Feral Jundi

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Industry Talk: In Memory Of The Security Contractors Killed On 9/11

On this day, we memorialize all those that perished on September 11, 2001 at the hands of terrorists. We remember the sacrifice of those that responded to the incident and died or were wounded. Much attention in fact is given to the sacrifice of the brave fire fighters, police officers, first responders and soldiers that were killed that day. What is not really talked about is the sacrifice of private security contractors that died on that day.

Below I have found a list compiled by one website that did the work to find these names. I have also searched through the various databases that lists the deaths to find out how many died within the various companies involved. According to the statistics, Summit Security Services lost the most personnel on that day. That number was eleven. OCS Security lost five personnel that day.

In the world of security contracting, just one or two guys getting killed in an incident is huge. An IED here, a shooting incident there–these deaths send shockwaves throughout the community. This is because usually guys know the contractors killed or have one degree of separation. I look back at my time in this industry and I have met quite a few folks, and this is a very small community.

Within the company though, deaths really hit hard because these guys are a part of the ‘family’. The human resource office, the project manager, the CEO, the friends and families, and even the clients the companies serve, all grieve when one of their own is killed. They also build memorials to those killed.

So when I see that Summit Security Services lost eleven men that day, I just imagine how devastating that really was to the company. An example of other great sacrifices within a non-security company that day was Cantor Fitzgerald. They lost 658 people… A truly horrible loss and it takes real leadership to carry the company forward and heal.

In the past I have written about the sacrifice and heroism of Rick Rescorla, who is probably the most familiar security contractor to have died on 9/11. Today in my little corner of the internet and blogosphere, I wanted to not only remember the deaths and sacrifices of all persons involved on 9/11, but also give a special remembrance to those security contractors that died that day in defense of their client. Below are a list of 36 security contractors killed, and this post is dedicated to them. –Matt

 

FOB Rescorla in Afghanistan. Photo credit to the Rick Rescorla Memorial.

 

 

Patrick Adams – 60, Brooklyn, NY, Security officer, Fuji Bank

Godwin Ajala – 33, New York, NY, Security officer, Summit Security Services

Andrew J. Bailey – 29, New York, NY, Security supervisor, Marsh & McLennan

Lawrence F. Boisseau – 36, Freehold, NJ, Fire safety director, OCS Security

Francisco Bourdier – 40, New York, NY, Security guard, Deutsche Bank

Larry Bowman – 46, New York, N.Y., security officer, Summit Security Services

Edward Calderon – 43, Jersey City, NJ, Security guard, Port Authority

Mannie Leroy Clark – 54, New York, NY, Security guard

Francisco Cruz – 48, Staten Island, NY, Security officer, Summit Security Services

Denease Conley – 43, New York, N.Y., Summit Security

Samuel Fields – 36, New York, NY, Security officer, Summit Security Services

John R. Fisher – 46, Bayonne, N.J., security consultant, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Richard Fitzsimons – 57, Lynbrook, NY, Fire safety inspector, OCS Security

Ervin Gailliard – 42, New York, NY, Security officer, Summit Security Services

Jorge Luis Morron Garcia, 38, New York, N.Y., security officer, Summit Security Services

Charles Gregory John – 44, Security officer, Royston and Zamani

Philip Thomas Hayes – 67, East Northport, NY, Fire safety director, OCS Security

Ronald Hoerner – 58, Massapequa Park, NY, Security manager, Summit Security Services

Mohammed Jawara – MAS Security

Douglas G. Karpiloff – 53, Mamaroneck, NY, Security director, Port Authority

Barry Kirschbaum – 53, Staten Island, NY, Security manager, Marsh & McLennan

Leon Lebor, Security guard, Summit Security Services

Daniel Lugo – 45, New York, NY, Security officer, Summit Security Services

Anthony Luparello Jr., 63, SecurityWguard, American Building Maintenance

Sara Manley – 31, New York, N.Y., vice president and senior security analyst, Fred Alger Management

Robert Martinez – 24, Long Island City, N.Y., security officer, Summit Security Services

Robert J. Mayo – 46, Marlboro, NJ, Fire safety director, OCS Security

Stanley McCaskill – 47, New York, NY, Security guard, Advantage Security

John P. O’Neill – 50, NY, Security, Silverstein Partners

Alexander Ortiz – Security guard, Grubb & Ellis Inc

Rick Rescorla – 62, head of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter

Esmerlin Salcedo – 36, New York, NY, Security officer, Summit Security Services

Nolbert Salomon – 33, Security guard

Francis Joseph Trombino – 68, Clifton, NJ, Security guard, Brinks

Jorge Velazquez – 47, Passaic, NJ, Security specialist, Morgan Stanley

William Wren – 61, Lynbrook, NJ, Resident manager, OCS Security

List compiled here.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Industry Talk: Security Contractor Tom Boyle Killed In Afghanistan

Rest in peace to the fallen and my thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family. It sounds like Tom Boyle definitely did his time as a soldier, policeman, and security contractor.

