruption and corrupt people, particularly in management,  in some areas of government, they became whistleblowers for standing up to wrongdoers, refusing to look the other way when they discovered criminal behavior, waste, fraud, and other problems.  If they refused to take orders from supervisors to commit fraud, or to help cover up the crimes rather than report them, open up and finish inquiries, and other types of correct response, many of them became targeted whistleblowers, whose work life, and in some cases personal life as well were no doubt going to take on nightmare qualities and proportions, due to the efforts of the bad actors to take them down and out.  

Please read the next notice from a whistleblower organization carefully and take action as they ask.  This is very important for everyone.  If they are allowed to do this, then no one will dare stand up to the evil and corrupted people in management.  We will be moved ever so much closer to living in a dictatorial police state.   GFS
Whistleblower’s Pensions Threatened By Intelligence Committee

Take Action!
 
Tomorrow in a “closed” mark-up, the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee plan to slip into an appropriations bill a provision that will give the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the heads of other intelligence agencies, such as the CIA and NSA, the power to strip whistleblowers of their pensions. The appropriations mark-up is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 2:30 pm EST.

The provision empowers intelligence agency bureaucrats to strip whistleblowers of their hard-earned pensions, simply by accusing them of leaking classified information.

This provision is so dangerous because intelligence agencies often retaliate against whistleblowers by accusing of them of leaking information. For example, prominent whistleblower Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, who blew the whistle on forensic fraud and misconduct at the FBI crime lab, was falsely accused of leaking information.

TAKE ACTION! Protect whistleblowers’ pensions!

The government also retroactively classifies information as way of targeting whistleblowers. For example, in the case of FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, who blew the whistle on national security breaches in the FBI’s translation division, the FBI retroactively marked as classified information about her allegations long after the same information had been publicly released by the FBI.

The Obama administration’s recent announcement targeting whistleblowers as part of its campaign to prevent leaks to the news media and Wikileaks makes situations such as Dr. Whitehurst and Ms. Edmonds more likely to occur.

TAKE ACTION! Time is of the Essence!

Stripping pensions based on accusations of classified leaks will be yet another way that the government can retaliate against whistleblowers. It will also increase the existing chilling effect and deter federal employees from lawfully exposing waste, fraud and abuse. On the whim of the DNI, whistleblowers will lose their life savings and be forced into poverty.

The whistleblowers who lose their pensions will not be able to take their case to court. Instead, they will be forced to use the DNI’s Mickey Mouse administrative procedures to try to defend themselves. In other words, the DNI will be the prosecutor, the judge and the jury to strip pensions from whistleblowers.

Please take a minute to Call Senator Diane Feinstein, Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and tell her to stop threatening whistleblowers and withdraw such harmful language from the Intelligence Authorization Bill.
Senator Diane Feinstein (202) 224-3841
PASS THIS ALERT TO A FRIEND!

John M. Cole Blows Whistle on the FBI

The book I mentioned in another post is While America Sleeps:  An FBI Whistleblower’s Story, by John M. Cole. 

John Cole speaks of his observations and experiences working for the FBI in the counterintelligence and counterterrorism arena, where he worked as a Counterintelligence program manager and other positions while employed nineteen years by the FBI.  His story intersects with other noted whistleblowers such as Sibel Edmunds. 

I am quite struck with the similarities of what Cole describes occurring in the FBI to what has been going on in other government agencies as well.  It is disturbingly parallel.  I will be discussing some of his observations and how they are parallel with other agencies on this blog site.  I will add to this post over the next couple of weeks.  Please keep checking in.  You may sign up to receive updates by email on my blog. 

For those of you who would like to purchase the book, you may find it on Amazon.com. 

While America Sleeps:  An FBI Whistleblower’s Story, by John M. Cole.

ISBN:  978-1-60749-747-9

Published by PUBLISHAMERICA, LLLP

Publisher’s web address:  www.publishamerica.com, Baltimore MD

Printed in the United States of America. 2009

There are lots of parallels in waste, fraud and abuse from agency to agency.

Think this over.  I just finished a book by an FBI Whistleblower.  I will be reviewing and commenting on this in the near future.  It strikes me how amazingly there are such close parallels between what was going on in the FBI (and still may be) and what has been going on in DSS, DCMA, and other agencies.  I will be putting together information I have about some of this soon.  I would really like to know how all of you see it.  I will provide the title, author, ISBN # and so forth for any of you who wish to read the FBI Whistleblower’s account, and I would like for those of you with similar experiences to comment and/or email me with your accounts or comments.  Thank you.

Which came first, the destruction of the Supreme Court’s ability to uphold the Constitution or the appointing of totally politicized and partisanly prejudiced executive branch appointed agency directors?  Think of all of that as wallpaper to what all is going on now.  Shudder. 

GFS