Blackwater Security Consulting
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Constellis, formerly Blackwater, is an American private military contractor founded on December 26, 1997, by former
Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...
officer
Erik Prince Erik Dean Prince (born June 6, 1969) is an American businessman, investor, author, and former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater. He served as Blackwater's CEO until 2009 and as its chairman u ...
. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009, and was again renamed to Academi in 2011, after it was acquired by a group of private investors."Ex-Blackwater firm gets a name change, again"
. December 12, 2011, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''
In 2014, Academi merged with
Triple Canopy Triple Canopy, Inc., is an American private security company and private military company (PMC) that provides armed security, mission support, and risk management services to corporate and government clients. The firm was founded in May 2003 by ...
to form Constellis Holdings. Constellis and its predecessors provide contract security services to the United States federal government. Since 2003, it has provided services to the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
. In 2007, Blackwater received widespread notoriety for the
Nisour Square massacre The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the United States government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at ...
in
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, when a group of its employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured 20. Four employees were convicted in the United States and were later pardoned on December 22, 2020, by President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
."U.S. Jury convicts Blackwater guards in 2007 killings of Iraqi civilians"
, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.


History


Origins as training center

Blackwater USA was formed on December 26, 1996, by Al Clark and
Erik Prince Erik Dean Prince (born June 6, 1969) is an American businessman, investor, author, and former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater. He served as Blackwater's CEO until 2009 and as its chairman u ...
in
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, to provide training support to military and law enforcement organizations. In explaining its purpose, Prince stated: "We are trying to do for the national security apparatus what
FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...
did for the Postal Service." Prince purchased approximately of the
Great Dismal Swamp The Great Dismal Swamp is a large swamp in the Coastal Plain Region of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the eastern United States, between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is located in parts of t ...
, a vast swamp on the North Carolina–Virginia border that is now mostly a
national wildlife refuge The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interi ...
. "We needed 3,000 acres to make it safe," Prince told reporter
Robert Young Pelton Robert Young Pelton is a Canadian-American author, journalist, and documentary film director. Pelton's work usually consists of conflict reporting and interviews with military and political figures in war zones. Pelton has been present at seve ...
. There he created his private training facility and his contracting company, Blackwater, which he named for the
peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
-colored water of the swamp. The Blackwater Lodge and Training Center officially opened on May 15, 1998, with a , $6.5 million facility headed by Robert Anderson. It comprises several ranges: indoor, outdoor, urban reproductions; an artificial lake; and a driving track in Camden and Currituck counties. The company says it is the largest training facility in the country. The concept was not a financial success but was kept
solvent A solvent (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas ...
by sales from sister company Blackwater Target Systems.


2002–2007: Blackwater Security Company

Jeremy Scahill has claimed that Blackwater Security Company (BSC) was the brainchild of Jamie Smith, a former CIA officer who became vice president of Blackwater USA and the founding director of Blackwater Security Company, holding both positions simultaneously. However, this claim is denied by Prince and Blackwater executive Gary Jackson, who describe firing Smith from his position as a low-level administrator for "non-performance" after a thirty-day contract. Smith has been accused of further embellishing his military and contracting record to defraud investors at
SCG International Risk SCG International was founded in 1996 to provide government and private sectors with domestic and international security, logistics and training services. After SCG and its former CEO Jamie Smith lost a $9.5 million lawsuit, the Virginian-Pilot rep ...
.


2003–2006: First contracts

BSC's first assignment was to provide twenty men with
top-secret Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...
clearance to protect the CIA headquarters and another base that was responsible for hunting
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
. Blackwater was one of several private security firms employed following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. BSC was originally formed as a Delaware
LLC A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...
and was one of over sixty private security firms employed during the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
to guard officials and installations, train Iraq's new army and police, and provide other support for
coalition forces The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...
.Squitieri, Tom
Role of security companies likely to become more visible
, ''USA Today'', April 1, 2004. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
Gulmurod Khalimov, former war minister of the
Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
, trained with Blackwater and the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
five times between 2003 and 2015. Khalimov was an officer and
sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...
of the
OMON OMON is a system of military special police units within the Armed Forces of Russia. It previously operated within the structures of the Soviet and Russian Ministries of Internal Affairs (MVD). Originating as the special forces unit of the So ...
special forces unit of
Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...
at the time. The
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...
confirmed this in 2015. However, Khalimov was quoted as saying in
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
, “Listen, you American pigs: I’ve been to America three times. I saw how you train soldiers to kill Muslims. You taught your soldiers how to surround and attack, in order to exterminate Islam and Muslims”. Blackwater was hired during the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
by the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions involv ...
to protect government facilities, as well as by private clients, including communications,
petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...
, and insurance companies. Overall, the company received over US$1 billion in U.S. government contracts. The company consisted of nine divisions and a subsidiary, Blackwater Vehicles. In August 2003, Blackwater received its first Iraq contract, a $21 million contract for a
personal security detachment A security detail, often known as a PSD (protective services detail, personal security detachment, personal security detail) or PPD (personal protection detail), is a protective team assigned to protect the personal security of an individual or ...
and two helicopters for
Paul Bremer Lewis Paul Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is a retired American diplomat. He was the second ''de facto'' head of state of Iraq as leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United State ...
, head of the U.S. occupation in Iraq. In July 2004, Blackwater was hired by the
U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
under the
Bureau of Diplomatic Security The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and pr ...
's Worldwide Personal Protective Services (WPPS) umbrella contract, along with
DynCorp International DynCorp International Inc. (), was an American private military contractor. Starting as an aviation company, the company also provided flight operations support, training and mentoring, international development, intelligence training and suppor ...
and Triple Canopy, Inc. for the purpose of providing protective services in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, and Israel. The contract applied for two years and expired on June 6, 2006. It authorized 482 personnel, and Blackwater received $488m for its work. On September 1, 2005, following Hurricane Katrina, Blackwater dispatched a rescue team and helicopter to support relief operations. Blackwater moved about 200 personnel into the area impacted by Hurricane Katrina, most of whom (164 employees) were working under a contract with the
Federal Protective Service Federal Protective Service may refer to: *Federal Protective Service (United States), a U.S. security police force responsible for the security of buildings owned by the U.S. federal government *Federal Protective Service (Russia) The Federal G ...
to protect government facilities, but the company held contracts with private clients as well. Blackwater's presence after Katrina cost the federal government $240,000 per day. In May 2006, the U.S. State Department awarded WPPS II, the successor to its previous diplomatic security contract. Under this contract, the State Department awarded Blackwater, along with Triple Canopy and DynCorp, a contract for diplomatic security in Iraq. Under this contract, Blackwater was authorized to have 1,020 staff in Iraq. Blackwater's responsibilities included the United States embassy in Iraq. At the time it was a privately held company and published limited information about internal affairs.


