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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Defense Department

Boosted By Jordan, Oil Company Overcharged U.S. Military For Fuel In Iraq

Ryan J. Reilly | September 27, 2011, 6:00AM

A soldier helps guard the Rumelia Oil Field in southern Iraq on April 2, 2003.

An oil company supplying the U.S. military with gas in Iraq was able to overcharge the government because they were the only company authorized by Jordan to transport through their country, according to a Defense Department Inspector General report obtained by TPM via Freedom of Information Request.

The International Oil Trading Company (IOTC) was paid "about $160 to $204 million (or 6 to 7 percent) more for fuel than could be supported by price or cost analysis," according to the report. Investigators also found that Kellogg, Brown, and Root performed an "inherently
governmental function" by accepting fuel on behalf of the government.

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Kabul Embassy

Contractors Who Made Vodka Butt-Shots Famous Still Guarding Kabul Embassy

Ryan J. Reilly | February 17, 2011, 10:55AM

U.S. Embassy in Kabul

The security firm that guards the Kabul embassy and got caught up in a scandal that "introduced the world to vodka butt-shots" is still on the job and doesn't appear to have plans to leave Afghanistan anytime soon, Mother Jones reports.

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Military Contractors

Accused Rapist Found Working As Contractor In Iraq

Rachel Slajda | January 13, 2011, 10:33AM

Daniel Phillips

A Virginia man facing charges of raping an underage girl has been found, after five years, working as a contractor in Iraq.

Norfolk police tracked down Daniel Phillips, 46, this week, with the help of the U.S. Marshals, the State Department and NCIS, and brought him back to Virginia to face the charges stemming from an incident in 2004 or 2005.

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Drones

Miami Police Could Become First To Use Drones In A U.S. City

Eric Lach | January 7, 2011, 8:42AM

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when drones come for you?

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Military Contractors

Pentagon Loosens Conflict-of-Interest Rules For Lucrative Defense Contracts

Rachel Slajda | January 5, 2011, 8:38AM

The Pentagon

As 2010 drew to a close, the Pentagon quietly changed a conflict-of-interest rule, loosening restrictions for defense companies working under lucrative government contracts.

Under the old rule, Pentagon officials who oversaw contracts could investigate potential conflicts of interest and break up deals because of them. Under the new rule, such reviews only apply to major contracts.

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Air Force

Air Force's New Gorgon Stare Drones Will 'See Everything'

Eric Lach | January 4, 2011, 8:27AM

In a matter of months, the Air Force hopes to start using a new airborne surveillance system called Gorgon Stare, which officials say will give soldiers the ability to monitor activity in real time across an entire city.

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Drones

Border Patrol: This Is The First Mexican Drone Crash We've Had

Rachel Slajda | December 17, 2010, 2:51PM

A spokesman for U.S. Customs & Border Patrol, the agency which found a small Mexican drone after it crashed in an El Paso neighborhood, told CNN today that it's the first time a Mexican drone has crashed on U.S. soil.

Officials confirm the drone, which crashed in residential yard Tuesday, was an unmanned, radio-controlled craft called an Orbiter Mini UAV owned by the Mexican government. Border Patrol was the first to respond to the crash, and has since turned the investigation over the the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates plane crashes.

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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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Military Contractors

Gates Announces Big Cuts To Contractor Funding

Rachel Slajda | August 9, 2010, 3:59PM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in announcing new cost-saving measures for the Pentagon, said the DOD will dramatically cut funding for service support contractors, by 10 percent each year for the next three years.

He cited a "dramatic increase in the use of service support and advisory contractors" over the last 10 years -- from 26 percent of workforce spending in 2000 to 39 percent last year. And that's "not counting contractors supporting the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan."

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Corruption

Duke Cunningham Briber Rakes In $10K At Poker Tourney (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 28, 2010, 1:30PM

Brent Wilkes, the former defense contractor who was convicted in 2007 of bribing then-Rep. Duke Cunningham, in March raked in $10,900 when he recently won a World Series of Poker tournament at a California casino.

Wilkes, a professed poker aficionado, used cards as a way one way to bribe Cunningham, letting the Congressman win at poker, as his nephew testified. He also hosted poker games for lawmakers at the Watergate and other hotels.

