¶ Blackwater
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Blackwater, also known as Blackwater USA, Blackwater Worldwide and Xe Services, was an American private military firm. It was initially based in Moyock, North Carolina, moving to Arlington, Virginia in 2011.[1] It was co-founded by Erik Prince and Al Clark.[2][3]
¶ History
Former Navy SEAL Al Clark initially conceived of the idea for Blackwater, bringing it to Erik Prince who offered to fund the startup through The Prince Group.[4]
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Blackwater Lodge and Training Center Inc. was incorporated on December 26, 1996 in Delaware.[5] The facility officially opened on May 15, 1998.[6] Clark left the company in 2000, citing "philosophical differences."[4:1]
In January 2002, Erik Prince and Jamie Smith co-founded Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC). BSC was described as Smith's "brainchild."[7][8] In the fall of 2003, Blackwater was awarded a $27.7 million contract from the United States Department of Defense to create "a Frankenstein brigade of highly visible hired guns," and provide a security detail to the Iraq Survey Group.[6:1]
In the fall of 2006, Blackwater acquired a second training facility in Mount Carroll, Illinois called Impact Training Center.[9]
¶ Xe Services
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The company changed its name to Xe Services in 2009.[10] In late 2010, Prince sold his stake in the company to USTC Holdings. He maintained ownership of the "Blackwater" name.[1:1]
Ted Wright became president and CEO of the rebranded company in June 2011, moving its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia.[1:2]
In the summer of 2011, the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan recommended curtailing the government's use of private-security contractors, with Bernie Sanders and Jan Schakowsky introducing legislation to phase out private-security contractors in conflict zones.[1:3]
¶ Academi
In December 2011, the company announced it would be renamed once again to Academi.[11] In early June 2014, Academi merged with Triple Canopy to form Constellis Holdings,[12] which subsequently acquired Constellis Group on June 6, 2014.[13]
¶ COVID-19
On December 22, 2020, President Donald Trump pardoned former Blackwater contractors Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard of their convictions of murder and manslaughter.[9:1]
¶ Organization
Blackwater operated a number of subdivisions, including:
- Blackwater Aviation[14]
- Blackwater Security Consulting[15]
- Blackwater Target Systems[16]
- Blackwater Vehicles
- Impact Training Center
¶ Partners
¶ Personnel
¶ External links
Hodge, N. (2011, September 28). Contractor Tries to Shed Blackwater Past. Wall Street Journal. http://archive.today/2019.12.14-042510/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203405504576599123967308168 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Flintoff, C. (2007, September 25). Blackwater’s Prince Has GOP, Christian Group Ties. NPR. http://archive.today/2012.06.29-164147/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14659780 ↩︎ ↩︎
Obituary information for Alfred (Al) Ray Clark. (2015). H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments. http://archive.today/2023.11.13-075221/https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Alfred-Al-Ray-Clark?obId=2019859 ↩︎ ↩︎
Sizemore, B., & Kimberlin, J. (2006, July 24). Blackwater | Part 2: Profitable Patriotism. The Virginian-Pilot. http://archive.today/2023.11.17-164655/https://www.pilotonline.com/2006/07/24/blackwater-part-2-profitable-patriotism/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Falconer, B. (2007, October 9). Making a Killing: A Blackwater Timeline. Mother Jones. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113073145/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/10/making-killing-blackwater-timeline/ ↩︎
Pelton, R. Y. (2010, November 30). An American Commando in Exile. Men’s Journal. http://archive.today/2011.06.14-181306/http://www.mensjournal.com/an-american-commando-in-exile/3 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Scahill, J. (2009, August 21). Making Sense Of The Blackwater Connection. CBS News. http://archive.today/2021.08.07-054423/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/making-sense-of-the-blackwater-connection/ ↩︎