Leadership

Cofer Black Joseph Cofer Black (born 1950) is an American former CIA officer who served as director of the Counterterrorism Center in the years surrounding the September 11th attacks, and was later appointed Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counter ...
, the company's vice-chairman from 2006 through 2008, was director of the CIA's
Counterterrorist Center The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Mission Center for Counterterrorism (often referred to as the Counterterrorism Mission Center or CTMC, formerly the Counterterrorism Center, or simply CTC) is a division of the CIA's Directorate of Operatio ...
(CTC) at the time of the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in 2001. He was the
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...
coordinator for
counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...
with the rank of
Ambassador-at-Large An ambassador-at-large is a diplomat, a secretary of state, secretary, or a minister (government), minister of the highest rank who is accredited to represent a country and its people internationally. Unlike an ambassador-in-residence, who is us ...
from December 2002 to November 2004. After leaving public service, Black became chairman of the privately owned intelligence-gathering company Total Intelligence Solutions, Inc., as well as vice-chairman of Blackwater.
Robert Richer Robert G Richer was the associate deputy director of operations of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the number two in clandestine service, responsible for human intelligence operations overseas. He took early retirement in September 20 ...
was vice president of intelligence until January 2007, when he formed Total Intelligence Solutions. He was formerly the head of the CIA's Near East Division.


2006–2007: New training centers

In November 2006, Blackwater USA announced that it had acquired an facility west of Chicago in
Mount Carroll, Illinois Mount Carroll is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,479 at the 2020 census. History Mount Carroll began life as a mill town around 1841. In 1843, a referendum moved the county seat fro ...
, called Impact Training Center. This facility has been operational since April 2007 and serves law enforcement agencies throughout the Midwest. Blackwater tried to open an training facility three miles north of Potrero, a small town in rural east
San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...
, California, located east of San Diego, for military and law enforcement training. The opening had faced heavy opposition from local residents, residents of nearby San Diego, local Congressmember
Bob Filner Robert Earl Filner (September 4, 1942 – April 20, 2025) was an American politician who was the 35th mayor of San Diego from December 2012 through August 2013, when he resigned amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He later pleaded g ...
, and environmentalist and anti-war organizations. Opposition focused on a potential for
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
increases, the proposed facility's proximity to the
Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest in Southern California that encompasses 460,000 acres/ of inland Montane ecosystems, montane regions. It is approximately 60 miles from the Pacific Ocean, withi ...
, noise pollution, and opposition to the actions of Blackwater in Iraq. In response, Brian Bonfiglio, project manager for Blackwater West, said: "There will be no explosives training and no
tracer ammunition Tracer ammunition, or tracers, are bullets or cannon-caliber projectiles that are built with a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. When fired, the pyrotechnic composition is ignited by the burning powder and burns very brightly, making the p ...
. Lead bullets don't start fires." In October 2007, when wildfires swept through the area, Blackwater made at least three deliveries of food, water, personal hygiene products and generator fuel to 300 residents near the proposed training site, many of whom had been trapped for days without supplies. They also set up a "
tent city A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures. State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable te ...
" for evacuees. On March 7, 2008, Blackwater withdrew its application to set up a facility in San Diego County.


2007–2009: Blackwater Worldwide

In October 2007, the month after the
Nisour Square massacre The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the United States government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at ...
, Blackwater USA began the process of changing its name to Blackwater Worldwide and unveiled a new logo. The change deemphasized the "cross hair"
reticle A reticle or reticule, also known as a graticule or crosshair, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the electronic v ...
theme, simplifying it slightly. On July 21, 2008, Blackwater Worldwide stated that it would shift resources away from security contracting because of the extensive risks in that sector. Said company founder and CEO Erik Prince, "The experience we've had would certainly be a disincentive to any other companies that want to step in and put their entire business at risk."


2009–2010: Xe Services LLC

In February 2009, Blackwater announced that it would be once again renamed, this time to "Xe Services LLC", as part of a company-wide restructuring plan, intended to re-focus the company on its logistics, aviation and training aspects, rather than its security operations. Prince announced his resignation as CEO on March 2, 2009. He remained as chairman of the board but was no longer involved in day-to-day operations. Joseph Yorio was named as the new president and CEO, replacing Gary Jackson as president and Prince as CEO. Danielle Esposito was named the new chief operating officer and executive vice president.


2010–2014: Academi

In 2010, Xe was acquired by USTC Holdings, an investor consortium, who sought to further re-brand the company. The sale formally ended Erik Prince's operational and management role in the company. Xe was officially renamed "Academi" in 2011. Academi's Board of Directors included former Attorney General
John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, Lobbying, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican Party (United States), R ...
, former White House Counsel and Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Jack Quinn, retired Admiral and former
NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
Director
Bobby Ray Inman Bobby Ray Inman (born April 4, 1931) is a retired United States Navy admiral who held several influential positions in the United States Intelligence Community. Early years Inman was born and raised in the community of Rhonesboro, Texas, in the ...
, and Texas businessman
Red McCombs Billy Joe "Red" McCombs (October 19, 1927 – February 19, 2023) was an American businessman. He was the founder of the Red McCombs Automotive Group in San Antonio, Texas, a co-founder of iHeartMedia, Clear Channel Communications, a past chairma ...
, who served as chairman of the board. Quinn and Ashcroft were independent directors, without other affiliations to Academi. In May 2011, Academi named Ted Wright as CEO. Wright hired Suzanne Rich Folsom as Academi's chief regulatory and compliance officer and deputy general counsel. The Academi Regulatory and Compliance team won ''National Law Journals 2012 Corporate Compliance Office of the Year Award. In 2012, retired Brigadier General Craig Nixon was named the new CEO of Academi.


2014–present: Constellis Holdings

A merger between Triple Canopy and Academi, along with other companies that were part of the Constellis Group package, are now all gathered under the Constellis Holdings, Inc. umbrella. The transaction brought together companies including Triple Canopy, Constellis Ltd., Strategic Social, Tidewater Global Services, National Strategic Protective Services, ACADEMI Training Center, and International Development Solutions. In 2015, six
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
n mercenaries reportedly employed by Academi were killed in
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
, led by an Australian commander hired by the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
to fight the
Houthi insurgency The Houthi insurgency, also known as the Houthi rebellion, the Sa'dah Wars, or the Sa'dah conflict, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis (though the movement also includes Sunnis) against the Yemeni military that began in North ...
. In 2016, Houthi sources claimed that Tochka missile strikes killed over 120 coalition mercenaries in
Ma'rib Marib (; Old South Arabian: 𐩣𐩧𐩨/𐩣𐩧𐩺𐩨 ''Mryb/Mrb'') is the capital city of Marib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of '' Sabaʾ'' (), which some scholars believe to be the ancient Sheba of bibl ...
, including 11 foreign Blackwater commanders. Another reported strike later that month at
Al Anad Air Base Al Anad Air Base is a Yemeni military air base located in Tuban district of the Lahij Governorate. It is the biggest air base in Yemen. History The base was built by the Soviet Union for South Yemen during the Cold War. The base witnessed f ...
allegedly killed 200 Sudanese fighters and their commander, identified by some sources as a U.S. Colonel. In September 2016, Constellis was acquired by
Apollo Global Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American asset management firm that primarily invests in alternative assets. , the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including mezzanine capita ...
. In early 2020, Constellis entered debt restructuring talks after missing a $1 billion debt payment and agreeing to a forbearance with creditors. The company’s financial difficulties followed a decline in overseas contracts and higher startup costs on new domestic work. Constellis relocated its global headquarters to
Herndon, Virginia Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia, it is part of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In 2020, the population at the census was 24,655, which makes i ...
in February 2020.


