Memos: Blackwater Team Sent Wrong Way

[magician]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

I think that most of the pros there voted with their feet, won't take the jobs with the risk involved for the money offered, and the company had no choice other than to recruit, train, and place people who were not experienced professionals and who did not understand the risk-benefit ratio on the payroll.

I think that this was actually an industry-wide phenomenon. The USG government felt that it needed contractors to take care of the deployed force, and the deployed force was stretched thin. The US Army unit in charge of security at BIAP when I was there, for example, was an ADA unit. Obviously, there was no air threat in Iraq. The unit had borrowed Bradleys on the perimeter checkpoints.

Likewise, government contractors. My first firm won its contracts by attesting that it could get boots on the ground within two weeks, and it also bid well below other, more established firms with credible track records.

In order to make money, and to keep the contract alive and under budget, something had to give. My first firm offered low salaries. Since guys with legitimate resumes and verifiable employment histories were garnering much higher pay at that time, the posers came out of the woodwork, and with no requirement to verify credentials, they were employed by my first firm in droves.

I personally worked with guys who were "snipers in Central America," and guys who were "Force Recon." The funny thing was, when a couple genuine FR guys came aboard, they had never heard of the charlatans. The company did not care. It was hiring guys to stand post at a perimeter checkpoint in high temperatures, and charlatans were perfect for the job, because they could wear their knives upside down and strut around carrying guns and get paid more than they were making in the US as mall security.

We have all seen guys who were fired from legit jobs given a new lease on life in the sandbox. We have all seen guys who never heard a shot fired in anger while on active duty running the roads in Iraq, protecting "dignitaries." And yes, there were mistakes made, and atrocities occured, and were never investigated, and no one was ever prosecuted, because there was no law in Iraq at that time, no one had jurisdiction, and all that mattered was that boots were on the ground, people were playing their roles, so that the contract would be paid.

And so it went.

Here we are, years later, and some of these charlatans are still active. Some of them have risen in the ranks, and I personally just detected one who worked on an SOF MTT out of the Embassy in Hungary under fraudulent pretenses, and who is working now in Iraq writing INTSUMs for general officers, who had applied to be a program manager for another firm. Well, we caught him. He is supposed to be leaving Iraq soon, allegedly to go get a certified copy of his DD214. He is not expected to return. But the money is too good. He will try again, elsewhere.

Without sanctions against employers who hire and pimp fraudulent contractors to the US government, the problem will not go away. In the same way that firms that hire illegal aliens in the USA need to be prosecuted into extinction, so do firms that hire fakes to support the US government in the war on terror.

And those firms that cut too many corners in a bid to "get paid," betting with the lives of their contractors, have to be held accountable when they lose their bets, and their contractors die needlessly.

And that is the case, as I see it, with Blackwater.

They bet, they lost, good men died, now Blackwater has to pay.

It is high time that genuine government oversight is implemented over the entire industry.

[JGarcia]

Anyone ever heard about Greystone?
http://www.greystone-ltd.com/

It is BW's company that hires TCN's. I would not be surprised if security contracting firms are lobbying hard to get the DOS and DOD to accept TCN's to work more security contracts.

A book which I think gives a good snapshot of the behind the scenes of security contracting. Licensed to Kill:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/pro...4324945&sr=1-2

If big business can get the President of the United States to support amnesty for criminals - illegal immigration/subisidized labor/screwing over blue collar americans, I am certain big business will get the US Gov't to support a large security firm. Especially when there could be a nice job in a rural setting on the east coast after one retires from Federal Service. I tell people that it does not matter who the next President will be as far as Iraq is concerned, Americans will be fighting there for a very long time. There is too much money to be made there for this to stop anytime soon, an endless supply of idealogical combatants. Just as there is no end in sight to illegal immigration, there is no end in sight to Iraq, because business and in turn Government are profiting from the cash cows of illegal immigration and "The War on Terror." Other Soldiers are telling me I am cynical, or conspiracy minded. But if you get a glimpse of the money, you have a hard time seeing things from a patriotic or a God and Country point of view. I am not saying there is no legitimate reason to fight the war, I am saying that I cant help feeling that the legitimate reasons provide a foundation for these unsavory Business/Government relationships.

What is the answer? To have a Ronald Reagan size US Army, capable of providing all of the security needs that businesses provide.

One more thing, after seeing what the US Gov't can afford to pay contractors, I think that the military is grossly underpaid, and a heck of a bargain for the US Taxpayer. If you paid rifleman what you pay a guy to do gate guard at Doha, you wouldnt have recruiting problems. There is no reason the Gov't can afford to pay a contracted gate guard a six figure salary but cannot pay an infantryman kicking in doors, setting up ambushes, or rolling down rte Irish the same frigging pay.

