Contractors

Soldiers May Be Leaving Iraq, But Contractors Will Remain

Ryan J. Reilly | October 21, 2011, 3:33PM

American troops may be leaving Iraq before the end of the year, but U.S. contractors aren't going anywhere soon.

ABC News reports that the State Department "is expected to have about 5,000 security contractors in Iraq as of January 2012 (they already have about 3,000 in country)." There will also be 4,500 "general life support" contractors to provide food and medical services.

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Campaign Donations

Why Democrats Are Losing The Messaging War On Federal Contractor Disclosure

Ryan J. Reilly | May 28, 2011, 11:00AM

United States Chamber of Commerce

Campaign finance reformer advocates aren't only facing setbacks in federal courtrooms -- they're also getting beat on the messaging war with Republicans over a proposal to make federal contractors disclose their donations to third-party groups.

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Darrell Issa

House GOP Fights To Keep Federal Contractors' Donations Secret

Ryan J. Reilly | May 26, 2011, 4:40PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and President Barack Obama (D)

Republicans are working on multiple fronts to stop President Barack Obama from making companies bidding on federal contracts disclose their donations to third-party political groups.

The chairmen of the House Oversight Committee and the Small Business Committee have introduced legislation that would ban the federal government from collecting or using information about the political expenditures of federal contractors, allowing them to keep their political donations to third party groups secret. Yesterday, the House passed an amendment to the 2012 defense bill which would prevent federal agencies from collecting such data.

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Darrell Issa

Issa Wouldn't Let Witness Testify In Favor Of Disclosure By Government Contractors

Ryan J. Reilly | May 12, 2011, 10:45AM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) refused a request Thursday from the ranking Democratic member, Elijah Cummings (D-MD), to allow the head of a government watchdog to testify in support of an executive order which would require government contractors to disclose more information about their political donations.

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Contractors

State Dept: No One Touched 'Dancing Boy' At DynCorp Party

Rachel Slajda | December 9, 2010, 3:48PM

A still from Frontline's documentary on dancing boys.

Of the Wikileaks cache of diplomatic cables, one of the most potentially salacious is about the entertainment at a party thrown by DynCorp, a U.S. contractor training Afghan police, in April 2009. A 17-year-old boy was hired to dance.

In Afghanistan, hiring "dancing boys" is a long-held practice in which Afghan men hire young men and boys to dress like girls and dance at weddings and other parties. They don't hire girls, because in Afghan society men and women don't mix socially.

The dancing is one thing. But there are other practices associated with the dancing boys. As detailed in a Frontline documentary earlier this year, the boys are sometimes brought to hotels after the parties and prostituted. In some cases, their families sell them to warlords and other prominent Afghanis.

The implication in some of the stories being published now, thanks to the cable just released by Wikileaks, is that the boy hired by DynCorp was likely abused. The cable recounts a meeting in which the then interior minister of Afghanistan begs U.S. diplomats for help keeping the story out of the press, worried, he said, that lives would be in danger.

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Wikileaks

Major Defense Contractor Blocks Anything With 'WikiLeaks' In URL

Ryan J. Reilly | December 3, 2010, 7:38PM

The nation's biggest defense contractors, who employ thousands of people with security clearances, are taking steps to restrict their access to Wikileaks, including one company which is blocking employees from accessing any website, including news stories, with "wikileaks" in the URL.

An employee of one major defense contractor told TPM that she wanted to read our report on the Library of Congress blocking access to WikiLeaks, but was unable to do so because the company blocked the webpage.

"I've clicked on a lot of headlines on many different news sites and any link that includes the dreaded letter sequence ends up displaying the company's 'Access Denied' page," the employee wrote.

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David H. Brooks

Contractor Guilty Of Looting Company To Pay For Lavish Lifestyle, Ruby-Encrusted Flag Belt Buckle

Rachel Slajda | September 14, 2010, 3:42PM

David H. Brooks. On the right, with co-defendant Sandra Hatfield and the $100k buckle.

David H. Brooks, a former contractor who supplied the military with body armor, was found guilty today on 17 counts, including fraud and insider trading, after allegedly stealing millions of dollars from his company and bilking his shareholders.

Prosecutors say Brooks used corporate funds from his company, DHB Industries, to fund a conspicuously lavish lifestyle, complete with luxury cars, thoroughbred racehorses, plastic surgery for his wife, prostitutes for his employees, a $10 million bat mitzvah for his daughter and a $100,000 diamond, sapphire and ruby-encrusted belt buckle in the shape of the American flag.