Board of directors

*
Red McCombs Billy Joe "Red" McCombs (October 19, 1927 – February 19, 2023) was an American businessman. He was the founder of the Red McCombs Automotive Group in San Antonio, Texas, a co-founder of iHeartMedia, Clear Channel Communications, a past chairma ...
(chairman) *
John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, Lobbying, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican Party (United States), R ...
*
Dean Bosacki Dean Bosacki is a Canadian businessman. Biography Early life He graduated from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and received an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in Palo Alto, Californi ...
* Jason DeYonker *
Bobby Ray Inman Bobby Ray Inman (born April 4, 1931) is a retired United States Navy admiral who held several influential positions in the United States Intelligence Community. Early years Inman was born and raised in the community of Rhonesboro, Texas, in the ...
* Jack Quinn * Russ Robinson


Services and products

Academi has a variety of services and product offerings.


United States Training Center

United States Training Center (USTC, formerly Blackwater Training Center) offers tactics and weapons training to military, government, and law enforcement agencies. USTC also offers several open-enrollment courses periodically throughout the year, from
hand to hand combat Hand-to-hand combat is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of ranged weapons.Hunsicker, A., ''Advanced Skills in ...
(executive course) to
precision rifle marksmanship A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic sig ...
. They also offer courses in tactical and off-road driving. USTC's primary training facility, located on in northeastern North Carolina, comprises several ranges, indoor, outdoor, urban reproductions, a man-made lake, and a driving track in Camden and Currituck counties. Company literature says that it is the largest training facility in the country. In November 2006, Blackwater USA announced it acquired an facility west of Chicago, in Mount Carroll, Illinois, to be called Blackwater North. That facility has been operational since April 2007 and serves law enforcement agencies throughout the Midwest. The training facility has since been renamed Impact Training Center and then again renamed Hollow Training Center. In 2011,
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
contracted USTC to provide "intelligence analyst support and material procurement" for NATO in the ongoing Afghan drug war.


Maritime security service

Academi offers tactical training for maritime
force protection Force protection (FP) is the concept of protecting military personnel, family members, civilians, facilities, equipment and operations from threats or hazards in order to preserve operational effectiveness and contribute to mission success. It ...
units. In the past, it has trained Greek security forces for the
2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
, Azerbaijan Naval Sea Commandos, and Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior. Academi's facilities include a man-made lake, with stacked containers simulating the hull and deck of a ship for maritime assaults. Blackwater received a contract to train
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
sailors, which was managed by Jamie Smith, following the attack on the USS Cole. It also purchased a vessel, ''McArthur'', which has been outfitted for disaster response and training. According to Blackwater USA, it features "state of the art navigation systems, full
GMDSS The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is a worldwide system for automated emergency signal communication for ships at sea developed by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) as part of the SOLAS Convention. ...
communications, SEATEL Broadband, dedicated command and control bays,
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
decks, hospital and multiple support vessel capabilities". ''McArthur'' was built in 1966 by the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and served as the survey ship USC&GS ''McArthur'' (MSS 22) for the
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ( USC&GS; known as the Survey of the Coast from 1807 to 1836, and as the United States Coast Survey from 1836 until 1878) was the first scientific agency of the Federal government of the United State ...
from 1966 to 1970, and then as NOAAS ''McArthur'' (S 330) for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...
from 1970 until her decommissioning in 2003. The ship is home-ported in
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...
.


Canine training

The company trains canines to work in patrol capacities as
war dog Dogs have a very long history in warfare, beginning in ancient times. From being trained in combat, to their use as scouts, sentries, messengers, mercy dogs, and trackers, their uses have been varied, and some continue to exist in modern milit ...
s, explosives and drug detection, and various other roles for military and law enforcement duties.


Security consulting

Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC) was formed as a Delaware LLC in December 2001 and was the brainchild of Jamie Smith, a former CIA officer who was the Founding Director as well as acting Vice President of Blackwater USA. The company, based in
Moyock, North Carolina Moyock is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Currituck County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 5,154. Geography Moyock is located on North Carolina Highway 168 just south ...
, is one of the private security firms employed during the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
to guard officials and installations, train
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
's new army and
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
, and provide other support for coalition forces. The company was started to help train SEALS for combat. However, in the aftermath of 9/11, civilian security teams were needed by the United States Military. Before 2001, tier-one contractors, or former members of elite, special forces units, were hired from a small pool of applicants. After the September 11 attacks, Cofer Black, the former head of counter terrorism at the CIA, requested that the federal government hire more contractors to operate overseas. Eventually, the CIA realized that a large number of civilian contractors would be needed overseas to accomplish its broad goals. The federal government turned to Blackwater for assistance. Jamie Smith and his deputy David Phillips recruited, vetted and hired a 21-man team. This team was then trained and deployed on a Top Secret project to provide protection for CIA personnel and facilities in Afghanistan. Jamie Smith and Erik Prince deployed with the team to Afghanistan. The two then deployed to the Pakistani border as a two-man element providing security assistance in one of the most dangerous places in the country at the time. Prince stayed there for one week and was in Afghanistan for a total of two weeks, leaving Smith and the remainder of the team to continue to carry out the mission. By 2003, the ground war in Iraq changed into a diplomatic mission, demanding hundreds of diplomats and State Department employees. The government traditionally handles its own security, but it lacked the staff for high-risk protection details. Therefore, a different type of protection was needed, and Blackwater would provide the solution. Blackwater's founder, Erik Prince, says that "not one State Department employee was killed while we were protecting them". Academi's primary public contract is from the
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
under the Bureau of Diplomatic Security's Worldwide Personal Protective Services (WPPS) and WPPS II umbrella contracts, along with
DynCorp International DynCorp International Inc. (), was an American private military contractor. Starting as an aviation company, the company also provided flight operations support, training and mentoring, international development, intelligence training and suppor ...
and Triple Canopy, Inc., for protective services in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Israel.


Products


Target systems

Academi provides and maintains a "shoot house" system and patented the BEAR multi-target training system that was designed and developed by the company. Blackwater Target Systems company was managed by Jim Dehart and the company was largely responsible for keeping Blackwater Training Center financially solvent until the creation of Blackwater Security Company by Smith.