I don't have any bad feelings toward security contractors, but the pay for them vs. the pay for combat arms Soldiers, should not have huge disparities. People will say they dont want their Soldiers to be mercenaries, as if somehow paying a guy commmensurate with the risks he takes equates being a mercenary. Drape a guy in the flag and have him work for free then! If a salary is paid to the Soldier, it doesnt matter what the rate of pay is if paying a Soldier means making him a mercenary. Pay a Soldier what you pay a contractor, and it would be the contracting firms having the recruiting problems rather than the Army. We would all be saying things like, "That broken vertebrea? Oh, doc, thats just a scratch, I am good to go." A rifleman is worth five tax free Benjamins a day, which isn't the highest contractor salary in the box. That salary seems high, but it's infentessimal to the gov't, and only seems high to those of us making much less money, while other contractors would scoff at it.

[82ndtrooper]

Originally Posted by 504PIR

I have never worked for BW, but have lived & worked with them in Iraq over the last 3 years. You will find some great, squared away guys and you will also find some true s$%^bag, non-tactical, pretty-boy, drunken, un-professional oxygen theives.

At one time there were many, older SEAL type guys running the show.As they got bigger, I've seen more and more.....shall we say less qualified people. I'm not saying "less -qualified" because they are not SEALs, but folks that display poor judgement, lack of SA, ego and problems with alcohol. There is often a certain arrogence about them because they are "Blackwater". IE because they are BW, they are better than "Big Army", other IC's doing security work and they far more HSLD.....than they actually are. I think allot of this has resulted in BW as a company be held low regard by the more experianced folks in the security business. Personnally I do not want to work for them.

I can't comment on Eric Prince or how coporate operates as I have no experiance with them. So I will not repeat rumors. Every outfit has its 10% that are turds....unfortunately BW has higher percentage.

Collectively I believe your post simply represents what could have been easily predicted for Black Water and other military contractors.

I attended two tactical pistol courses in 2003, T-1 and T2. At that time the instuctors were either former SEAL operators and a few SF Soldiers. The instuction was top notch and fast paced and required the students to reach beyond what their normal comfort zones were. Some students found themselves dehydrated from the tempo of the course. At that time I would have recommended BW to just about anyone wanting to take their pistol skills to another tactical level. At that time there were only a handful of civi's like myself and mostly law enforcement officers seeking higher instruction.

Even then, 2003, if you had an honorable discharge, combat arms MOS, and could pass a physical they were willing to grant you the opportunity to apply for their "Black Water Training Course" As The Reaper mentioned, the pay for the course was $14,000, 8 weeks, and could be offset with your pay if you signed a contract for a 6 month deployment. It was obvious that the talent needed for true professionals trained in diplomatic security was drying up even then. I couldn't imagine someone like myself, a civi just looking to become more proficient with a pistol, could hardly understand the nature of which this type of contract involved.

One our own local law enforcement officers, a butch female, over weight, with absolutley no understanding of even a simple AR15 was granted a contract. She did not finish the course due to her obvious lack of skills. Another non military candidate from our Sherrifs department also applied and was granted a contract. He is the only person who actually has admitted in his own words "I had not idea what I was doing and I bit off more than I could chew"

Seems to me, the well is dry and now the food source is down to insects.

[Smokin Joe]

Originally Posted by JGarcia

Anyone ever heard about Greystone?
http://www.greystone-ltd.com/

Nice logo.

[smp52]

Bing West's book, No True Glory, talked about how the murder of the 4 BW contractors was a catalyst that forced the administration into a decision to go into Fallujah in force, against what the USMC was looking to do (A COIN approach rather than the conventional clear the town block by block method).

I think Blackwater is not only negligent from the information presented, to their own, but to the country as well. It was their poor management and planning that resulted in these deaths. The images and resulting chain of decisions based upon that have had reprecussions far beyond that singular event. Responsible murderers should be (and were) held accountable, but our strategy, as a result event was reactionary. At first to look strong we smashed in, then, with the media storm of and fear of the public image of the conventional operation we pulled back. Either way, WE looked weak in the end. First Americans got killed, then we moved in, after which we (decision makers) blinked and pulled back. The price as usual is paid by the boots on the ground for all indecisiveness.

An event beyond the control of our government on foreign soil set a chain reaction off - it all started with Black Water not taking care of its own. Would the fight in Fallujah happened regardless? Maybe - but our commanders would have had the upper hand in choosing the time, rather than the murder images sending shockwaves and them having to react to it.

