Brett Fredricks. Photo by Bancroft Global
This is sad news for Bancroft Global. One of their guys was killed last January and I am just now finding this out. What a tough deal and this is the company’s first loss.
The man killed was former Delta Force soldier, Brett Fredricks and I have included a link to what happened to him with a clip from that article. The attack happened during Christmas Day and three other AMISOM soldiers were killed as well. Apparently he was unarmed, and those are the terms of the contract.
It was lunchtime on Christmas Day in Mogadishu, and Brett Fredricks was doing what he loved. The retired member of the Army’s famed and secretive Delta Force was huddling with Ugandan soldiers planning an assault on an enemy position during a firefight with al-Shabab guerrillas. But this gunbattle was different. It was taking place inside the international force’s heavily secured base at Mogadishu airport. It would also be one of the final moments of Brett Fredricks’s life.
At least eight al-Shabab fighters, some dressed in Somali national army uniforms, had infiltrated the base, then made their way to arms caches apparently stashed by Somali workers who had easy access to the complex. Now they were on the attack. When word reached Fredricks, he was across town at another Ugandan base, combining a work meeting with a Christmas celebration.
Together with a small group of Ugandans, including some senior officers, Fredricks, 55, raced back to the airfield. By the time they got there, the infiltrators appeared to be holed up in an old building being used as a kitchen. After gathering some reinforcements, Fredricks and about a dozen Ugandans made their way to what seemed to be a safe position near the kitchen building and discussed how best to attack it.
But two al-Shabab fighters had slipped unseen into a patch of heavy brush from where they could engage Fredricks and his protégés. One or both of them opened up on the small group, spraying them with bullets. One Ugandan soldier fell wounded, another dead. And an AK bullet hit Fredricks between the eyes, killing him instantly.
Fredricks’s death, which hasn’t been reported previously, is an exceptionally rare example of a retired member of Delta Force dying on a foreign battlefield. The Pentagon doesn’t officially acknowledge 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, as the unit is known by its full name. It’s the Army’s equivalent to the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, and its members are trained to conduct high-risk missions like freeing hostages or raiding enemy territory to kill or capture wanted militants. The unit has a bloody history in Somalia: In October 1993, five Delta operators and 13 other U.S. troops died in a desperate fight with Somali militiamen, hundreds of whom also lost their lives. The battle was later memorialized in the book Black Hawk Down and the movie of the same name.
His death was also the first in Somalia for Bancroft, a small firm that is trying to make money in one of the world’s most dangerous places.
Tragic and just another reminder out there that the savages are absolutely using deception and anything else to gain advantage for the attack. If you are not thinking about how to counter these types of attacks in your defensive plan for your base or remote site in today’s war zones and high risk areas, then you are in the wrong.
The other part I wanted to talk about is the latest news of Bancroft Global’s work in Somalia. I found this quote in a Foreign Policy article and I thought it was enlightening to say the least. BG is doing very important work there, along with the other military forces in country.
Now U.S. contractors are training another battalion, the Danab, or “Lightning,” which is supposed to be Somalia’s answer to the U.S. Army Rangers. “It’s basically really at the beginning stage, because we’ve only so far recruited and at least done some training of three companies” totaling around 450 troops, said a U.S. official with knowledge of Somalia policy, who characterized the program as “the most significant” U.S. training initiative to date. The U.S. official said that the elite companies, which are supposed to include fighters from multiple clans and regions in order to encourage loyalty to the central government, represent a “model for the future Somali National Army.” Ultimately, the official said, “you’d like to see this multiplied out [to more battalions], and we would like to do that, although frankly the resources aren’t there to do it as quickly as some people would like to see done.”
The training of Danab forces currently takes place in Baledogle at a facility run by the contractor Bancroft Global Development. The shadowy U.S. outfit, which in 2011 was revealed to have hired a former French army officer convicted in South Africa of recruiting mercenaries to fight in Ivory Coast, maintains a dingy, second-floor office in the decrepit Soviet-era Air Force base, which is riddled with bullet holes and badly in need of a paint job. In one otherwise Spartan room, a roster of Danab personnel, complete with passport-sized photos, stared down from the wall. Elsewhere, there were lists of Danab weapons and equipment.
Despite the willingness of U.S. officials to own the Danab training operation in Baledogle, Bancroft employees downplayed their ties with the U.S. government. “We have nothing to do with the Americans,” said one employee, a stocky former special operator whose biceps bulged out of his tight-fitting company shirt. “We’re in charge of training Danab. We have nothing to do with the Americans, and the Americans have nothing to do with us.”
Bancroft’s executive director, Marc Frey, told Foreign Policy that the company “has no contracts with the U.S. government” and “no contract to train the Danab battalion with any country.” Instead, U.S. officials say the company trains Somali National Army troops as part of a larger contract with the Ugandan government to provide what it calls “military mentors” to AMISOM. The U.S. government then reimburses the Ugandans for the cost of the training.