Cougar (MRAP) The Cougar is a mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) and infantry mobility vehicle structured to be resistant to landmines and improvised munitions. It is a family of armored vehicles produced by Force Protection Inc, which manufactures b ...

Force Protection Inc Force Protection, Inc. was a manufacturer of ballistic- and blast-protected vehicles from the United States which have been used in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and other hot spots around the world. The company was acquired by General Dynamics in 201 ...
in early 2005 provided the first Cougar Security Vehicle (SV) to Blackwater USA for use as a transport vehicle for U.S. Provisional Coalition Authority officials in Baghdad.


Grizzly armored vehicle

Academi operates and markets its own
armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...
, the
Grizzly APC The Grizzly APC is a 22-ton infantry mobility vehicle designed and manufactured by Academi for urban combat. Design 4x2, 4x4, and 6x6 versions with three different Caterpillar diesel engines are available. Its armor, called the "Blackwater Hi ...
.


Former corporate units


Aviation Worldwide Services

Aviation Worldwide Services (AWS) was founded by Richard Pere and Tim Childrey, and was based at
Melbourne, Florida Melbourne ( ) is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, Orlando along Florida's Space Coast, named because of the region's proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. The city ...
, U.S. It owned and operated three subsidiaries: STI Aviation, Inc. Air Quest, Inc. and Presidential Airways, Inc. In April 2003 it was acquired by Blackwater USA.Blackwater USA Completes Acquisition of Aviation Worldwide Services
.
Presidential Airways (PAW) is a
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
(FAA) Regulations Part 135 charter
cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...
and passenger airline based at
Melbourne Orlando International Airport Melbourne Orlando International Airport is a public airport northwest of downtown Melbourne, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, and southeast of Orlando, located on central Florida's Space Coast. The airport is reached by NASA Boul ...
. It operates aircraft owned by AWS. Presidential Airways holds a Secret Facility Clearance from the
U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...
. It operates several
CASA 212 The CASA C-212 Aviocar is a turboprop-powered STOL medium cargo aircraft designed and built by Spanish aircraft manufacturer Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). It is designed for use by both civil and military operators. The C-212 was d ...
aircraft in addition to a
Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...
. Several of the MD-530 helicopters used by Blackwater Security Consulting in Iraq are also operated through AWS. A CASA 212 aircraft, tail number N960BW, operated by Presidential Airways crashed on November 27, 2004, in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
; it had been a contract flight for the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
en route from
Bagram Bagram (; Pashto/) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir Valley, near t ...
to Farah. All aboard, three soldiers and three civilian crew members, were killed. Several of their surviving kin filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Presidential in October 2005.Wilber, "A Crash's Echoes", ''The Washington Post'', October 17, 2007. In late September 2007, Presidential Airways received a $92m contract from the
Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
for air transportation in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. STI Aviation focuses on aircraft maintenance, and is a FAA/
Joint Aviation Authorities The Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) was an associated body of the European Civil Aviation Conference representing the civil aviation regulatory authorities of a number of European States who had agreed to co-operate in developing and implementi ...
145 repair station. They specialize in
Short 360 The Short 360 (also SD3-60; also Shorts 360)Mondey, David. ''Encyclopedia of the World's Commercial and Private Aircraft''. New York: Crescent Books, 1981. , p. 228. is a commuter aircraft that was built by UK manufacturer Short Brothers durin ...
, EMB 120,
Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30–36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 differen ...
, and
CASA 212 The CASA C-212 Aviocar is a turboprop-powered STOL medium cargo aircraft designed and built by Spanish aircraft manufacturer Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). It is designed for use by both civil and military operators. The C-212 was d ...
maintenance. As of January 2008, STI Aviation appears to have been folded into AWS, along with Air Quest. Many of Blackwater's tactical and training aircraft are registered to Blackwater affiliate
EP Aviation LLC EP Aviation based in McLean, Virginia, is an aviation company owned by Academi (formerly Blackwater Security). Assets may include an Embraer Super Tucano and 28 other aircraft including eight Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma, SA330J Puma and 14 Bell 412 h ...
, named for Blackwater's owner, Erik Prince. These aircraft include fourteen
Bell 412 The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. It is a twin-turbine helicopter that has been ...
helicopters, three Hughes/MD 369 "Little Bird" helicopters, four
Bell 214ST The Bell 214ST is a medium-lift, twin-engine helicopter descended from Bell Helicopter's ubiquitous UH-1 Huey series. Though it shares a type number with the somewhat-related Bell 214, the 214ST is larger and of quite different appearance. ...
medium-lift helicopters, three Fairchild Swearingen Merlin IIIC turboprop airliners, nine
Aérospatiale Puma Aérospatiale () was a major French state-owned aerospace and defence corporation. It was founded in 1970 as () through the merger of three established state-owned companies: Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation and SEREB. The company was headqua ...
utility helicopters, a
Maule Air Maule Air, Inc. is a manufacturer of light, single-engined, short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft, based in Moultrie, Georgia, U.S. The company delivered 2,500 aircraft in its first 50 years of business. History Belford D. Maule (1911–1 ...
MT-7-235
STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...
aircraft, an
Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano The Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano (English: ''Super Toucan''), also named ALX or A-29, is a Brazilian turboprop light attack aircraft, attack and Counter-insurgency_aircraft, counter-insurgency aircraft designed and built by Embraer as a developm ...
counterinsurgency aircraft, and a
Mooney M20 The Mooney M20 is a family of Reciprocating engine, piston-powered, four-seat, propeller-driven, general aviation aircraft, all featuring low wings and tricycle gear, manufactured by the Mooney International Corporation.Munson, Kenneth & Mich ...
E fixed wing aircraft. Aviation Worldwide Services was purchased for $200 million in 2010 by AAR Corp., an Illinois company. In a letter released on February 8, 2011, the new owners informed state officials that they are shutting down the Moyock, North Carolina, operation and moving some employees to a new business location in Melbourne, Florida. Some 260 staff are affected with about 50 losing their jobs, beginning at the end of February. The company views the aviation division as a growth opportunity.


Greystone Limited

In 2010, Greystone was acquired by current management. Greystone now operates as a standalone, management owned provider of protective support services and training. A private security service, Greystone is registered in
Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
, and employs soldiers for off-shore security work through its affiliate Satelles Solutions, Inc. Their web site advertises their ability to provide "personnel from the best militaries throughout the world" for worldwide deployment. Tasks can be from very small scale up major operations to "facilitate large scale stability operations requiring large numbers of people to assist in securing a region". Erik Prince intended Greystone to be used for peacekeeping missions in areas like
Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...
where military operations would need to take place to establish peace. Greystone had planned to open a training facility on the former grounds of the Subic Bay U.S. Naval Base, but those plans were later abandoned.


