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.
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.
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.
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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.
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
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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.
This is a fascinating deal that came out while I was away. In October, Buzzfeed ran a story about Spear Operations Group LLC, a company based out of Delaware that was hired by the UAE to perform special operations services in Yemen. Specifically to go after 23 high value targets and kill them. This is definitely some offense industry and I have written about this type of thing in the past.
They were paid $25,000 a month and given a bonus per individual they killed. How much per individual I do not know. This kind of thing is not new to warfare and the Flying Tigers are an example of a company paying a bonus or bounty for every Japanese plane they shot down.
Below I have posted my Facebook thread about the article and I recommend reading that, and here is a link to the article itself. Another excellent deal to check out is SOFREP’s interview they did with one of the contractors of this company. On a side note, the contractor also discussed the Erik Prince Plan and his thoughts about it.
As to my personal input on the matter? This is the trend we are seeing in this industry. PMSC’s are being used more and more for the offense and not just for defense. Countries are using this industry as a tool to implement strategy or policy. Or they are using PMSC’s to provide a capability their military does not have. In this case, the UAE hired SOG LLC to perform a mission their Special Operations could not do. Based on the UAE’s history of outsourcing, I don’t think we will see the last of this kind of thing. –Matt
The men of Spear Operations Group LLC From Buzzfeed
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