So to add to this article by FP, I found a quick little interview that BG did for a Somali paper. They talk a little about Brett and the attack, and about their contract with AMISOM. Probably the most interesting part is the discussion on the BG business model and lessons learned. Here is a clip.
WDN: Bancroft has substantial experience operating in high risk fragile countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. What lessons learned from previous experience has Bancroft applied to its current operation in Somalia?
Bancroft: Actually, Bancroft has done almost no work in Iraq. We certainly worked in Afghanistan, but never based our strategy on working for the coalition forces. From the perspective of our work in Somalia this is a good thing. Although many well-meaning people made extraordinary efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, those campaigns have not had good results. In particular, the situation in Syria and Iraq today is very troubling. Since we are not burdened by habits formed during those other conflicts, we have been able to learn a lot about what not to do, by looking closely at what went poorly in those other places.
The most crucial lesson we have drawn from its work in dangerous places is that it is actually far more effective to live and work among the people than to wall ourselves off in fortified compounds. There are risks to that approach, of course, but Somalia is fighting an enemy that moves through and remains among local communities. To be effective, we must work with the people; we must become a part of the community. In Somalia, the Turkish government in particular has understood this phenomenon very well. We have a good deal of respect for the Turkish Government’s ability to apply these important lessons on the large scale that only a sovereign state can do.
It is interesting to me how this company operates. They continue to apply their investment and development concept in Somalia, and still claim to not work for the US. Although they are still getting paid in a round about way by the US. Here is a quote about it in a July 2nd Foreign Policy article.
Now U.S. contractors are training another battalion, the Danab, or “Lightning,” which is supposed to be Somalia’s answer to the U.S. Army Rangers. “It’s basically really at the beginning stage, because we’ve only so far recruited and at least done some training of three companies” totaling around 450 troops, said a U.S. official with knowledge of Somalia policy, who characterized the program as “the most significant” U.S. training initiative to date. The U.S. official said that the elite companies, which are supposed to include fighters from multiple clans and regions in order to encourage loyalty to the central government, represent a “model for the future Somali National Army.” Ultimately, the official said, “you’d like to see this multiplied out [to more battalions], and we would like to do that, although frankly the resources aren’t there to do it as quickly as some people would like to see done.”
The training of Danab forces currently takes place in Baledogle at a facility run by the contractor Bancroft Global Development. The shadowy U.S. outfit, which in 2011 was revealed to have hired a former French army officer convicted in South Africa of recruiting mercenaries to fight in Ivory Coast, maintains a dingy, second-floor office in the decrepit Soviet-era Air Force base, which is riddled with bullet holes and badly in need of a paint job. In one otherwise Spartan room, a roster of Danab personnel, complete with passport-sized photos, stared down from the wall. Elsewhere, there were lists of Danab weapons and equipment.
Despite the willingness of U.S. officials to own the Danab training operation in Baledogle, Bancroft employees downplayed their ties with the U.S. government. “We have nothing to do with the Americans,” said one employee, a stocky former special operator whose biceps bulged out of his tight-fitting company shirt. “We’re in charge of training Danab. We have nothing to do with the Americans, and the Americans have nothing to do with us.”
Bancroft’s executive director, Marc Frey, told Foreign Policy that the company “has no contracts with the U.S. government” and “no contract to train the Danab battalion with any country.” Instead, U.S. officials say the company trains Somali National Army troops as part of a larger contract with the Ugandan government to provide what it calls “military mentors” to AMISOM. The U.S. government then reimburses the Ugandans for the cost of the training.
While this roundabout method of payment has been the norm for Bancroft’s training of AMISOM troops over the years, some officials worry that it shields the firm from the additional scrutiny that goes along with contracting directly with the U.S. government.
So here is the interview below and I posted the whole thing for those that are interested. Feel free to check out the links provided in this post because there are a lot interesting details about what BG is doing in Somalia. They are a good company to study because they are doing things a little bit different than the standard PMSC. Check it out. –Matt
Bancroft Global website here.
An Interview with Bancroft Global Development
By Wardheer News
May 21, 2015
Editor’s note: Bancroft’s story has been featured in many notable publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. This is the first time their story has been covered by Somali Media. Thus, WDN brings you this exclusive interview. Mohamed Osman and Abdelkarim Hassan have conducted the interview for WardheerNews.com
WardheerNews (WDN): We are delighted to welcome you to WardheerNews.com, before we delve into the bulk of the interview, could you please share with us a brief background history about Bancroft?
Bancroft: Thank you. I am pleased that a serious news outlet has an interest in Bancroft and the work we do.
Bancroft’s roots go back more than a ?century, to relief efforts during World War I? and to a team of financiers who helped ?dozens of countries to prosper in the ?decades following the war. Many of these?countries are terrific successes especially? when compared to the situation that existed? before Bancroft’s predecessors became? involved. Example client partner countries ?include Austria, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Japan, Peru, the Philippines and Mexico. After the end of the Cold War, Bancroft set out specifically to modernize and revive its successful model.
(more…)