Former international services

According to a company press release, Blackwater provided airlift, security, logistics, and transportation services, as well as humanitarian support. 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,ARTICLE: Blackwater employees create a stir in New Orleans (The Virginian-Pilot – HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)
.
but the company held contracts with private clients as well. Overall, Blackwater had a "visible, and financially lucrative, presence in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as the use of the company contractors cost U.S. taxpayers $240,000 a day." Academi (then Blackwater USA) was one of five companies picked in September 2007 by the Department of Defense Counter-Narcotics Technology Program Office in a five-year contract for equipment, material and services in support of counter-narcotics activities. The contract is worth up to $15 billion. The other companies picked are
Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...
,
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
,
Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...
, OHI, and
Arinc Inc. Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated (ARINC), established in 1929, was a major provider of transport communications and systems engineering solutions for eight industries: aviation, airports, defense, government, healthcare, networks, security, and t ...
Blackwater USA has also been contracted by various foreign governments. The DEA and DoD counternarcotics program is supported by Blackwater Worldwide in Afghanistan as well. "Blackwater is involved on DoD side" of the counter-narcotics program in Afghanistan says Jeff Gibson, vice president for international training at Blackwater. "We interdict. The NIU surgically goes after shipments going to Iran or Pakistan. We provide training to set up roadblocks, identify where drug lords are, and act so as not to impact the community." 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. Blackwater was also involved in mentoring former
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan Afghan Interim Administration, interim (2001–2002) and Transitional Islamic State of Afghanist ...
officials in drug interdiction and counter narcotics. As Richard Douglas, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, explained, "The fact is, we use Blackwater to do a lot of our training of counternarcotics police in Afghanistan. I have to say that Blackwater has done a very good job." The
Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...
awarded Academi a $250 million contract to work for the U.S. State Department and the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
in Afghanistan. In 2005, Blackwater worked to train the Naval Sea Commando regiment of
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, enhancing their interdiction capabilities on the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
. In Asia, Blackwater had contracts in Japan guarding
AN/TPY-2 The AN/TPY-2 Surveillance Transportable Radar, also called the Forward Based X-Band Transportable (FBX-T) is a long-range, very high-altitude active digital antenna array X band surveillance radar designed to add a tier to existing missile and a ...
radar systems. In March 2006, Cofer Black, vice chairman of Blackwater USA, allegedly suggested at an international conference in
Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...
, Jordan, that the company was ready to move towards providing security professionals up to
brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...
size (3,000–5,000) for humanitarian efforts and low-intensity conflicts. The company denies making this claim. Mark Manzetti, writing in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' on August 19, 2009, reported that the CIA had hired Blackwater "as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda." Newly appointed CIA director
Leon Panetta Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American retired politician and government official who has served under several Democratic administrations as secretary of defense (2011–2013), director of the CIA (2009–2011), White House chi ...
had recently acknowledged a planned secret
targeted killing Targeted killing is a form of assassination carried out by governments Extrajudicial killing, outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield. Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention wit ...
program, one withheld from Congressional oversight. Manzetti's sources, which tied the program to Blackwater, declined to have their names made public. The CIA was acting on a 2001 presidential legal pronouncement, known as a finding, which authorized the CIA to pursue such efforts.Wall Street Journa
Secret Plan Against Al Queda
Several million dollars were spent on planning and training, but it was never put into operation and no militants were caught or captured. Manzetti notes that it was unknown "whether the C.I.A. had planned to use the contractors to actually capture or kill Al Qaeda operatives, or just to help with training and surveillance in the program."
Jeremy Scahill Jeremy Scahill (born 1974) is an American activist, author, and investigative journalist. He is a founding editor of the online news publication ''The Intercept'' and author of '' Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army' ...
reported in ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'' in November 2009 that Blackwater operated alongside the CIA in Pakistan in "snatch and grab" operations targeting senior members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The report cited an unnamed source who has worked on covert U.S. military programs, who revealed that senior members of the Obama administration may not be aware that Blackwater is operating under a U.S. contract in Pakistan. A spokesman for Blackwater denied the claims, stating that they have "only one employee in Pakistan."


Role in the Iraq War


Contracts

Blackwater Worldwide played a substantial role during the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
as a contractor for the United States government. In 2003, Blackwater attained its first high-profile contract when it received a $21 million no-bid contract for guarding the head of the
Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...
, L. Paul Bremer. Since June 2004, Blackwater has been paid more than $320 million out of a $1 billion, five-year State Department budget for the Worldwide Personal Protective Service, which protects U.S. officials and some foreign officials in conflict zones. In 2006, Blackwater was awarded a contract to protect diplomats for the U.S. embassy in Iraq, the largest American embassy in the world. It is estimated by the Pentagon and company representatives that there are 20,000 to 30,000 armed security contractors working in Iraq, and some estimates are as high as 100,000, though no official figures exist. Of the State Department's dependence on private contractors like Blackwater for security purposes, U.S. ambassador to Iraq
Ryan Crocker Ryan Clark Crocker (born June 19, 1949) is a retired American diplomat who served as a career ambassador within the United States Foreign Service. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he served as United States ambassador to Afg ...
told the U.S. Senate: "There is simply no way at all that the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security could ever have enough full-time personnel to staff the security function in Iraq. There is no alternative except through contracts." For work in Iraq, the company has drawn contractors from their international pool of professionals, a database containing "21,000 former Special Forces operatives, soldiers, and retired law enforcement agents," overall.Berkowitz, Bill
Blackwater Blues for Dead Contractors' Families
, ''Inter Press Service'', June 29, 2007. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
For instance, Gary Jackson, the firm's president, has confirmed that Bosnians, Filipinos, and Chileans "have been hired for tasks ranging from airport security to protecting Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority." Between 2005 and September 2007, Blackwater security staff were involved in 195 shooting incidents; in 163 of those cases, Blackwater personnel fired first. Erik Prince points out that the company followed the orders of United States government officials, who frequently put his men in harm's way. Many of the shootings occurred after drivers in vehicles failed to stop when ordered by Blackwater guards. According to former CIA director Michael Hayden, Blackwater, among other security contractors, were allowed to perform waterboarding on suspects. Leaks in 2009 suggest CIA - Blackwater contracts to assassinate al-Qaeda leaders.


