[100], In 2006, Blackwater was awarded a contract to protect diplomats for the U.S. embassy in Iraq, the largest American embassy in the world. California Private Patrol Operator 17627. The first incident occurred when a Blackwater-protected convoy was ambushed in downtown Baghdad. They started out as a private security firm providing training support to law enforcement, the justice department, and military organizations and received their first contract from the United States government in 2000 after the bombing of the USS Cole.In 1998, the private security firm bought a training facility on a dark swamp in North Carolina and officially adopted their name, whi… "The colonel ... said the Blackwater guards disarmed the soldiers and forced them to lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle their vehicles. The US and Iraqi governments both investigated and their stories about what happened have never agreed. However, the company is still allowed to accept government contracts. The mercenaries were being led by an Australian commander believed to have been hired by the United Arab Emirates to fight the Houthi insurgency. He founded a new company called Reflex Responses (or R2) that entailed a roughly 800-man unit of foreign fighters for the UAE, where Prince retained a majority 51% ownership. FSG Ltd purchased stakes in two Kenyan aviation companies, Kijipwa Aviation and Phoenix Aviation, to provide logistics services for the country’s oil and gas industry, but later that year in October 2014, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority denied Kijipwa Aviation an aviation license renewal. Our services are specifically tailored to meet our clients demands and requirements. During the war in Iraq, Blackwater was one of several private security companies use to guard officials, security guards, and military installations, train the Iraqi army and police forces, and provide other support for armed forces. Jamie Smith and Erik Prince deployed with the team to Afghanistan. The State Department will also install video surveillance equipment in all Blackwater armored vehicles, and will keep recordings of all radio communications between Blackwater convoys in Iraq and the military and civilian agencies that supervise their activities. I have to say that Blackwater has done a very good job. In 2013, Academi subsidiary International Development Solutions received an approximately $92 million contract for State Department security guards. [41][42], In 2009, Prince announced that he would relinquish involvement in the company's day-to-day business in December, along with some of his ownership rights[which?]. The government traditionally handles its own security, but it lacked the staff for high-risk protection details. Frontier Services Group is backed by China’s state-owned CITIC Group and Hong Kong-based investor Chun Shun Ko. Mary McMahon Date: February 23, 2021 Blackwater USA is a private security firm with ties to the Iraq War.. Blackwater USA is a private military contractor based in the United States. [23] Under this contract, the State Department awarded Blackwater, along with Triple Canopy and DynCorp, a contract for diplomatic security in Iraq. On August 21, 2007, Blackwater Manager Daniel Carroll threatened to kill Jean Richter, a U.S. State Department Investigator, in Iraq. [8] The transaction brings together an array of security companies including Triple Canopy, Constellis Ltd., Strategic Social, Tidewater Global Services, National Strategic Protective Services, ACADEMI Training Center and International Development Solutions. The company says it is the largest training facility in the country. Greystone now operates as a standalone, management owned provider of protective support services and training. [76], Many of Blackwater's tactical and training aircraft are registered to Blackwater affiliate EP Aviation LLC, named for Blackwater's owner, Erik Prince. Helvenston et al. [79], Aviation Worldwide Services was purchased for $200 million in 2010 by AAR Corp., an Illinois company. Blackwater war 1997 gegründet worden, um Training für Militärs und Sicherheitsbehörden anzubieten. The suit further accused Blackwater employees of murder, weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, and child prostitution. The license was reinstated by the American government in April 2008, but in early 2009 the Iraqis announced that they had refused to extend that license. "[17], Academi's primary public contract is from the U.S. State Department under the Bureau of Diplomatic Security's Worldwide Personal Protective Services (WPPS) and WPPS II umbrella contracts, along with DynCorp International and Triple Canopy, Inc., for protective services in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Israel. One of their main concerns was Blackwater’s involvement in the Iraq War. As of January 2008, STI Aviation appears to have been folded into AWS, along with Air Quest. [61], By 2003, the ground war in Iraq changed into a diplomatic mission, demanding hundreds of diplomats and State Department employees. It authorized 482 personnel, and Blackwater received $488m for its work. [110] In a 2010 interview, Erik Prince, the company's founder, said the government is looking for dirt to support what he dismissed as "baseless" accusations that run the gamut from negligence, racial discrimination, prostitution, wrongful death, murder, and the smuggling of weapons into Iraq in dog-food containers. On Christmas Eve 2006, a drunken Blackwater employee got into an argument with an Iraqi guard and shot him dead. [44] Quinn and Ashcroft were independent directors, without other affiliations to Academi. "We needed 3,000 acres to make it safe," Prince told reporter Robert Young Pelton. USTC also offers several open-enrollment courses periodically throughout the year, from hand to hand combat (executive course) to precision rifle marksmanship. Blackwater Security offers a variety of security and investigative services for both business and residential needs. Eventually, the CIA realized