Saturday, January 23, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
History: Private Security Contractors And Disaster Relief–2005 And Now
I wanted to bring up some recent history about our group. David Isenberg just posted a great story about contractors and disaster relief, with a mention of Feral Jundi, and I figured I would give that audience coming over a little something extra to chew on.
Although I would like to briefly expand on David’s post with some history. Companies have done pro-bono work for disasters, and Blackwater was a prime example of that. They saved 121 people by plucking them off of their roofs with their helicopter during the mad early days of Hurricane Katrina, as well as hauling 11 tons of life saving supplies. That was done out of pocket, and serves as just one example of a company trying to do the right thing and providing ‘pro-bono’ services.
Then there are the hundreds of individual contractors that have medical skills, search and rescue skills or dog handling backgrounds, who are joining teams to go on over to the island in order to help. Or there are the contractors that are going over with church groups or other NGO’s, who are doing what they can to help out and serve. Then there are the contractors who are on contract right now, in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, that are sending money online. We have a heart, and we do care, despite what some might say about us. We also have a ton of pertinent skills for these kinds of disasters.
As for the security related responses, that is a little different. During the Katrina disaster, and certainly during this disaster, all the news agencies contract with individuals and small companies for security. That is the hypocrisy of the MSM. They will write scathing articles about the larger contractor companies, and then turn around and contract with smaller companies and individuals for their security when they go galloping around the world. They do the same thing in war zones, and it has always kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Ironically, these same security folks they hire, usually do work in the big companies like Blackwater or Triple Canopy as contractors. Why, because they have to feed their families too, and work is work. Oooooh, the horror……pfffft.
But back to Private Security Contractors and Disaster Relief. The response in Katrina was amazing. Companies responded quickly and they got boots on the ground, armed and ready to go. Some companies went in heavily armed in the beginning, and then graduated to a lesser security posture as the threat level decreased. I remember this shock that people had, that war zone contractors were in New Orleans, and that they are walking around with guns. Those in the media that were contractor haters, really drummed up this image that BW was running around out of control in New Orleans. Of course that was crap, and all they were trying to do was bringing order to chaos.
What happened in New Orleans, was a total break down of law in that town, and a total failure of the local leadership to provide order. (sounds like Haiti? huh) Private security contractors were brought in, along with the military and numerous other law enforcement agencies, to stop the looting and to protect the aid workers and people from any threats. And the security response to that incident was excellent. I am positive that if we did not have that kind of response, there would have been more crime and more lives lost. Aid workers and rescue folks would be more fearful for their lives, as opposed to rescuing people, and that is why security was so vital in places where there has been a complete breakdown in society.
Now with Haiti, that place was a failed state already. Now with the earthquake and all the death and destruction, those people are going to be even more desperate and irrational. Disasters like this, bring out the best and worst in humans, and security professionals are essential to provide order to the chaos.
That is why security is going to be vital in Haiti, and why all types of security are going to be necessary there. Send in the Marines, the Army, the UN, and PSC/PMC’s, all with the idea of keeping the peace and protecting the innocent. As we speak, there are hundreds of security contractors already contracted individually by the media or aid groups, all managing the security of those groups. Hell, there were already contractors there, providing services before this disaster, complete with offices and licenses.
I also want to mention the contractors that will be assisting in the rebuilding effort. The same warzone contractors that build and support there, will no doubt be answering the call for Haiti. PAE has an office in Haiti, and from what I have heard on the forums, they are still accounting for people. There were also the folks supporting the UN effort there, so contractors are already there. My heart goes out to those victims, as well as the UN victims, and all of the Haitian victims of this disaster. Everyone has lost people in this deal.
