Feral Jundi

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Industry Talk: General Tata And Erik Prince On A Plan For Syria

Filed under: Industry Talk,Syria — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 5:25 PM

This a great post for the new year. Basically Erik Prince, with the help of a former Brigadier General Tata, are applying the model of the Prince Plan to Syria. The administration wants to pull the troops out of Syria, and this private plan is a way to continue providing assistance to those that are still in the fight without committing troops there.

What is unique here is that this Syria operation would be a test for what Erik wants to do in Afghanistan. It should be noted that the administration has also called for a significant troop reduction in Afghanistan as well. Could Syria become the test ground for such a plan? Tata and Prince think so, and this is their appeal to the President.

So how what does the political environment look like for these plans? At this time, all the impediments to the original Prince Plan are gone. Secretary of Defense Mattis is gone, HR McMaster is gone, and John Kelly is gone. So at this time, there really isn’t a strong opposition group to influence the President to go one way or the other. Prince was quoted that HR McMaster was very much opposed to the Prince Plan. With all of these folks gone and replaced, I think things are favorable to at least considering these options.

Further, the ideology of Mick Mulvaney, who is the acting White House Chief of Staff has libertarian leanings. He was involved with Senator Rand Paul’s campaign for President, and Rand leans libertarian. Guess who else leans libertarian? Erik Prince.

The two things that popped out that were interesting here, was the reference to the Flying Tigers, and an identification of his proposed force structure. He mentioned some key acronyms of the plan that would be used for both Syria and later in Afghanistan.

Other threats, though, loom on the horizon, and the United States can husband its military forces, reduce operational costs, and prepare for future combat by employing private Military Mentor Teams (MMT), Aviation Support Units (ASU), and Governance Support Elements (GSE). We can do this first in Syria with an economy of force and then review the lessons learned as we transition into Afghanistan.

Another deal to mention is that Erik was seen in two interviews of interest, one with CNN and the other Fox. In both of these interviews he was asked about Syria and a private option. Yet again, the Flying Tigers were mentioned as an example of the United States using private forces to implement policy overseas.

What is curious here is that if these forces deployed to Syria, we might actually see a situation where a PMSC is in position to fight a PMSC. Something I have speculated about over the years, but really haven’t seen an example of in modern warfare. PMC Wagner is a Russian PMSC that is currently in Syria, and the US forces in Syria have clashed with this company before. So it is not totally impossible for a situation like PMSC vs PMSC to happen. 

We will see how it goes. –Matt

 

Tata & Prince: Precedent for Syria, Afghanistan pullout lies with WWII-era Flying Tigers
January 19, 2019
By Erik Prince and Brigadier Gen. Anthony J. Tata
President Trump is right to continue his drive to remove combat troops from Syria and Afghanistan and can cite the success of the privatized Flying Tigers in World War II as a way of finding economy of force during transition operations.

U.S. troops have been carrying the lion’s share of these fights and have mostly accomplished the original missions of each. In Syria, ISIS is largely defeated, save rogue terrorists that will continue to attempt asymmetric attacks. In Afghanistan, Coalition forces have trained and equipped 175,000 Afghan National Army and 150,000 Afghan National Police Forces that can secure their country.

To be sure, we maintain strategic interests in each of the regions. In Syria, we need to deny an Iranian land bridge to Israel and the Mediterranean Sea. In Afghanistan we need to ensure the Afghan government can deny sanctuary to terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda to prevent planning of attacks against the homeland.

Other threats, though, loom on the horizon, and the United States can husband its military forces, reduce operational costs, and prepare for future combat by employing private Military Mentor Teams (MMT), Aviation Support Units (ASU), and Governance Support Elements (GSE). We can do this first in Syria with an economy of force and then review the lessons learned as we transition into Afghanistan.

The private force will be almost entirely former military and law enforcement from multiple countries. Veterans serving again ensures experienced combat-seasoned personnel will be coaching, teaching, and mentoring indigenous forces. The historical case study for this common-sense, cost-saving action that bolsters our alliances and ensures achievement of our enduring strategic interests is the Flying Tigers in the pre-World War II era.