that a large number of civilian contractors would be needed overseas to accomplish its broad goals. [126][127], In late May 2007, Blackwater contractors opened fire on the streets of Baghdad twice in two days, one of the incidents provoking a standoff between the security contractors and Iraqi Interior Ministry commandos, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. Manzetti's sources, which tied the program to Blackwater, declined to have their names made public. [71][72], A CASA 212 aircraft, tail number N960BW, operated by Presidential Airways crashed on November 27, 2004, in Afghanistan; it had been a contract flight for the United States Air Force en route from Bagram to Farah. [73] All aboard, three soldiers and three civilian crew members, were killed. With its approximately 40,000 staff, including more than 35,000 highly trained law enforcement officers, the Federal Police is an extremely effective police service which plays an important role in maintaining internal security in the Federal Republic of Germany and Europe. Blackwater moved about 200 personnel into the area hit by Hurricane Katrina, most of whom (164 employees) were working under a contract with the Department of Homeland Security to protect government facilities,[84] but the company held contracts with private clients as well. "[89] Prince purchased approximately 7,000 acres (28 km2) of the Great Dismal Swamp, a vast swamp on the North Carolina–Virginia border that is now mostly a national wildlife refuge, from Dow Jones executive Sean Trotter. The company trains canines to work in patrol capacities as war dogs, explosives and drug detection, and various other roles for military and law enforcement duties. [120], In 2006, a car accident occurred in the Baghdad Green Zone when an SUV driven by Blackwater USA contractors crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee. [66], Aviation Worldwide Services (AWS) was founded by Richard Pere and Tim Childrey, and was based at Melbourne, Florida, US. "[100] On February 7, 2007, four family members testified in front of the House Government Reform Committee. BLACKWATER Recruitment Division. [92], In March 2006, Cofer Black, vice chairman of Blackwater USA, allegedly suggested at an international conference in Amman, Jordan, that the company was ready to move towards providing security professionals up to brigade size (3,000–5,000) for humanitarian efforts and low-intensity conflicts. SUBSCRIBE. To be clear, the issues and questions that arose regarding the use of private forces in Iraq and the cost both morally and financially of doing business this way is not limited to Blackwater. Examines Whether Blackwater Tried Bribery", "FCPA Probe of Company Formerly Known as Blackwater Ends Without Charges", Blackwater Death Suit Tossed After Six Years, "Mothers Say Mistakes Led to Fallujah Tragedy", "Blackwater 61 – Cockpit Voice Recording", Family members of slain Iraqis sue Blackwater USA for deadly Baghdad shooting, "Abtan, et al. [152] On October 5, 2007, the State Department announced new rules for Blackwater's armed guards operating in Iraq. Die Empfehlungen von Blackwater.live: Andere Blogs, Webseiten, YouTube Kanäle. [51] Also in 2016, two hundred Sudanese mercenaries from Blackwater and their commander US Colonel Nicolas Petras were killed in Yemen in an attack by Yemeni forces on January 31 with another Tochka missile that impacted a gathering of the Saudi forces at al-Anad military base in Lahij province according to Houthi and Iranian sources.[51]. [5][6], Academi provides security services to the United States federal government on a contractual basis. [160] It is unclear what legal status Blackwater Worldwide operates under in the U.S. and other countries, or what protection the U.S. extends to Blackwater Worldwide's operations globally. The NIU surgically goes after shipments going to Iran or Pakistan. [62][63], Academi provides and maintains a "shoot house" system and patented the BEAR multi-target training system that was designed and developed by the company. "[87] In 2008, about 16 Blackwater personnel were in Afghanistan at any given time to support DoD and DEA efforts at training facilities around the country. [185], On 22 December 2020, US President Donald Trump pardoned four former Blackwater contractors serving long prison terms: Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard. The report cited an unnamed source who has worked on covert US military programs, who revealed that senior members of the Obama administration may not be aware that Blackwater is operating under a US contract in Pakistan. The Rise of Private Security Contractors This contract brought in $488 million. The four men of Raven 23 still in prison today were not employed by the Armed Forces under MEJA. [166] In 2012 the Department of Justice closed the investigation without filing any charges. [109] In 2009, FBI investigators were unable to match the bullets from the shooting to those guns carried by Blackwater contractors, leaving open the possibility that insurgents also fired at the victims. [129], Documents obtained from the Iraq War documents leak of 2010 argue that Blackwater employees committed serious abuses in Iraq, including killing civilians. The families said they were suing not for financial damages, but for the details of their sons' and husbands' deaths, saying that Blackwater had refused to supply these details, and that in its "zeal to exploit this unexpected market for private security men," the company "showed a callous disregard for the safety of its employees. In 2007, a census found that there were as many private contractors in Iraq as there were members of the military and that figure is believed to be an underestimate. [135][136] Blackwater hired the public relations firm BKSH & Associates Worldwide, a subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller, to help Prince prepare for his testimony at the hearing. LISTEN: Stars & Stripes “Force for Hire” Podcast Feature – Soldier turned contractor talks Blackwater training, Iraq mission.