[ktek01]

Originally Posted by 82ndtrooper

Even then, 2003, if you had an honorable discharge, combat arms MOS, and could pass a physical they were willing to grant you the opportunity to apply for their "Black Water Training Course" As The Reaper mentioned, the pay for the course was $14,000, 8 weeks, and could be offset with your pay if you signed a contract for a 6 month deployment. It was obvious that the talent needed for true professionals trained in diplomatic security was drying up even then.

For the WPPS gig you dont even need to attend that paid course. With the quals you posted above you could apply and likely land a contract, the only course you would attend is the Department of State WPPS qualification course. You dont have to pay for it either, they would pay you for training and a few weeks later you could be working in Iraq, provided your clearance goes through. You could pass the course, but not be able to land a clearance and they would probably offer you a spot on another contract that doesnt require one.

[82ndtrooper]

Originally Posted by ktek01

For the WPPS gig you dont even need to attend that paid course. With the quals you posted above you could apply and likely land a contract, the only course you would attend is the Department of State WPPS qualification course. You dont have to pay for it either, they would pay you for training and a few weeks later you could be working in Iraq, provided your clearance goes through. You could pass the course, but not be able to land a clearance and they would probably offer you a spot on another contract that doesnt require one.

IIRC they desired anyone that was at least prior "Airborne", at a minimum for the WPPS contracts. The secret clearance was also mentioned, but most that attended the course at the very least would have been eligible for a clearance, assuming that your credit rating wasn't a 100. Even then I believe they would have waved that, based on how desperate they seemed at the time. They also didn't want any DUI's on anyones record. I believe, they would wave that also, since most of the upper staff seemed to be heavy drinkers. Just my opinion.

[ktek01]

Originally Posted by 82ndtrooper

IIRC they desired anyone that was at least prior "Airborne", at a minimum for the WPPS contracts. The secret clearance was also mentioned, but most that attended the course at the very least would have been eligible for a clearance, assuming that your credit rating wasn't a 100. Even then I believe they would have waved that, based on how desperate they seemed at the time. They also didn't want any DUI's on anyones record. I believe, they would wave that also, since most of the upper staff seemed to be heavy drinkers. Just my opinion.

No Airborne requirement, the requirements are actually not Blackwater's, they are the clients which of course in this case is DOS. I was 11B10, nothing special with just under a year PSD experience in Iraq and they offered me a slot. I pulled a hamstring on the PT Test run and missed my time by 13 seconds, otherwise I probably would have been on this contract. I met another guy there who had a hamstring injury and they let him try again once it healed, I lost interest and never re-applied. I know at least one person that passed the course and was working in Iraq with no LEO or Mil experience.

[504PIR]

ktek01 is correct, there is no Abn req or for that fact mil experiance at all for WPPS. Though most do, there are many former LEOs, some SWAT guys, some Deputy Sheriffs from the middle of nowhere to drug task force....all types.

There are many former LEO's with NO mil experiance at all doing that mission. Some are very good folks, others wind up being in way over their head. The anology that I use to illiustrate the problem is a LEO in the states always has backup,(granted he may be a solitary officer stopping a group of scumbags on the highway, at least he can call for backup) or say SWAT team is hitting a meth lab or hostage sit for example. The SWAT team always outnumbers the bad guys, has fire supuorority and while the bad guys may hate the cops....they often fear the police as well. Hell there are some former "mall ninjas" getting jobs.

In Iraq doing PSD you can easliy wind up being outnumbered, outgunned by muji who hate you and do NOT fear you. We made a wrong turn one day in Sadar City one day...it was not a good day. Some LEO's cannot make that mental switch.

Also their are many who are hired for WPPS who want to do 1 tour, go home, pay the house off and go do something else. So you loose whatever training and experiance they have gained.

When I try to hire someone or review resumes, I look for combat arms experiance, prefer in-theatre experiance, maturity, and a word of mouth recommandition from someone I know. BW (and others) fell into the problem of getting all these contracts, not having the bodies to fill them. So the floodgates opened, often sh^&bags would bring in their s(*&bag buddies and its a endless cycle unless their is strong leadership that is not afraid to cut that out.

I could go on, but I need to go do some PT.

[Fiercely Loyal]

After reading the book License to Kill, and reviewing this thread, I have the feeling BW is destined to be the next Executive Outcomes/Sandline fiasco. Mr. Prince will end up in some third world jail eventually. The question is how many more men will die for this man.

[Warrior4Life]

and to think I was actually going to do this....

[JGarcia]

Never mind... my footing isn't good on this one.