No word on what company he worked for, but I would guess it would be one of the ones involved with police training or advising in Kandahar, Afghanistan. –Matt

 

 

Barrington Hills man killed in Afghanistan
By Eric Peterson
6/22/2012
A Barrington Hills veteran of both the Chicago Police Department and Vietnam War is being remembered for his lifelong courage and heroism after being killed Tuesday in a firefight in Afghanistan.
Tom Boyle, 62, had left the comforts of a Barrington Hills retirement far behind to serve as a contracted law enforcement professional in Afghanistan, where he was providing security and training Afghanis to do the same.
He previously had served in the same capacity during two tours each in Kosovo and Iraq, Boyle’s friend and former employer Steve Kirby said.
Kirby attributed Boyle’s calling to this type of work to his strong moral convictions.
“Tom didn’t need to do this,” Kirby said. “He was very financially secure.”
While a Chicago police officer, Boyle was personally responsible for capturing brothers Tyrone and Larry Strickland, who were later convicted of murdering Wheeling Police Officer Kenneth Dawson in November 1985. Boyle also recovered the weapon used in Dawson’s fatal shooting.
“Thomas Boyle will always have a special place in the Wheeling Police Department,” Wheeling Police Chief William Benson said Thursday. “He is truly, truly a hero. It’s a tragic story.”
Boyle was born in 1949, grew up in Chicago and joined the Marine Corps just out of high school, Kirby said. He served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 and earned the Cross of Gallantry.
Boyle then joined the Chicago Police Department in 1970 and served for 30 years before retiring.
Upon his retirement, he went to work for Kirby’s private detective agency in Elmhurst. The safety of those he served with, particularly new or younger people, was especially important to him, Kirby said.
“Tom was a great mentor for us,” he added.

(more…)

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Somalia: Sterling Corporate Services Replaces Saracen International For Training Puntland’s PMPF

With the news of contractor Lodewyk Pietersen being killed by his PMPF force that he was mentoring, I wanted to bring some attention to the company he was working for. Apparently Sterling Corporate Services replaced Saracen International as the prime vendor for training and mentoring Puntland’s anti-piracy force.

Of course this came out last February and I missed this news somehow. Either way, better late than never as they say, and thanks to a reader for pointing out this information.

So who is Sterling Corporate Services?  From the sounds of it, it looks like most of the guys that were with Saracen Int. just changed t-shirts and jumped into a new company. The UAE is still paying for the whole thing as well.

Also, the PMPF has a website which has several links to what is going on with the contract and their anti-piracy efforts on land.They even have a wikipedia entry, just so you can see the overall history of this force and what they are up to.

But as far as a website for SCS, that is a no go. Which is too bad because I could have done more to promote what these guys are doing in Puntland as opposed to finding out what they are doing after one of their guys gets killed while on an operation. With that said, if anyone from the company would like to correct the record as to what happened to your contractor, the industry and public would like to know.

The other reason why SCS should come up and speak about what happened, is because their competitors are taking advantage of this vacuum or ‘lack’ of information and spreading all sorts of negative information to discredit them. Pretty soon, rumor becomes fact, and then you get the main stream media reporting off of these rumors. So keeping quiet can sometimes do more harm than good, and especially in today’s fast paced social networked environment. At the least you should be contacting new media folks like myself, just because my readership are industry folks and the public. –Matt

 

 

Puntland counter-piracy force poised for launch
23 February 2012
by Richard Meade
An armed counter-piracy police force, funded by the UAE government and trained by private security, is poised to begin operations inside the Somali state of Puntland after previous attempts to launch such a force floundered.
Speaking exclusively to Lloyd’s List ahead of the UK-sponsored Somalia conference being held in London today, Puntland’s interior minister Abdullahi Ahmed Jama confirmed that the Puntland Maritime Police Force would be resuming operations imminently and directly targeting pirate gangs on land.
The Puntland counter-piracy force was established back in 2010, before being suspended in February last year under pressure from several UN agencies who criticised the force’s lack of transparency, the issue of arms sanctions and the lack of a legal framework to support operations.
According to Mr Jama those issues have now been resolved and the police force is now expected to resume training and recruiting with the backing of international governments.
The Puntland police force will operate with the co-operation of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia which is understood to be pursuing similar plans involving private security trained forces.
According to Mr Jama, the Puntland force is a locally recruited, armed coastal police force established to fight piracy on land and protect Somali marine resources. It has been formed, he argued, in direct response to multiple UN Security Council Resolutions and demands from the international community for the Somali authorities to build security and law enforcement institutions to address piracy.

(more…)

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Somalia: South African Contractor Killed In Puntland

Rest in peace to the fallen and my heart goes out to the friends and family of Lodewyk Pietersen. As to the particulars of this incident, the article states that he was killed by his bodyguard after an argument. A Somali version of a green and blue incident, and these type of incidents are not exclusive to Afghanistan.