Hopefully, larger companies will assemble teams to provide security and logistics for larger operations there. The irony with that, is a journalist being protected by some retired SF trooper, will probably write a scathing article about warzone contractors in Haiti, terrorizing the locals and causing all sorts of problems. Bottom line, security contractors are sheepdogs, and they will do what they do best in this disaster. They will find a way to help, to protect, to give and to serve, just like everyone else who cares about helping the Haitians. –Matt
Edit: 01/16/2010 – It sounds like all the PAE folks are accounted for, and everyone is ok. I also heard on the forums that they are looking for folks for long term work in Haiti for the rebuild.
——————————————————————-
From the Virginian Pilot
Bill Sizemore
September 15, 2005
“Anne Duke, a Blackwater spokeswoman, said Wednesday that the company has about 200 personnel in the hurricane-ravaged area. The vast majority – 164 employees – are working under a contract with the Federal Protective Service, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, to protect government facilities. The 30-day contract can be extended indefinitely, she said.
Under a separate contract, the company supplied an airplane to the Coast Guard, Duke said, and also provided a helicopter at no charge to support Coast Guard rescue missions. As of Monday, Blackwater air crews had moved more than 11 tons of supplies and rescued 121 people, she said.”
Read the rest of story here.
——————————————————————-
Private Security Contractors Head to Gulf
By Griff WitteWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, September 8, 2005
Companies in the Gulf Coast area hit by Hurricane Katrina are turning to an unusual source to protect people and property rendered vulnerable by the storm’s damage — private security contractors that specialize in supporting military operations in war-torn countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
History: Using Lotteries To Fund Wars In Early America
Now you don’t hear this little tidbit of history very much, now do we? So not only did the Virginia Company have a lottery to fund the venture to the ‘new world’, that money was also used to contract the services of privateers to transport those colonists, or pay the salaries of contract soldiers to protect those colonists. The lottery concept seemed to be an attractive method of financing this stuff back then, as we can see by the lotto ticket for the Revolutionary War below.
So let’s take this a step further. Could a modern day lottery be used by countries to fund their wars? How about an Afghan War Lotto. We could call it Super Pashtun Daily Doubles. lol And if you look at the lotteries going on in the various U.S. States and countries, you can see that the potential for raising some serious cash is there. Tack on the advent of the internet, and wow.
Better yet, in countries that are just starting out or are just scrambling to gain stability and peace, imagine a world wide lottery system for them, with the expressed interest of raising an army or funding equipment and infrastructure for their country?
The lottery, like privateering, should be looked at again with a modern day lens for warfare. Especially if the world wide economies continue to have problems, or the dollar decreases in value, or whatever financial calamity that could severely limit war funding. Just because the economy sucks, doesn’t mean Al Qaeda or Somali Pirates take vacations.
Which takes me to my next point. The enemies we are fighting these days, are already using extremely innovative means to finance their wars and maintain their good deals. From piracy, to drugs, to kidnapping, or whatever criminal venture. The Somalis have figured out an excellent business model through modern day piracy, and even put together a stock exchange for it. Drug cartels make millions of dollars in their industry, and so much so that they finance entire armies to protect their business. Groups like Al Qaeda and the Taliban use all these methods to get money, and they also throw in extortion or protection rackets, along with seeking donations from buddies all over the world.
Meanwhile, large nation states, like the U.S., are not making any money off of their wars against these folks , and the use of such large conventional forces with all of their modern fancy equipment and tanks and boats etc. etc., costs a ton of money. What happens when there isn’t any more money to continue the fight against this financially resilient enemy? In simpler terms, the enemies we are fighting really don’t have a money problem, but large countries with ultra expensive war machines certainly can have money problems, and do. I guess that is why I keep bringing up these cheaper means of warfare, or in other words, innovative ways to introduce private industry to the war in order to make it more cost effective. With that said, I will continue to look for the good stuff out there. –Matt
—————————————————————–
1776 Lottery ticket issued by the Continental Congress to finance the Revolutionary War.
Early America Lotteries, 1612-1900 (Wikipedia)
An English lottery, authorized by King James I in 1612, granted the Virginia Company of London the right to raise money to help establish settlers in the first permanent English colony at Jamestown, Virginia.