The Flying Tigers were privatized pilots from the U.S. Army Air Corps, Navy, and Marine Corps. President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized their establishment and mission to protect the Chinese against Japanese aggression in 1941. After training in Burma, the Flying Tigers saw combat against Japan less than two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Its members were paid double or triple the salary of their military counterparts and they achieved mission success. Official records show they destroyed nearly 300 Japanese aircraft. They were disbanded in July 1942 when the 23rd Fighter Group assumed much of their equipment and mission.

The Flying Tiger example is one where a private force was well-positioned before conflict, setting the conditions for transition into conflict for the U.S. Air Force. Instead of on the front end of conflict, today’s need in Syria and Afghanistan is on the back end, to facilitate U.S. withdrawal and maintenance of hard-fought gains by Coalition Forces.

The real opportunity now is to transition in Syria first and learn from that experience before committing to a transition plan in Afghanistan. The move makes sense in every respect. The U.S. has invested nearly $1 trillion in Afghanistan since the war’s inception and has another $50 billion on tap for 2019. The privatized force can do the job about 85 percent cheaper with the prospect of being more effective. The Military Mentor Teams, Aviation Support Units, and Governance Support Elements are scaled and embedded with the indigenous forces for the duration of the fight, not rotating every six to 12 months. The need on the ground in both Syria and Afghanistan is for continued foreign internal defense, which only our special forces units can provide. The U.S. military doesn’t have enough special forces units to be everywhere they are needed.

History supports presidential authorization for the use of private military contractors during transition operations to help the U.S. and its allies achieve strategic aims. Now is the time to begin the transition, secure our vital interests, and husband our precious resources.

Retired US Army Brigadier Gen. Anthony J. Tata, Brigadier General, was the deputy commanding general of U.S. forces in Afghanistan from 2006-07

Erik Prince is CEO of Frontier Resource Group

Story here.

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Books: Shotguns And Stagecoaches-The Brave Men Who Rode For Wells Fargo, By John Boessenecker

Filed under: Books,History — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 1:13 PM

Wells Fargo shotgun messengers.

 

Now this is the kind of history I like digging into. I have talked about how important private security was during the early years of the US, like the Pinkertons, and Wells Fargo is another one to add to the list.

When you think of today’s Wells Fargo, you think of a large bank. You really don’t think about the history of the company and it’s impact on the expansion out west in early America. This book digs into that history, and specifically on the company’s use of armed guards or ‘shotgun messengers‘ for protecting valuable shipments. These men were called that because they were typically armed with shotguns.

In Iraq or Afghanistan, a large portion of security contracting work involved protecting goods and people during transport through really bad places. The vernacular of these wars included terms like Trunk Monkey, or the guy in the back of the truck or suburban armed with a machine gun to cover the rear sector of a convoy or motorcade. Back in the wild west, it was ‘shotgun messenger’ or what the novelists and journalists coined as ‘riding shotgun’. Yep, next time you hear someone say ‘I get shotgun’, that is a phrase that was directly born out of  the wild west when Wells Fargo’s used armed guards on stage coaches and trains.

In popular culture, the shotgun messenger was definitely represented in film. Here is one called Tales of Wells Fargo that ran for 6 seasons back in the fifties and sixties.

Here is a description of the book.

The true stories of the Wild West heroes who guarded the iconic Wells Fargo stagecoaches and trains, battling colorful thieves, vicious highwaymen, and robbers armed with explosives.

The phrase “riding shotgun” was no teenage game to the men who guarded stagecoaches and trains the Western frontier. Armed with sawed-off, double-barreled shotguns and an occasional revolver, these express messengers guarded valuable cargo through lawless terrain. They were tough, fighting men who risked their lives every time they climbed into the front boot of a Concord coach.

Boessenecker introduces soon-to-be iconic personalities like “Chips” Hodgkins, an express rider known for his white mule and his ability to outrace his competitors, and Henry Johnson, the first Wells Fargo detective. Their lives weren’t just one shootout after another—their encounters with desperadoes were won just as often with quick wits and memorized-by-heart knowledge of the land.

The highway robbers also get their due. It wouldn’t be a book about the Wild West without Black Bart, the most infamous stagecoach robber of all time, and Butch Cassidy’s gang, America’s most legendary train robbers.

Through the Gold Rush and the early days of delivery with horses and saddlebags, to the heyday of stagecoaches and huge shipments of gold, and finally the rise of the railroad and the robbers who concocted unheard-of schemes to loot trains, Wells Fargo always had courageous men to protect its treasure. Their unforgettable bravery and ingenuity make this book a thrilling read.

