Late morning we started hearing that Cole Engineering Services offices in Orlando, FL had cop cars blocking the entrances and Defense Criminal Investigation Services was conducting a raid, interviewing people and seizing computers. This is the first time in my long career with DoD ever having a nearby company undergo something like this. Quantadyne was caught years back and they show up on our annual ethics training but to have this happen in a huge military industry area is BIG happenings! I also remember General Dynamics getting caught in timecard fraud back in the 80s, but I digress…
Next we heard that the raid was for a Procurement Integrity Act investigation and that the Army entity PEO STRI was also being raided as well as people’s homes.
https://www.peostri.army.mil/peo-stri-overview
3 of us drove by and confirmed with our own eyes that Cole was indeed being raided. Portable tent canopy by the front door. I also have a picture showing that DCIS agents carry guns. Why?
And for the HOLY SHIT moment… This is not confirmed yet by anyone I know personally yet, but we have heard that Karen Saunders, SES, head of PEO STRI, was arrested in her weekly meeting. She was about to retire, I’m pretty sure. This is unheard of. They were making an example of her. They arrested her in front of her colleagues, not at home. Wow, just wow.
Reddit thread…
https://www.reddit.com/r/orlando/comments/1do8uhi/raid_at_cole_engineering_services/
This is definitely a revolving door violation with the parties involved. They are finally cracking down on them?
ByLight bought Cole years back. They are a swampy DC area company…
The soldiers always complain about the software that they have to train on. They play video games on the latest boxes and that level of software is not what is typically created for them to train on. I have watched billions of dollars poured down the drain with ridiculous requirements and poor management. Look up Future Combat Systems in Wikipedia. Run by Boeing. Billions spent and two pieces of hardware created. None of the software we wrote was ever used. What a waste.
I worked on a helicopter simulator that was designed in the 90s and still had some of the original Ada code. (military mandated the use of Ada in the 90s…) It is still being used as the Army tries to create its successor. It is very hard to create a simulator cheaply that the pilots are happy with. Meanwhile the aircraft get new radios/hardware/upgrades and the sims have to be updated to match. I worked so many extra hours over my career (unpaid) trying to help train the soldiers. I sleep well knowing I support them the best that I can, but I hate those that have constantly pushed us into thinking we have to build all of this…
Damn, I get where you’re coming from. It’s very difficult to make instruction as eye catching and appealing as the games they can play on x box and PlayStation. Why is it that the IRS can track every cent that we spend but government funds just can’t be traced?