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Blackwater

NYT: Blackwater's Shell Companies Won Millions In Secret Contracts

Rachel Slajda | September 6, 2010, 12:29PM

A Blackwater employee

According to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Blackwater has created 31 shell companies in order to win military and CIA contracts without revealing its notorious name.

Chairman Carl Levin released a chart of the subsidiaries to the New York Times last week. According to the Times, at least three of the companies have been awarded secret contracts. One official said Blackwater, now called Xe Services, and its subsidiaries have been paid $600 million in classified government deals since 2001.

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Blackwater

Feds: Blackwater Gifted Weapons To King Of Jordan --- Then Lied To Govt. About It

Zachary Roth | April 19, 2010, 2:15PM

King Abdullah II of Jordan and Blackwater troops on the company's compound in Moyock, N.C.

In an effort to win business from the Jordanian government, Blackwater execs gifted Glocks, an M4 rifle, and a shotgun, among other weapons, to the King of Jordan, according to prosecutors. But, say the Feds, the execs then realized they couldn't account for the weapons -- so they falsely told the government that they had bought them as individuals.

In an indictment filed Friday against Blackwater's former president, Gary Jackson, and four other former Blackwater staffers, prosecutors write that in 2005, the company -- now known as Xe Services -- was seeking to gain favor with the government of Jordan, in order to boost its chances of doing business there.

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War In Afghanistan

Number Of Private Security Contractors In Afghanistan Doubles In Just Four Months

Justin Elliott | January 21, 2010, 10:00AM

Private security operators from the British company ArmorGroup escort a supply convoy near Tal Afar, Iraq on October 19, 2006.

The military is increasingly relying on private security contractors as President Obama ramps up the war in Afghanistan, with contractors now making up as much as 30% of the armed force in the country, a just-released congressional report shows.

In the period roughly tracking with President Obama's first nine months in office, the number of Defense Department armed security contractors soared 236% -- from 3,184 to 10,712 between December 2008 to September 2009. The number roughly doubled between June and September 2009 alone.

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Contractors

U.S. Embassy Guards Now Being Recruited On Craigslist

Justin Elliott | January 13, 2010, 12:01PM

Whitestone Group personnel, mounted.

In what has got to be some kind of milestone in the privatization of government security functions, an Ohio firm has turned to online classifieds service Craigslist to recruit guards for the U.S. embassy in Brazil.

An ad from the Whitestone Group, of Columbus, OH, was posted on Craigslist in Miami under the "security jobs" category. Candidates must have not only "experience managing people," but also "Secret Clearance with ability to obtain Top Secret Clearance."

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Military Contractors

Cashing In: Ex-Officers Double As Paid Military 'Mentors' And Contractor Consultants

Justin Elliott | December 30, 2009, 9:35AM

Former Air Force Chief of Staff and Durango Group Founder Gen. Ron Fogleman

Under a newly revealed arrangement that makes the famous "revolving door" seem quaint, retired military officers are simultaneously drawing paychecks both from the government and from private sector businesses gunning for Pentagon contracts, according to a USA Today investigation.

A defense consulting firm out in Colorado called Durango Group, which helps companies obtain DOD contracts, sits at the center of this lucrative arrangement.

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War In Afghanistan

Blackwater, Already On The Ground In Afghanistan, Now Gunning For More Contracts

Justin Elliott | December 21, 2009, 12:23PM

A Blackwater Aviation crew member prepares to drop supplies to an outpost in Bandar, Afghanistan, in 2007.

It looks like the Obama Administration just can't quit the company formerly known as Blackwater.

A Xe official told the Commission on Wartime Contracting Friday that the company has contracts for security as well as for training Afghan police and a "drug interdiction unit." Xe is also in the running for more work in Afghanistan. The comments of Xe Vice President Fred Roitz were first reported by the Virginia Pilot.

It's been a difficult year for Xe, with several former guards facing manslaughter charges over the shootings in Baghdad's Nisour Square that left 17 civilians dead, and company founder Erik Prince declaring he plans to leave the business.

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War In Afghanistan

Dem Rep Launches Probe Of Alleged Contractor Payments To Taliban

Justin Elliott | December 17, 2009, 9:04AM

A convoy of trucks leave Kandahar Air Field.

Private security contractors in Afghanistan are being accused of paying protection money to warlords and the Taliban along convoy routes, prompting an investigation by a House oversight committee.