Smith, J. (2015). Gray Work: Confessions of an American Paramilitary Spy (p. 19). Harper Collins. https://www.amazon.ca/Gray-Work-Confessions-American-Paramilitary/dp/0062271695?asin=0062271695&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1 ↩︎ ↩︎
Private Military Companies: Blackwater. (2019, March 21). Silent Professionals. http://archive.today/2023.02.05-144942/https://silentprofessionals.org/blackwater/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Ukman, J. (2011, December 12). Ex-Blackwater firm gets a name change, again. Washington Post. https://web.archive.org/web/20171002022850/https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20171002022850/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/ex-blackwater-firm-gets-a-name-change-again/2011/12/12/gIQAXf4YpO_blog.html?utm_term=.2af0e5b3b79f ↩︎
Former Blackwater firm renamed again. (2011, December 12). BBC News. https://web.archive.org/web/20231115065523/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-16149971 ↩︎
Brannen, K. (2014, July 1). Blackwater’s Descendants Are Doing Just Fine. Foreign Policy. http://archive.today/2020.07.03-143441/https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/07/01/blackwaters-descendants-are-doing-just-fine/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Constellis Holdings, Inc. Acquires Constellis Group, Inc. (2014, June 6). PR Newswire. https://web.archive.org/web/20140707032259/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/constellis-holdings-inc-acquires-constellis-group-inc-262388561.html ↩︎
Blackwater Aviation. Blackwater USA. Retrieved February 4, 2005, from https://web.archive.org/web/20050204010920/http://www.blackwaterusa.com/aviation/index.html ↩︎
BSC Home. Blackwater Security Consulting. Retrieved September 24, 2002, from https://web.archive.org/web/20020924094525/http://blackwatersecurity.com/ ↩︎
Home. Blackwater Target Systems. Retrieved August 5, 2004, from https://web.archive.org/web/20040805060942/http://blackwatertargets.com/ ↩︎
Strategic Partners. Total Intelligence Solutions. Retrieved April 1, 2007, from https://web.archive.org/web/20070401070643/http://www.totalintel.com/dsp_aboutus_partners.php ↩︎
Admin Staff. Blackwater USA. Retrieved October 20, 2002, from https://web.archive.org/web/20021020051502/http://blackwaterusa.com/adminstaff.html ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Ambassador Cofer Black Becomes Vice-Chairman at Blackwater USA. (2005, February 4). Blackwater USA. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195739/http://www.blackwaterusa.com/press/cofer.asp ↩︎
Mr. Robert Richer. (2014). United States Naval Academy. https://web.archive.org/web/20231117170027/https://www.usna.edu/LeadershipConference/Archive/2014/Panelist - Richer.php ↩︎
Black, B. (2010, July 29). Learn how to Gather Intel with SCG International: The Graduate School of Tactical Training. ITS Tactical. https://web.archive.org/web/20230206023953/https://www.itstactical.com/intellicom/tradecraft/learn-how-to-gather-intel-with-scg-international-the-graduate-school-of-tactical-training/ ↩︎
Ackerman, S. (2011, May 4). Blackwater’s New Ethics Chief: John Ashcroft. Wired. http://archive.today/2020.03.11-060247/https://www.wired.com/2011/05/blackwaters-new-ethics-chief-john-ashcroft/ ↩︎
Dana, S. (2017, March 2). Thomas Williams Joins Protection From Abuse. Protection from Abuse. http://archive.today/2023.06.13-085018/https://protectionfromabuse.org/thomas-williams-joins-protection-abuse/ ↩︎
David Lopez. Mission Six Zero. Retrieved August 30, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.08.30-035148/https://missionsixzero.com/our-team/david-lopez/ ↩︎
Moon, M. E., Gallagher, F., & Del Vecchio, J. M. (2015). Review of The Bremer Detail: Protecting The Most Threatened Man In The World. Journal of Strategic Security, 8(1-2), 86–89. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26465208 ↩︎
Kirsch, N. (2021, December 22). Lewd Texts & Secret Missions: Inside Billionaire Michael Goguen’s Wild Life. The Daily Beast. http://archive.today/2021.12.24-114716/https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-billionaire-michael-goguens-wild-life-in-whitefish-montana ↩︎