Lotteries in colonial America played a significant part in the financing of both private and public ventures. It has been recorded that more than 200 lotteries were sanctioned between 1744 and 1776, and played a major role in financing roads, libraries, churches, colleges, canals, bridges, etc. In the 1740s, the foundation of Princeton and Columbia Universities was financed by lotteries, as was the University of Pennsylvania by the Academy Lottery in 1755.
During the French and Indian Wars, several colonies used lotteries to help finance fortifications and their local militia. In May 1758, the State of Massachusetts raised money with a lottery for the “Expedition against Canada.”
Benjamin Franklin organized a lottery to raise money to purchase cannon for the defense of Philadelphia. Several of these lotteries offered prizes in the form of “Pieces of Eight.” George Washington’s Mountain Road Lottery in 1768 was unsuccessful. However, these rare lottery tickets bearing George Washington’s signature have become collectors’ items which sold for about $15,000 in 2007. Later, in 1769, Washington was a manager for Col. Bernard Moore’s “Slave Lottery”, which advertised land and slaves as prizes in the Virginia Gazette.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
History: Tracker Combat Units–Zambezi Valley Manhunt, by David Scott-Donelan
This is some old school Soldier of Fortune material, but still really good. The Tracker Combat Units in Rhodesia were impressive, and as you can see below, this unit produce some interesting folks for their war. In particular, Andre Rabie and Allan Franklen, both founding members of the Selous Scouts.
And just so we don’t forget, I talked about David Scott-Donelan’s school awhile back and how important these combat tracking skills are.
The one point that really struck me, was this quote ‘troop strength was low and resources to patrol a 1,000-mile border and 150,000 square miles of hinterland were severely limited’. Boy that sounds like the US/Mexico border, the Saudi/Yemen border, the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, the Iraq borders, etc., etc., etc…..
In a world where manpower and resources are hard to come by and terrorists and criminals exploit miles of borderland to accomplish their deeds, the solutions that the Rhodesians came to are more relevant today than they ever were before. They were forced to do border stuff on the cheap, and developing a combat tracking capability was the outcome of that.
I also got a kick out of the similarities between the old west, and Rhodesia’s war. We used Indian Scouts and Mountain Men to do just what these guys were doing, and that is tracking humans. Why we are not emphasizing the use of more of these tracker teams in places like Afghanistan, is beyond me. As long as this war has been going on, there should have been entire schools in place over in Afghanistan, whom have produced hundreds of competent man trackers and scouts for that war. Where are the Jezailchis Scouts and why are we not learning from the lessons of others in this current war? –Matt
Edit: David Scott-Donelan is no longer associated with TTOS, and his new school is called The Scott-Donelan Tracking School. His website is located here.
——————————————————————
Tracker Combat Unit (TCU) Trails Terrs
Soldier of Fortune Magazine
March 1985
By David Scott-Donelan
Rhodesia was hardly a nurturing environment for an experimental military unit. Most soldiers were concerned with simple survival, particularly in the earlier days of the country’s no-holds-barred bush war against communist guerrillas. In those times, the government’s troop strength was low and resources to patrol a 1,000-mile border and 150,000 square miles of hinterland were severely limited.
But history demonstrates some of the toughest life forms spring from harsh environments. In Rhodesia, when you talked tough, you talked about the Army’s Tracker Combat Unit.
From TCU’s small nucleus of original members came an impressive roster of military leaders including Andre Rabie and Allan Franklin, founding members of another innovative and deadly organization, the Selous Scouts. Other original TCU members included Brian Robinson, who later commanded Rhodesia’s Tracking School and Special Air Services at the height of battlefield commitment of that unit. TCU plankowner Joe Conway was decorated for tackling four terrorists while armed only with a bayonet. And ‘T.C.” Woods survived an underwater battle with a crocodile, even after the man-eater chewed off one of his balls. The original members of the Tracker Combat Unit were veterans and genuine hard-cases. They had to be.