Walter Pincus at the Washington Post has the story this morning. The staff of Rep. John Tierney (D-MA) has begun an investigation of eight trucking companies that hold a combined $2.2 billion in DOD contracts in Afghanistan.

Tierney, chairman of the House oversight subcommittee on national security and foreign affairs, said in a statement:

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Military Contractors

McCaskill On Afghan War Contractors: 'We're Competing Against Ourselves'

Justin Elliott | December 16, 2009, 5:40PM

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said today that the military may be paying Afghan contractors so much that they are dissuaded from joining the country's army or police force, dealing a blow to the American strategy of building up local forces.

We reported earlier this week that as many as 56,000 new contractors will be hired as Obama escalates the war. Most of the 104,100 DOD contractors currently working in Afghanistan are local nationals providing logistical, transportation, security, and other support.

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War In Afghanistan

DOD: Obama's Afghan Surge Will Rely Heavily On Private Contractors

Justin Elliott | December 15, 2009, 9:29AM

DynCorp instructor with police recruits in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, June 2008.

Private contractors will make up at least half of the total military workforce in Afghanistan going forward, according to Defense Department officials cited in a new congressional study.

As President Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan unfolds, the number of contractors will likely jump by between 16,000 and 56,000, adding up to a total of 120,000-160,000, according to an updated study from the Congressional Research Service.

DOD officials who spoke with the study's author said contractors would make up 50-55 percent of the total workforce -- troops plus contractors -- in the future. This would actually be a significant reduction from the last two years, when contractors have averaged 62 percent of the total.

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War In Afghanistan

Stock Analyst: Obama's Surge Good News For Security Contractor

Justin Elliott | December 3, 2009, 6:33PM

DynCorp instructor with police recruits in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, June 2008.

The White House isn't sure if Obama will be hiring more private contractors for the Afghan war -- there are currently 104,100 in the country -- but one financial analyst thinks it's a go. Reports the AP:

Engineering and construction firm Fluor Corp. and contractor DynCorp International Inc. stand to benefit from the deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, an analyst said Thursday.

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War In Afghanistan

Will Obama Expand Afghan War Contractor Force? Gibbs Says He'll Look Into It

Justin Elliott | December 3, 2009, 1:17PM

Robert Gibbs

Now that we know there are 104,100 private contractors who make the war in Afghanistan possible, TPMDC put the question to Robert Gibbs this morning: will the Obama Administration expand that contractor force, as it sends 30,000 more troops?

Gibbs told our Christina Bellantoni this morning that he isn't sure, but will try to find out.

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War In Afghanistan

How Many Private Contractors Are There In Afghanistan? Military Gives Us A Number

Justin Elliott | December 2, 2009, 2:37PM

Private contractors employed by the Defense Department in Afghanistan will continue to outnumber the size of the American troop presence, even after President Obama sends 30,000 more soldiers to fight in the war, according to the military's most recent contractor count.

The latest figure on DOD contractors in the country is a whopping 104,100, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command tells TPM. That number, which is expected to grow, is already greater than the 98,000 U.S. troops that will be in the country after the new deployments.

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American Police Force

American Private Police Force Faxes One Page Non-Response To AG's Request

Justin Elliott | October 13, 2009, 3:50PM

Michael Hilton

In the least surprising development of the day, American Private Police Force has declined to answer the Montana attorney general's questions seeking information about its (supposed) business and (supposed) past clients.

Attorney General Steve Bullock sent a letter two weeks ago demanding the information, before the deal for APPF to run a jail in Hardin fell apart.

KTVQ in Billings reports:

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Hardin

Hardin To Create Own Police Force -- But Pledges Not To Hire APPF

Zachary Roth | October 7, 2009, 10:02AM

American Police Force logo

We told you this week the contract between Hardin, Montana and American Private Police Force gave the shady security contractor the chance to take over the town's policing needs, in addition to running Hardin's prison. It appears to have been this potential law enforcement responsibility that led APPF to roll into town late last month in three Mercedes SUVs bearing the words "City of Hardin Police Department," setting off a panic that soon spread far beyond Hardin.

Now that the APPF deal seems to have been on hold, you'd think local officials might now be wary of doing anything that might re-open the police force issue. But yesterday, Big Horn County commissioners nonetheless went ahead and voted to allow the city to create its own police department - though only after making assurances that APPF won't get the job.

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