Feral Jundi

Monday, June 6, 2011

Afghanistan: New Century Contractors Credited For Stopping Attack On 3-Star SEAL’s Osprey During Jailbreak

McGonigle was a retired Irish police officer serving as a consultant with New Century, a private security firm based in London that advises Afghan forces. He and another unidentified British contractor are credited with opening fire on the escaped detainees after seeing one of them aiming the RPG launcher, forcing them to take cover and abandon targeting the Osprey.
“The initial actions of [name redacted] and Ken McGonigle diverted a potential disaster by engaging the armed individuals leaving the DETFAC,” the report said. “The individual carrying the RPG was in a launch posture aiming in the direction of the LZ.”

When this happened last year, there wasn’t a lot of details about the incident. I did a post about the death of McGonigle, and found a little information about New Century. But now that a FOIA was filed and these details are front and center, I think it is appropriate to recognize the heroic actions of these contractors whose actions ‘diverted a potential disaster’. –Matt

Edit: 06/09/2011 – I received an email from a reader that identified a mistake in this newspaper. Here it is:

Ken was a member of the Royal Ulster Constabularly (RUC), he was from a village outside of Londonderry.  He was not an Irish police officer but a British one.

Ken McGonigle

3-star SEAL’s Osprey targeted in jailbreak
By Dan Lamothe
Monday Jun 6, 2011
Two detainees escaped from a detention facility on a Marine base in Afghanistan, then used a grenade launcher to target an MV-22 Osprey about to take off with a three-star Navy SEAL on board, Marine Corps Times has learned.
Vice Adm. Robert Hardward was in the Osprey on base Aug. 7 after visiting the headquarters of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province. He heads Joint Task Force 435, which oversees detainee operations in Afghanistan, and has been nominated to replace Marine Lt. Gen. John Allen as the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command. Allen is expected to become the top commander in Afghanistan this fall.
The details are outlined in an investigation report obtained by Marine Corps Times through the Freedom of Information Act. Marine officials in Afghanistan said last summer that two Marines and a contractor were shot to death by a detainee who escaped from an Afghan-run detention center. However, it was not disclosed that a detainee had taken aim at the landing zone with a grenade launcher, or that Harward was on base when the detainees escaped.

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Monday, August 9, 2010

Industry Talk: New Century Security Contractor Shot Dead In Afghanistan By Prisoner

     Rest in peace to the fallen, and my heart goes out to the family and friends. I don’t know much about the company New Century, but it sounds like it is one of the many companies out there involved with training Afghans. Tim Collins is the CEO and he has definitely been busy with TV shows and books after his career in the military.

     If anyone else has something to add about this incident, please feel free to post in the comments section. –Matt

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Ex-Northern Ireland policeman shot dead in Afghanistan by prisoner

10 August 2010

A former Northern Ireland police officer working as a security contractor for Nato in Afghanistan has been shot dead by an escaped insurgent prisoner.

Ken McGonigle, 51, from Co Derry, died on Saturday night when the prisoner in Musa Qala, northern Helmand province, overpowered his guards when being taken to pray. He seized his captors’ weapons and shot McGonigle before killing two US marines as they followed him into nearby buildings. The prisoner was eventually shot and killed.

McGonigle was working for the Nato training mission as part of a group supplied by a private security firm to mentor and train the Afghan police force.

“Our hearts are broken,” said McGonigle’s father, Joe, speaking from Trillick, Co Tyrone. “It is an awful thing to happen but there’s nothing we could do about it … Kenneth was the first man [the insurgent] saw – he opened [fire] and Kenneth hit the ground.”

Ken McGonigle was working for New Century. The firm is based in Guernsey and is led by the former British colonel Tim Collins.

The company yesterday offered its condolences to his family after the “tragic but isolated incident”.

In a statement, it said: “His presence and contribution will be sorely missed by everyone in the company and at the Nato training mission. Ken was a highly professional, deeply competent, well-admired and thoroughly committed colleague who made a material difference through his work.”

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