Here is a clip from the introduction of the book. I thought this was interesting about actual numbers of armed guards.

 

 

 

From the introduction of the book.

Here is a review of the book by Criminal Element.

 

Monday, December 17, 2018

Industry Talk: US Goes Back To Somalia, With PMSC Help

Filed under: Africa,Industry Talk,Somalia — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 12:24 PM

A picture of the old US Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia.

This story is pretty cool. The other day SOC put out a deal on Facebook that they were glad to be a part of the US establishing a permanent diplomatic presence in Somalia. I thought that was interesting, because we haven’t had an official presence there since 1991. The US closed the embassy because of how dangerous it was and have operated out of Kenya for Somalia diplomatic business. The Battle of Mogadishu is a good example of how bad it really was at the time and the US leaving was quite the episode.

Fast forward to now, and here we are opening up shop in Mogadishu. Apparently the old embassy is not being used and the current office is somewhere near the airport. Surprisingly there are quite a few embassies that are open in Mogadishu, and many of them use the services of PMSC’s or private logistics companies to take care of their people.

The reason for this latest move? It is a combination of the past administrations efforts to establish a presence in Somalia, and partly due to the current administrations new Africa strategy.

As to this specific deal with SOC, Department of State actually put out on FBO that details exactly what is going on. SOC was picked because they had the people with the right qualifications and the license to do security work in Somalia. They even had to do this as a soul source because of how fast this need to be stood up. Here are the reasons, and because SOC had all of this in place, they won.

1. Licenses: Host nation licenses are often the source of significant delays, especially when mobilizing for new work. The prime must be licensed to provide security services in Somalia and registered to conduct business in Kenya. Having both these licenses mitigates the substantial risk of performance delays due to approval of new licenses.

2. Clearances: Bio-approvals and SECRET level security clearances for newly hired personnel can exceed ninety days. Vendors without an actively employed, approved, and cleared labor pool have a much higher risk of failing to meet the mobilization timeline.

3. Training: The first step for any non-performing WPS II vendor selected for this requirement would be to submit training curricula to the Department. The Department would have to approve these curricula (a minimum of one week) and to have instructors reviewed and approved (one to two weeks), and then begin training. Completion of training requirements varies but can extend to several months.

4. Availability: Required resources must be readily available for deployment.

The amount paid for these initial services was $15 million, and I am sure that will only go up in future contracts. According to the DoS award, once the presence is established in Somalia, then they would go back to a more competitive WPS 2 IDIQ set up.

So with that said, would they be going back to the original compound where the embassy once stood? Who knows… I know the Somalis gave the US the deed to that compound. The question though is if it is a good spot from a security point of view and do we actually want to rehab that site? Either way, it is private security that answered the call and helped bring the US back to that country. That is significant and bravo to all those involved. –Matt

US Restores ‘Permanent Diplomatic Presence’ in Somalia
The United States has resumed a “permanent diplomatic presence” in Somalia’s capital after an absence of nearly throe decades.State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that the new mission opened Sunday. “This historic event reflects Somalia’s progress in recent years and is another step forward in formalizing U.S. diplomatic engagement in Mogadishu,” the statement read.The U.S. formally recognized Somalia’s new federal government in 2013, but has based its diplomatic outpost at the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.Veteran U.S. diplomat Donald Yamamoto arrived in Mogadishu last month as Washington’s ambassador to Somalia.The new mission will not be a full U.S. embassy, and some diplomatic staff are expected to remain stationed in Kenya.The U.S. embassy was closed in January 1991 when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and Somalia descended into civil and anarchy.Then-President George H.W. Bush deployed U.S. forces to Somalia in late 1992 to provide stability and allow aid to reach suffering Somalis.But the mission turned tragic months later, when two U.S. military helicopters were shot down and 18 U.S. soldiers killed during an operation against a warlord.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Industry Talk: A Symposium On PMSC Influence On International Security And Foreign Policy Part 1

Filed under: Industry Talk,South Africa — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:47 PM

Last month a pretty unique deal went down in Georgia that I definitely wanted to get on the blog. This was a symposium on all things PMSC, which is awesome. What made it even more unique was the inclusion of so many big names in this industry, along with some familiar academics and authors. So the industry was well represented in this deal, and it is worth talking about here.

