What's Cooking in Iraq? Not the "Cooks"
I was stationed in Iraq 2004 - 2005 at the famed Camp Victory. We had, within our headquarters company alone, over 10 cooks, none of whom cooked anything. The junior cooks where responsible for head count (clicking a counter at the door as people entered). The senior cooks were in charge of testing the temperature of food and water. So who was cooking? The foreign nationals hired by Kellogg Brown and Root (also know as KBR, also known as Halliburton).
Now just think of all the cooks in Iraq and what a waste this is. It should also be noted that many stateside dining facilities are run by civilian contractors with civilian cooks. Where is the congressional oversight?
The Army recruits cooks, pays them, trains them (Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training), equips them (uniforms, weapons) and deploys them (shots, additional training, flights) at great expense. That is just here in the states. Once in Iraq cooks must be housed, fed, given additional equipment (body armor and bullets) and paid additional money (hazardous duty and combat pay). The Army then pays a contractor to provide meals - to cook.
I am not picking on cooks; I could make a similar argument about truck drivers, maintenance people, combat engineers and others. The point is the Army is paying a great deal of money for civilian contractors to do many jobs they are paying soldiers not to do at a time when the Defense Department is saying they need more money.
Give the Defense Department what it needs to fight, but let's rein in the profiteering, the fraud, the waste and the abuse. What should the priority of the new Congress be? It should be oversight. If it isn't their priority, then the US Treasury will join the almost 3,000 soldiers as a causality if war.
Published by Donnell Russell
US Army Combat Veteran, an EMT, and security guard. I have had it with political parties, the "PC" generation, the religious right, the secular left, network/cable news, reality TV, and standardized testing.... View profile
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- The Army is paying a great deal of money for civilian contractors to do many jobs they are paying soldiers not to do
- Where is the congressional oversight?
- Army cooks don't cook.
13 Comments
Post a Commentchef has 30 years of kitchen experience ...............................................mind you
chef has 30 years of kitchen experience ...............................................mind you
to whom it may concerned................................................two people looking for employment in iraq............one is a truck driver with six years experience with box and flatbed, also good food prep and kitchen duties;........the other is a chef and a damn good one ........thanks
what website do i need to goto for a good cook job in iraq
i will like a cook job in iraq. how do i get on.
Thanks for the clarification, Larry. Now that you mention Halliburton, that S.O.B. has made so much money from this conflict it's obscene. Who got the contract to clean up the oil well fires a few years ago, for billions of dollars? This subject needs a closer look (hint hint)...great writing!
Thanks for sharing this. And to thinks I could have joined the army as a cook and made a paycheck with out ever having to do any cooking. Now dont i feel stupid for not joining. Heck alot of people would love to be paid for doing nothing.
An eye opening article - thanks alot. It's people like you who were actually there, who can best give us the lowdown on all of this. When I hear Halliburton, I think of authorizing great waste to maximize profit. They may be able to cloak it in loopholes and legalities, but it sure smells of cronyism to me.
Unbelieveable. So typical of the government. Can`t see the trees for the forest??Everyone should be enlightened to this.
Okay I will try and address all of these comments indivually. Thank you all by the way for responding.
D Armenta: you are absolutely correct about foreign "bases". However, Camp Victory and others are not established bases with a sovereign government. They are camps in a war zone. There are no Iraqis working on the camp near water, food, or solders. The only work Iraqis get on camps is minor construction (pouring sidewalks and the like) and they are under armed guard at all times. Trust me they are not making the money KBR and Halliburton are. Besides, even if they were, it doesn't change the fact that many MOS are deployed at great expense (I mentioned cooks) but not used, so why send them in the first place. One of the Purple Hearts I processed was for a friend of mine. She is a cook who caught shrapnel on her way back from the mess hall (Yes, safe as Camp Victory is we had causalities there too). Now, she was injured, has a permanent disability (which will cost more m