I thought it was interesting that reports mentioned that these contractors might be going out on missions with the PMPF. Here is a quote from Garowe online. (on a side note, if the PMPF is doing land operations, then why are they wearing bright blue uniforms?-camouflage anyone? lol)

Although reports are still unclear instructor Pietersen accompanied the PMPF in the operation and was killed shortly after entering Hul-Anod district.
Puntland forces have encountered resistance in Hul-Anod before in March 2011 pirates holding a Danish family hostage attacked Puntland forces that were stationed in the district, 5 soldiers were killed.
The Puntland government approved Friday’s operation by the PMPF and it is unclear what exactly occurred in Hul-Anod Friday afternoon but Puntland authorities have already set up an investigation into the killing of Mr. Pietersen.

And the report below said.

The statement said the trainer was killed while accompanying Puntland’s maritime forces on a government-approved mission targeting pirates near Hul-Anod, a coastal area favored by pirates who use it as a base to hijack ships for ransom.

So perhaps Saracen Int. are accompanying these guys on missions and it would make sense. Contractor mentors have been used in other wars, like in Afghanistan with the Afghan Border Patrol mission. Mentors can watch how these guys do business, and help correct training deficiencies and assist in management efforts so future missions have higher success rates.

Hopefully Puntland or Saracen will do some vetting of all of their bodyguards contracted to protect trainers, and make sure that they have folks that they can trust. If they catch the killer, we will see what this guy was all about. Was he mentally ill or an enemy combatant of some type? Perhaps the killer was sympathetic to the pirates, or working for the pirates in Hul-Anod? –Matt

Edit: 04/28/2012- I was given a heads up in an email about a few corrections. Somalia Report is reporting this bit of information, and it sounds like Lodewyk had a full blown mutiny on his hands, and not some rogue body guard. Here is a quote from the website below. Also, I was told that this was not a Saracen International contractor, but some other company that took over when their contract was suspended.

The South African national was monitoring a troop of Somali anti-piracy police ordered into Timirishe village in a move against pirates of the ali Salabeen clan.  When ordered to proceed with the mission, the troops began firing their guns into the air and into the ground, apparently in an effort to warn the pirates.
Sources at the scene told Somalia Report that the mentor then approached the group to encourage them forward and was shot and killed. There is still confusion over the exact motive and exactly who the killers were. PMPF sources told Somalia Report that an investigation is underway.

Edit: 04/29/2012 The name of the company was Sterling Corporate services. Here is a quote from Lloyds back in February of this year.

It is understood that the force currently stands at around 300 officers and  more will be added in time, with UAE-registered private security firm named Sterling Corporate Services having been retained to train the troops

Puntland Maritime Police Force(PMPF)Photo-Garowe Online

 

South African security trainer killed in Somalia
April 28, 2012
A South African security trainer was killed by his bodyguard in Somalia’s semiautonomous region of Puntland, officials said Saturday.
Puntland’s government said in a statement Saturday that it had launched an investigation into Friday’s killing. The statement identified the man as Lodewyk Pietersen, and said he worked for Saracen International, a security firm that trains anti-piracy forces in Puntland. The statement said the South African was 55 and married with children.
South African foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela said Saturday no official word has been received from consular staff handling South African interests in Somalia.
“We have not yet been alerted to such an incident,” he said.

(more…)

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Industry Talk: MPRI Contractor Paul Protzenko Killed In Afghanistan

Thanks to Ms Sparky for giving the heads up about this. I do not know the cause of death and I am sure that will come out on monday with MPRI’s official statement. Rest in peace to the fallen, and Paul has definitely given all.  The police program that companies like MPRI are involved with are incredibly important to the overall strategy in Afghanistan. Contractors like Paul are a crucial part of that, and these trainers have also paid a price. My heart goes out to the family, friends, and company during this time of loss. –Matt

Edit: 07/16/2011- I have yet to see an MPRI official statement on this, and they have made no effort to contact me. The only thing I have found about this incident was this post:

Sunday, July 10, 2011
Retired US Trooper First Class Paul Protzenko died in Afghanistan 9th July 2011 while working for a private contracting firm training Afghan police.
The 47-year-old former Connecticut State Trooper retired in 2009 after 20 years service working for the state police. Prior to that, he had served in the US Army.
At the time of the incident, in Panjshir province, Mr. Protzenko was in a vehicle with US Army Sergeant 1st Class Terryl L. Pasker. An Afghan security officer stopped their vehicle and opened fire. Both men died at the scene. A US soldier in another vehicle shot and killed the Afghan guard.
Link here.

Law enforcement professional Paul Protzenko instructs Afghan national police in community policing skills in Panjshir province, Afghanistan, as part of Task Force Cyclone's Police Mentoring Team made up of the 410th Military Police Company out of Ft. Hood, Texas, and civilians.

Former State Trooper Killed in Afghanistan
Jul 10, 2011
A former Connecticut State Trooper, who retired in 2009, was killed while serving in Afghanistan, working for a private defense firm.
Former Trooper First Class Paul Protzenko, 47,  was killed late Friday or early Saturday, according to a spokesperson for Military Professional Resources Inc., the company for which Protzenko was working.
Protzenko’s son Matthew Protzenko, who served in Iraq, said he was notified of this father’s death the day it happened.

(more…)

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