My posts on the event will coincide with the youtube videos they put out. There were three of them, so this will be a three part series.

For initial impressions, the South African industry was well represented in this event. Matter of fact, 13 countries were represented in this Symposium and all topics and companies related to this industry were covered, and not just western ones. It was refreshing to see that kind of focus, because there is an entire world of contracting out there that does not get the same attention that western companies do.

So let’s get started. Dr. Edward Mienie and others were fantastic in putting this together and reaching out to the various players in this industry. He was able to get such names as Eeben Barlow, Erik Prince, Dr. Sean McFate, Johan Raath, and Dr. Molly Dunnigan. The other panelists were also interesting to listen to because of the amount of work they have contributed to their specific topics. These were legal experts, academics, cyber experts, etc. all who had some speciality and topic that related to this industry and current events.

For part 1, here are the list of panelists in this video and where in the video they begin to talk.

 

16:41 –      Event Starts

25:17 –      Dr. Billy Wells

30:13 –     Mr. Eeben Barlow

1:32:17 –   Panel Introduction

1:36:22 –  Dr. Molly Dunigan

1:50:08 –  Mr. Johan Raath

2:06:26 –  Dr. Abel Esterhuyse

2:20:02 –  Dr. Kiril Avramov

2:35:03 –   Panel Discussion: Influences on Foreign Policy

3:06:40 –  Dr. Edward Mienie

 

I do not want to go into great detail on each, because I would much rather the reader watch and ponder. But I will bring up some stuff that I thought was interesting for each individual or the panel.

First up is Eeben, and he did his portion on what STTEP did in Nigeria. I have written about that in the past, and he goes into further detail about the contract. The amount of detail was excellent and I imagine a book will come out about it at some point. He does discuss a little of what they did in Nigeria in his Composite Warfare book, but looking at all the details presented about Operation Anvil, it requires it’s own treatment.

The big idea here is that STTEP trained the Nigerian forces for 2 months, and fought ‘with’ the Nigerians for one month, and were able to take back territory from Boko Haram the size of Belgium. But this was a train and mentor game, with an emphasis on mentoring. Eeben emphasized building trust with his Nigerian clients, and what that required. To experience the same hardships and accommodations and food and be prepared to work with minimal equipment. To ‘Leave as friends that will be missed’. Excellent stuff and why the west is not telling Nigeria to continue this contract with STTEP so that BH can be destroyed is beyond me.

Definitely check out the slides the Eeben put together and he put up a lessons learned deal as well. What they encountered in Nigeria has lessons for any military or private company wanting to do the same.

 

Eeben Barlow Slide on Lessons Learned in Nigeria.

 

For some cool tidbits, he was asked a question from the audience about BH’s weaknesses. He said that they do not understand the principle of the defense–or that they break contact and run under pressure.

He was also asked about equipment and it was pretty sparse and crappy from the sounds of it. They were constantly running out of 12.7 mm ammo, and Nigerian logistics were lacking. He was also asked if companies like STTEP are quick fixes or lasting? His reply is that a PMSC can create the conditions, but the end result is up to the government.

For more on Eeben’s portion of this Symposium, take it over to Facebook and read his posts about his part. Very interesting discussion and lots of commentary and support from his readers.

 

 

The Panel Discussion included Dr. Molly Dunnigan, Johan Raath, Dr. Abel Esterhaus, and Dr. Kiril Avramov. Molly discussed RAND‘s work on contractors and discussed privatizing the Afghan war. (a nod to Erik Prince and the Prince Plan).

The Prince Plan seemed to be a theme that everyone wanted to talk about or reference. What Erik is proposing is pretty radical, and it was smart for folks to dig into the what ifs. Molly took the position of bringing up reasons against it I guess. Or just bringing up some of the issues that have come up over the years. Some of that stuff she got right, but other stuff was off.

Luckily Johan Raath was there to give some counter to Molly’s position. He was representing the guy on the ground. Johan is South African and contracted in Iraq and served in the military in SA. He also has a book out called Blood Money, which is about his experiences as a contractor in Iraq.

One point that he brought up was that his company in Iraq was the first to use aircraft. They had to get engineers into Ramadi, and could not do ground movements because of all of the combat operations going on. I am sure his book details more of that, and that was some cool history. He also mentioned that 38 South Africans were killed in Iraq. I worked with one of the guys on that list, and it was a reminder to the audience of the South African contribution and sacrifice in these wars.

