|
Blackwater USA is a private military contractor and security firm based in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The company describes itself as providing support to "military, government agencies, law enforcement and civilian entities in training, targets and range operations."
Corporate structure Blackwater USA consists of five companies: Blackwater's president, Gary Jackson and Bill Mathews, Executive Vice President and other business unit leaders are former Navy SEALs. Chris Taylor, VP for Strategic Initiatives is a former Force Recon Marine. Blackwater was founded and is owned by Erik Prince. Facilities Company literature claims the company runs "the largest privately owned firearms training facility in the nation". The facility, located in North Carolina, is composed of several ranges, indoor, outdoor, urban reproductions and has over 7000 acres (24 km²) of land spanning Camden and Currituck counties. Training Blackwater offers several open-enrollment courses periodically throughout the year, from hand to hand combat (executive course) to precision rifle marksmanship. Furthermore one could opt to enroll in Blackwater Academy, a program that will train recruits, provided they can meet strict background and criminal checks, physical fitness tests, and can pass a clinical psychological test. They may be asked to engage in a rather restrictive contract that places them exclusively in their service. History Blackwater USA was formed in 1997 to provide additional support to military and law enforcement organizations. It was one of several private security firms employed following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Blackwater Security Consulting was formed in 2002 and initially operated by Jamie Smith, who became the first Director of Blackwater Security Consulting. Smith left under allegations of resume fraud in late 2002 and formed SCG International Risk. BSC is one of over 60 private security firms employed during the Iraq War to guard officials and installations, train Iraq's new army and police, and provide other support for occupation forces. * In March 2004, four Blackwater independent contractors who were guarding food shipments were attacked and killed in Fallujah, Iraq *. Their charred bodies were beaten and dragged before cameras. One of them was Scott Helvenston, who appeared on the reality television show Combat Missions. See also United States occupation of Fallujah. In April 2005 six Blackwater independent contractors were killed in Iraq when their Mi-8 helicopter was shot down. Also killed were three Bulgarian crewmembers and two Fijian gunners. Initial reports indicate the helicopter was shot down by rocket propelled grenades. The six Americans killed have been identified as: The three Bulgarians have been identified as: Kostov actually survived the helicopter crash, but was then shot to death by the men who shot the helicopter down. Blackwater USA was employed to assist the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts on the Gulf Coast. According to a company press release, it provided airlift services, security services, humanitarian support services, and logistics and transportation services. Unofficial reports claim that the company also provided law enforcement services, such as securing neighborhoods and confronting criminals. * Controversy and criticism In March 2006, Cofer Black, vice chairman of Blackwater USA, suggested at an international conference in Amman, Jordan that the company is ready to move towards providing security professionals up to brigade size for humanitarian efforts and low intensity conflicts. Critics have suggested this may be going too far in putting political decisions in the hands of privately owned corporations.* On April 19, 2006 The Nation published an article concerning the lawsuit against Blackwater brought by some of the families of four deceased employees.* The article discusses the removal of the word "armoured" from already signed contracts and other allegations of wrongdoing. However, this has been proved false. Blackwater USA is sometimes chided by its critics for being "mercenaries" or "soldiers of fortune". Private security contractors aroused anger in Iraq when it was claimed that they were made immune to Iraqi legal prosecution due to laws in effect dating from Iraq's Coalition Provisional Authority signed by L. Paul Bremer. This was not the legal case but was widely reported in the mainstream media. Blackwater USA is criticized in the documentary Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers, and that film suggests that Blackwater may be partially responsible for the Abu Ghraib scandal. There is no record of Blackwater security contractors ever being at Abu Ghraib and a blogger was ordered to retract an entry that implied they had been. Quoting the President of Blackwater USA, Gary Jackson, "Our goal is to make as much money as fast as possible." Official employees of Blackwater USA (not contactors) are clearly informed of this objective at their employee orientation by Gary Jackson himself. | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||
 |
|
| |