Fallujah and Najaf

On March 31, 2004, Iraqi insurgents in
Fallujah Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...
ambushed two SUVs, killing the four armed Blackwater contractors inside. Local residents hung the charred bodies above a bridge across the Euphrates."Residents hang slain Americans' bodies from bridge"
CNN. May 6, 2004. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
In response, U.S. Marines attacked the city in ''Operation Vigilant Resolve'', which became the
first Battle of Fallujah The First Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an American-led operation of the Iraq War against militants in Fallujah as well as an attempt to apprehend or kill the perpetrators of the killing of four U.S. contractor ...
. In the fall of 2007, a congressional report by the
House Oversight Committee The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...
found that Blackwater intentionally "delayed and impeded" investigations into the contractors' deaths. The report also acknowledges that members of the now-defunct Iraqi Civil Defense Corps "led the team into the ambush, facilitated blocking positions to prevent the team's escape, and then disappeared." Intelligence reports concluded that
Ahmad Hashim Abd al-Isawi Ahmad Hashim Abd al-Isawi () was an al Qaeda terrorist operating in Iraq in the early 2000s. He allegedly masterminded the ambush and killing of four American military contractors whose bodies were then dragged by a spontaneously formed mob and ...
was the mastermind behind the attack, and he was captured after a Navy SEAL special operation in 2009. al-Isawi was ultimately handed over to Iraqi authorities for trial and
executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
by
hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
some time before November 2013. In April 2004, at the U.S. government's headquarters in
Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...
, hundreds of Shiite militia forces barraged Blackwater contractors, four MPs and a Marine gunner with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 fire for hours before U.S. Special Forces troops arrived. As supplies and ammunition ran low, a team of Blackwater contractors away flew to the compound to resupply and bring an injured U.S. Marine back to safety outside of the city.


Nisour Square Massacre

The Iraqi Government revoked Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq on September 17, 2007, after a massacre in Nisour Square, Baghdad in which Blackwater contractors were later convicted of killing 17 Iraqi civilians.U.S. suspends diplomatic convoys throughout Iraq – CNN.com
.
The deaths occurred while a Blackwater Private Security Detail (PSD) was escorting a convoy of U.S. State Department vehicles en route to a meeting in western
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
with
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...
officials. 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. 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. 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. He pointed out that current and former executives have been regularly deposed by federal agencies.


Other incidents

On February 16, 2005, four Blackwater guards escorting a U.S. State Department convoy in Iraq fired 70 rounds into a car. The guards stated that they felt threatened when the driver ignored orders to stop as he approached the convoy. The fate of the car's driver was unknown because the convoy did not stop after the shooting. An investigation by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service concluded that the shooting was not justified and that the Blackwater employees provided false statements to investigators. The statements claimed that one of the Blackwater vehicles had been hit by insurgent gunfire, but the investigation concluded that one of the Blackwater guards had actually fired into his own vehicle by accident. John Frese, the U.S. embassy in Iraq's top security official, declined to punish Blackwater or the security guards because he believed any disciplinary actions would lower the morale of the Blackwater contractors. On February 6, 2006, a sniper employed by Blackwater Worldwide opened fire from the roof of the Iraqi Justice Ministry, killing three guards working for the state-funded
Iraqi Media Network Al Iraqiya () is an Iraqi satellite and terrestrial public broadcaster and television network. The channel is part of the larger Iraqi Media Network, and was set up after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ousting of Saddam Hussein. It is primar ...
. Many Iraqis at the scene said that the guards had not fired on the Justice Ministry. The U.S. State Department said, however, that their actions "fell within approved rules governing the use of force" based on information obtained from Blackwater guards. On April 21, 2005, six Blackwater USA independent contractors were killed in Iraq when their
Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the ...
Hip helicopter was shot down. Also killed were three
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
n crewmembers and two
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
an gunners. Initial reports indicated that the helicopter was shot down by
rocket propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, ...
s or missile fire. 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. "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." On December 24, 2006, a security guard of the Iraqi vice president,
Adel Abdul Mahdi Adil Abdul-Mahdi al-Muntafiki (, born 1 January 1942) is an Iraqi politician who served as Prime Minister of Iraq from October 2018 until May 2020. Abdul-Mahdi is an economist and was one of the vice presidents of Iraq from 2005 to 2011. He fo ...
, was shot and killed while on duty outside the Iraqi prime minister's compound. The Iraqi government has accused Andrew J. Moonen, a Blackwater employee at the time, of killing him while drunk. Moonen was subsequently fired by Blackwater for "violating alcohol and firearm policy", and travelled from Iraq to the United States days after the incident. The DOJ investigated and announced in 2010 that they were declining to prosecute Moonen, citing a likely affirmative defense of self-defense and high standards for initiating such a prosecution. The
United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
and Blackwater USA had attempted to keep his identity secret for security reasons. In 2007, the U.S. government investigated whether Blackwater employees smuggled weapons into Iraq. No charges were filed. Five Blackwater contractors were killed on January 23, 2007, in Iraq when their
Hughes H-6 The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse is a single-engine light helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Hughes Helicopters. Its formal name is derived from the Cayuse people, while its "Loach" nickname is derived from Light Observation ...
helicopter was shot down on Baghdad's Haifa Street. The crash site was secured by a personal security detail, callsign "Jester" from 1/26 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Three insurgents claimed to be responsible for shooting down the helicopter, although this has not been confirmed by the United States. A U.S. defense official has confirmed that four of the five killed were shot execution style in the back of the head, but did not know whether the four had survived the crash. 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. The first incident occurred when a Blackwater-protected convoy was ambushed in downtown Baghdad. The following incident occurred when an Iraqi vehicle drove too close to a convoy. However, according to incident testimony, the Blackwater guards tried to wave off the driver, shouted, fired a warning shot into the car's radiator, finally shooting into the car's windshield. On May 30, 2007, Blackwater employees shot an Iraqi civilian said to have been "driving too close" to a State Department convoy that was being escorted by Blackwater contractors. Following the incident, the Iraqi government allowed Blackwater to provide security by operating within the streets of Iraq. On August 21, 2007, Blackwater Manager Daniel Carroll threatened to kill Jean Richter, a U.S. State Department Investigator, in Iraq. In June 2014, a New York Times investigation reported that it had secured an internal State Department memo stating this. Richter later returned from Iraq to the U.S. and wrote a scathing review of the lax standards to which Blackwater was held accountable, only two weeks before a serious Blackwater incident in which 17 Iraqi civilians were shot and killed by Blackwater employees under questionable circumstances. The death threat incident was confirmed by a second investigator, a Mr. Thomas, who was also present at the meeting. The shooting incident that followed has been described by some as a "watershed" moment, and a factor which contributed to Iraq's later decision to refuse to allow U.S. troops to stay beyond 2011. Documents obtained from the
Iraq War documents leak The Iraq War documents leak is the disclosure to WikiLeaks of 391,832 United States Army field reports, also called the Iraq War Logs, of the Iraq War from 2004 to 2009 and published on the Internet on 2010. The files record 66,081 civilian ...
of 2010 argue that Blackwater employees committed serious abuses in Iraq, including killing civilians.