 

Next up on the panel was Dr. Abel Esterhaus, another South African who talked about the PMSC industry in that country. He also talked about how much the economy in SA is dependent on private security because the crime is so bad there. But he also made a key point about SA’s private military aspect. That SA PMSC’s have a successful track record of fighting wars, with a mention of Angola, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. Of course this is a nod to Eeben’s STTEP and EO.

The final panelist in this discussion was Dr. Kiril Avramov. His focus was on Russian PMSC’s, and specifically how Russian companies are used to fortify or advance political, economic, and military interests. That Russia is experimenting and using private forces like PMC Wagner as part of a Hybrid Warfare strategy.

Probably of interest here is the idea that Russia did not use conventional forces to invade Ukraine and take territory. They used proxy forces, which included private companies like PMC Wagner to operate in that grey zone long enough until they achieved an objective.

Some interesting stuff brought up was Article 359, which prohibits mercenary activities, and the effort to legalize these companies. He also talked about the phases of Russian experimentation with PMSCs’s, starting with the Ukraine, then the Slavonic Corps experience in Syria and their failure, and then on to PMC Wagner and their work.

He actually listed their offense in Palmyra in 2016 as a success. Very interesting, and you could file that under another successful use of a PMSC for offensive operations. Of course in Syria, PMC Wagner has had some failures and clashes with western forces. But the big one is the future of groups like PMC Wagner, and that future is Africa. Libya, CAR, Sudan, etc. are all places that PMC Wagner is working, and I am sure more will follow. The point of his talk is that Russian PMSC’s are not going away, and they are evolving.

One factoid that came up is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to Moscow six times to help deconflict between Israeli forces and the forces of PMC Wagner. Dr. Daniel Papp mentioned that one and that gives you an idea of how complex the battlefield is in Syria. February of this year, PMC Wagner got into a fight with US forces and it did not go well for them. We have absolutely been focused on deconfliction in Syria between all parties, and private forces cannot be excluded in that battle space.

The panel finished up with some questions. One question that was asked was if the Military and PMSCs do fellowships? Like the military actually sending someone to a company. I thought it was an intriguing thought, and I do not know of any company out there that does this. Nor did any of the panelists know of such a thing.

What does happen though is that guys who are National Guardsmen or Reservists contract with the companies. But that is on an individual basis, and there is no official exchange program that I am aware of. Would the military benefit from sending someone to DynCorp? Maybe, and it is worth exploring.

The final speaker was Dr. Eddie Mienie and went into detail about South Africa’s security situation. That SA is a fragile state and that the increased use of PMSC’s there are a sign of latent state fragility.

One thing of note when he spoke is that Erik Prince was in the audience in the front row, and asked him a question about the white farmer murders going on that country.

To me, that was the neat part about this symposium. It was not just a bunch of academics but a mix of folks, and both sides of the arguments were well represented. In other words, there was balance. The next post will be Part 2 of this Symposium, with Erik Prince presenting his plan for Afghanistan and some great commentary from panelists about the pros and cons of such a thing. –Matt

 

Monday, December 10, 2018

Film: Triple Frontier

Filed under: Film,South America — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 1:35 PM

This just came up on my radar and I had to post it here. It has the same feel of Sicario if folks were interested in that film. The actors in this are some heavyweights as well and it is neat to see groups like Netflix put stuff like this together. Now the question is if the story works?

My interest in it is obvious. This is a story about former special operations folks who decide to go rob a drug cartel as a means to supplement their ‘retirement’. I think the comment I had heard the most on FB that rings true, is what infantryman or soldier has not thought about robbing thugs like that? lol

As to the background, Mark Boal was the writer for this and apparently there were some big names attached to this at one point (Tom Hanks, Tom Hardy, Mark Wahlberg, Will Smith, etc.). Here is a the plot. The title is in reference to this area of South America. March 2019 is the release date. –Matt

 

Five former Special Forces operatives reunite to plan a heist in a sparsely populated multi-border zone of South America. For the first time in their prestigious careers these unsung heroes undertake this dangerous mission for self instead of country. But when events take an unexpected turn and threaten to spiral out of control, their skills, their loyalties and their morals are pushed to a breaking point in an epic battle for survival.

 

The cast of Triple Frontier

 

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