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David H. Brooks

Contractor On Trial For Buying Porn, Prostitutes And $100K Flag Belt Buckle

Rachel Slajda | July 27, 2010, 11:06AM

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

The former head of a military contractor is on trial in Long Island for fraud, having allegedly used company funds to buy porn for his son, a burial plot for his mother, prostitutes for his employees and a ruby-encrusted American flag belt buckle worth $100,000.

David H. Brooks, the founder and former chief of body armor manufacturer DHB, is facing charges of fraud, insider trading and using millions of dollars in corporate cash to fund, as the New York Times puts it, "personal extravagance."

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Military Contractors

WaPo: U.S. Intelligence System Too Massive To Be Effective

Rachel Slajda | July 19, 2010, 9:55AM

The Pentagon

The Washington Post's big story on the country's sprawling intelligence system and the military contractors it employs -- the same story that caused the State Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence concern over what it reveals -- was published today.

The two-year project, compiled from public records, finds that the U.S. intelligence system has grown so much since Sept. 11, 2001, that it has become too big to manage or even fully understand.

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Blackwater

Obama Just Can't Quit Blackwater

Justin Elliott | June 28, 2010, 12:02PM

A Blackwater employee

In fairness, Barack Obama never said he wanted to quit Blackwater. But it's still notable that the troubled firm made famous by helping to fight George W. Bush's wars has become a permanent part of the U.S. foreign policy tableau, with news of two big contracts issued to the firm by the Obama Administration in recent weeks.

CIA chief Leon Panetta, whose agency's $100 million contract with Blackwater for security in Afghanistan was recently revealed, explained on ABC Sunday (emphasis ours):

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War In Afghanistan

Blackwater Snags $120 Million Contract In Afghanistan

Justin Elliott | June 21, 2010, 1:51PM

private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Whether or not Erik Prince is fleeing America for the United Arab Emirates, his military contracting company continues to thrive on lucrative government contracts.

The latest: the Obama Administration has awarded Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, with a $120 million contract to provide security for U.S. consulates in Afghanistan. The contract could last as long as 18 months.

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Blackwater

Blackwater Gets Into The Retail And Merchandising Game

Eric Lach | June 8, 2010, 11:56AM

Don't know what gift to get for the paramilitary-enthusiast in your life? Look no further then the Blackwater proshop. That's right, Blackwater, also known as Xe, also known as the private military contracting outfit at the center of a number of controversies in Iraq and Afghanistan, is getting into the retail game.

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Xe

Blackwater: There Will Be No GOP Fundraiser At Moyock Compound

Justin Elliott | March 4, 2010, 5:36PM

RNC Chair Michael Steele and a Blackwater training session

A Xe spokesman says that, contra a slide in the leaked RNC fundraising presentation, the Republican Party will not be holding an April fundraiser at the company's Moyock, North Carolina, training compound.

"The RNC is not coming to Moyock," spokesman Mark Corallo tells TPMmuckraker in an e-mail. "However, like the many corporations and organizations who choose our facilities for retreats and conferences, we would be happy to host the RNC and the DNC."

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DynCorp International Inc.

IG: Single Staffer Assigned To Oversee $2.5 Billion Dyncorp Iraq Contract

Justin Elliott | January 25, 2010, 9:33AM

Iraqi police officers stand at attention

It's hardly news that U.S. government contracts in Iraq have been a mess of fraud, abuse, and lax oversight for years. But a new Inspector General report that reveals the State Department assigned just one oversight officer to a $2.5 billion police training contract still manages to shock.

The report (.pdf) released today by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction is the second study in the past few years that showed lax or nonexistent oversight on the large police training contract of Virginia-based Dyncorp.

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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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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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War In Afghanistan

As Obama Sends More Troops, Giant Shadow Army Of Contractors Set To Grow In Afghanistan

Justin Elliott | December 1, 2009, 3:09PM

Contractors watch for threats on plane departing from Forward Operating Base Sharana in Eastern Afghanistan in May of 2009.

With President Obama addressing the nation tonight about a new escalation in Afghanistan, a perennially underexamined topic is once again receiving short shrift: the huge force of contractors, which as of June outnumbered the size of the U.S. troop presence itself, is likely to swell.

The Administration seemingly hasn't addressed the issue, and the word "contractor" doesn't appear much in media coverage -- for example, in the Times and Post stories on the escalation today.

But David Berteau, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells TPM that as Obama increases troop levels to at least 100,000, "there will definitely be an increase in the number of contractors."

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