Prosecution


U.S. Congress

On October 2, 2007, Erik Prince attended a
congressional hearing A United States congressional hearing is the principal formal method by which United States congressional committees collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. Whether confirmation hearings (a procedure uniqu ...
conducted by the
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...
following the controversy related to Blackwater's conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan.BBC News
"Blackwater boss grilled over Iraq"
, October 2, 2007.
Blackwater hired the public relations firm BKSH & Associates Worldwide, a subsidiary of
Burson-Marsteller Burson (formerly Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW)) is a global public relations and communications firm, headquartered in New York City, focused on building reputation for clients. In February 2018, parent WPP Group PLC announced that it had merged it ...
, to help Prince prepare for his testimony at the hearing. Robert Tappan, a former U.S. State Department official who worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, was one of the executives handling the account."Blackwater Hires PR Giant in Image "
by Richard Lardner, the Associated Press, October 5, 2007, 5:17 pm, in ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
Burson-Marsteller was brought aboard by
McDermott Will & Emery McDermott Will & Emery is an international law firm with a diversified business practice. The firm is one of the largest-grossing law firms in the United States and globally, and its lawyers represent a wide range of commercial, industrial, and f ...
and
Crowell & Moring Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, Chicago, Denver, London, Brussels, Doha, and Shanghai. With approximately 600 lawyers, ...
, the Washington law firms representing Blackwater. BKSH, a self-described "
bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing Political party, politica ...
" firm (
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
, when pursuing the Democratic presidential nomination, was also a client), is headed by Charlie Black, a prominent Republican
political strategist Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televisi ...
and former chief spokesman for the
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...
, and Scott Pastrick, former treasurer of the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
. In his testimony before Congress, Prince said his company has a lack of remedies to deal with employee misdeeds. When asked why Andrew Moonen had been "whisked out of the country" after the shooting death of the vice-presidential guard, he replied, "We can't flog him, we can't incarcerate him." When asked by a member of Congress for financial information about his company, Prince declined to provide documentation, saying "we're a private company, and there's a key word there – private." Later he stated that the company could provide it at a future date if questions were submitted in writing. When the term "mercenaries" was used to describe Blackwater employees, Prince objected, characterizing them as "loyal Americans." A staff report compiled by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on behalf of Representative
Henry Waxman Henry Arnold Waxman (born September 12, 1939) is an American politician and lobbyist who was a U.S. representative from California from 1975 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His district included much of the western part of the ...
questioned the cost-effectiveness of using Blackwater forces instead of U.S. troops. Blackwater charges the government $1,222 per day per guard, "equivalent to $445,000 per year, or six times more than the cost of an equivalent U.S. soldier," the report alleged."Blackwater Chief Defends Firm"
, The Associated Press, October 2, 2007 By: RICHARD LARDNER and ANNE FLAHERTY.
During his testimony on Capitol Hill, Erik Prince disputed this figure, saying that it costs money for the government to train a soldier, to house and feed them, they don't just come prepared to fight. "That sergeant doesn't show up naked and untrained," Prince stated. Moreover, he pointed out that Blackwater's employees are trained in special operations and exceed the capabilities of the average soldier. In the wake of Prince's testimony before Congress, the
U.S. House The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
amended the
Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (, ) (MEJA) is a law intended to place military contractors under U.S. law. , it has been used to charge 12 people. Overview MEJA was a bill passed in 2000 that allowed persons who are "employed by ...
in October 2007. The new legislation, H.R.2740 - the MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007, expanded the original scope to MEJA to encompass all security contractors working overseas, not only those working under the Department of Defense. This subsequently led to the prosecution by U.S. courts of some U.S. military contractors, but only for incidents involving attacks on U.S. nationals.House Passes Bill That Would Hike Penalties for U.S. Security Contractors in Iraq
.
The legal status of Blackwater and other security firms in Iraq was a subject of contention. Two days before he left Iraq, L. Paul Bremer signed " Order 17" giving all Americans associated with the CPA and the American government immunity from Iraqi law. A July 2007 report from the American
Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...
indicates that the Iraqi government still has no authority over private security firms contracted by the U.S. government. On October 5, 2007, the
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
announced new rules for Blackwater's armed guards operating in Iraq. Under the new guidelines, State Department security agents will accompany all Blackwater units operating in and around Baghdad. 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. In December 2008, a
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
panel recommended that Xe should be dropped as the main private security contractor for U.S. diplomats in Iraq. On January 30, 2009, the State Department told Blackwater Worldwide that it will not renew its contract in Iraq. However, in 2010 it was awarded a $100 million contract from the CIA. Regardless of these developments, Xe defended its work in Iraq. A company spokeswoman stated: "When the US government initially asked for our help to assist with an immediate need to protect Americans in Iraq, we answered the call and performed well. We are proud of our success – no-one under our protection has been killed or even seriously wounded." In August 2010, the company agreed to pay a $42 million fine to settle allegations that it unlawfully provided armaments and military equipment overseas. However, the company is still allowed to accept government contracts. The settlement and fine conclude a U.S. State Department investigation that began in 2007.


Iraqi courts

On September 23, 2007, the Iraqi government said that it expects to refer criminal charges to its courts in connection with the Blackwater shootings. However, on October 29, 2007, immunity from prosecution was granted by the U.S. State Department, delaying a criminal inquiry into the September 16 shootings of 17 Iraqi civilians. Immediately afterwards, the Iraqi government approved a draft law to end any and all immunity for foreign military contractors in Iraq, to overturn Order 17. The U.S. Department of Justice also said any immunity deals offered to Blackwater employees were invalid, as the department that issued them had no authority to do so. 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. A number of Iraqi families took Blackwater to court over alleged "random killings committed by private Blackwater guards". Legal specialists say that the U.S. government is unlikely to allow a trial in the Iraqi courts, because there is little confidence that trials would be fair. Contractors accused of crimes abroad could be tried in the United States under either military or civilian law; however, the applicable military law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, was changed in 2006, and appears to now exempt State Department contractors that provide security escorts for a civilian agency. Prosecution under civilian law would be through the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which allows the extension of federal law to civilians supporting military operations; however, according to the deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's criminal division, Robert Litt, trying a criminal case in federal court would require a secure chain of evidence, with police securing the crime scene immediately, while evidence gathered by Iraqi investigators would be regarded as suspect. The Iraqi government announced that Blackwater must leave Iraq as soon as a joint Iraqi–U.S. committee finishes drafting the new guidelines on private contractors under the current Iraqi–U.S. security agreement. On January 31, 2009, the U.S. State Department notified Blackwater that the agency would not renew its security contract with the company. ''
The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...
'' reported on March 17, 2009, that the U.S. State Department had extended its Iraq security contract with Blackwater's air operations arm, Presidential Airways, to September 3, 2009, for a cost of $22.2 million. On January 31, 2010, three current and former U.S. government officials confirmed the Justice Department is investigating whether officials of Blackwater Worldwide tried to bribe Iraqi government officials in hopes of retaining the firm's security work in Iraq after the shooting in Nisour Square in Baghdad, which left 17 Iraqis dead and stoked bitter resentment against the United States. The officials said that the Justice Department's fraud section opened the inquiry late in 2009 to determine whether Blackwater employees violated a federal law banning American corporations from paying bribes to foreign officials. In 2012 the Department of Justice closed the investigation without filing any charges.


Lawsuits

In the March 2004 court case '' Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security'', Blackwater was sued by the families of four contractors killed in
Fallujah Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...
. 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." On February 7, 2007, four family members testified in front of the
House Government Reform Committee The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...
. They asked that Blackwater be held accountable for future
negligence Negligence ( Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances. Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a neg ...
of employees' lives, and that federal legislation be drawn up to govern contracts between the
Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
and defense contractors. Blackwater then countersued the lawyer representing the empty estates of the deceased for $10 million on the grounds the lawsuit was contractually prohibited from ever being filed. In January 2011, U.S. district judge James C. Fox dismissed the suit. On November 27, 2004, an aircraft operated by Presidential Airways and owned by its sister company, Blackwater AWS, crashed in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
; it had been a contract flight for the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
en route from
Bagram Bagram (; Pashto/) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir Valley, near t ...
to Farah. Three soldiers and three civilian crew members aboard the plane were killed. Several relatives of the victims filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Presidential in October 2005.The Flight and Crash of "Blackwater 61"
CBS News 60 Minutes
On October 11, 2007, the
Center for Constitutional Rights The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR; formerly Law Center for Constitutional Rights) is an American progressive non-profit legal advocacy organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1966 by lawyers William Kunstler, Arthur Kin ...
filed suit against Blackwater under the
Alien Tort Claims Act The Alien Tort Statute ( codified in 1948 as ; ATS), also called the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), is a section in the United States Code that gives federal courts jurisdiction over lawsuits filed by foreign nationals for torts committed in vio ...
on behalf of an injured Iraqi and the families of three of the 17 Iraqis killed by Blackwater employees during the September 16, 2007,
Blackwater Baghdad shootings The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the United States government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at ...
. The suit, '' Abtan v. Blackwater'', alleged that Blackwater had engaged in war crimes, created a "culture of lawlessness", and routinely deployed employees who used steroids and other psychoactive drugs. In June 2009, an amended lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, alleging that Blackwater employees shot and killed three members of an Iraqi family, including a nine-year-old boy, who were traveling from the Baghdad airport to Baghdad on July 1, 2007. The suit further accused Blackwater employees of murder, weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, and child prostitution. Two affidavits filed as part of the suit by former employees accuse Blackwater of encouraging the murder of Iraqi civilians, and of murdering or having murdered employees who intended to testify against the company. The lawsuit was ultimately settled confidentially in 2010, with plaintiffs accepting cash payments from the company.


Federal prosecution

In August 2012, the company agreed to pay $7.5 million in fines, without admitting guilt, to the U.S. government to settle various charges involving pre-Academi personnel. February 2013, the majority of the remaining charges were dropped when it was shown that, in many cases, the Blackwater employees had been acting under the orders of the U.S. government. Once the court decision had been finalized, Academi pointed out that " e court decision involves former Blackwater executives, none of whom have ever worked for ACADEMI or the current ownership." After the Nisour Square killings of 17 Iraqi civilians and the injury of 20 more by Blackwater convoy guards in a Baghdad traffic circle in September 2007, charges were brought against five guards. One pleaded guilty to a lesser offense in exchange for his testimony for the prosecution. Three were eventually convicted in October 2014 of 14 manslaughter charges and in April 2015 sentenced to 30 years plus one day in prison. These sentences were deemed unfair upon appeal and these three await resentencing. Another was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison; however, this verdict was overturned in August 2017. On December 22, 2020, U.S. President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
pardoned four former Blackwater contractors serving long prison terms: Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard. The pardons do not establish innocence; however, they were criticised, both in the U.S. and in Iraq, as condoning killing of innocent civilians.


See also

* Arms industry *
Executive Outcomes Executive Outcomes is a private military company (PMC) founded in South Africa in 1989 by Eeben Barlow, a former lieutenant-colonel of the South African Defence Force. It later became part of the South African-based holding company Strategic ...
*
International Stability Operations Association The International Stability Operations Association (ISOA), formerly known as the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), is a trade association founded in April 2001. IPOA was created to support the private military and disaster rel ...
* Prince Foundation *''
Shadow Company ''Shadow Company'' is a documentary directed by Nick Bicanic and Jason Bourque and narrated by Gerard Butler. It is an introduction to the mercenary and private military company industry, concentrating on the role the industry has been playing i ...
'' *
Wagner Group The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...
- Russian private military company * Mozart Group - American military volunteer group in Ukraine


References


Further reading


Books

* Singer, P. W. (2003). ''Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry''. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, . * Pelton, Robert Young (2006). ''Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror''. Crown Books, New York, . Extensive material on Blackwater in Prologue and Chapter 2, "The New Breed", Chapter 5, "The Blackwater Bridge", Chapter 6, "Under Siege", which discusses Blackwater at An Najaf, Chapter 7, "The Dog Track and the Swamp", which chronicles Pelton's visits to Blackwater training facilities, one of which is a dog track, Chapter 8, "Running the Gauntlet", and Chapter 11, "The Lord and the Prince", partly about
Erik Prince Erik Dean Prince (born June 6, 1969) is an American businessman, investor, author, and former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater. He served as Blackwater's CEO until 2009 and as its chairman u ...
. * Scahill, Jeremy (2007). '' Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army''. *Simons, Suzanne (2009) ''Master of War: Blackwater USA's Erik Prince and the Business of War''. New York: Collins. . . * Umar, Asim (2009). ''Dajjal Ka Lashkar: Black Water'' ().


Articles

*John M. Broder
"Report Says Firm Sought To Cover Iraq Shootings,"
''The New York Times,'' October 2, 2007. *John M. Broder

''The New York Times,'' October 3, 2007. *John M. Broder

''New York Times,'' October 4, 2007. *Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, United States House of Representatives
"Additional Information about Blackwater USA,"
Committee memorandum, October 1, 2007. *Karen DeYoung

''Washington Post,'' Oct 2, 20007. *James Glanz and Alissa J. Rubin

''The New York Times,'' October 3, 2007. *Marybeth Laguna

''Washington Post,'' November 30, 2008. *Robert Young Pelton
"Erik Prince, an American Commando in Exile,"
''Men's Journal,'' November 1, 2010. *Ralph Peters

''New York Post,'' September 30, 2007. *Sudarsan Raghavan

''Washington Post,'' October 4, 2007. *James Risen

''The New York Times,'' June 29, 2014. *Eric Schmitt

''New York Times,'' October 2, 2007.


External links

*


Media


''Shadow Company''
documentary film directed and written by Nick Bicanic. The only film with footage of Blackwater employees training and operating in Iraq
"Private Warriors"
episode of '' Frontline'' (June 21, 2005), includes piece on Blackwater USA {{Authority control 1997 establishments in the United States 2011 mergers and acquisitions 2014 mergers and acquisitions American mercenaries Companies based in McLean, Virginia Consulting firms established in 1997 George W. Bush administration controversies Private military contractors in the Iraq War Private military contractors Security companies of the United States Security consulting firms United States war crimes Paramilitary organizations based in the United States