US Hires Mercenary Force for Somalia: APPLY HERE
Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 2:39 pm
US hires military contractor to support peace mission in Somalia
By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The United States has hired a major military contractor to provide equipment and logistical support to the peacekeeping mission in Somalia, bringing U.S. dependence on private military companies in several hot spots to a particularly troubled corner of Africa.
The DynCorp International contract is the latest in a series of deals that allow the United States to play a greater role in African military matters, without having to use uniformed troops who are needed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The African contingent that DynCorp will be supporting, which began deploying Tuesday, is the first peacekeeping mission in Somalia in more than 10 years. When the first Ugandans arrived in Somalia's capital on Tuesday, they were greeted with a mortar attack and a major fire fight.
The U.S. wants to improve the quality of African soldiering and promote greater peace and stability in the region. It also wants to improve U.S. ties to governments in a region that is becoming a major oil and mineral producer and could become the next battlefield in the war against terrorism.
Other countries competing for influence in Africa, such as China, appear to be following suit.
The State Department has committed US$14 million (about ?10 million) to support the African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia and has asked Congress for US$40 million (about ?30 million) more. DynCorp has been awarded a US$10 million (about ?7 million) contract to support 1,500 Ugandan troops assigned to Somalia, a State Department official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
DynCorp spokesman Greg Lagana confirmed that the Virginia-based firm had been contracted until April to help with the "moving of supplies and people" engaged in the Somalia mission, including supplying tents, vehicles and generators.
"We have an overall contract for African peacekeeping, this is a specific task order for Somalia," he said. "But we are also present in Liberia and southern Sudan."
The Somalia contract set aside US$8 million (about ?6 million) for equipment while US$2 million (about ?1.5 million) would be spent on transportation, the State Department official said.
DynCorp, with services ranging from military maintenance contracts to paramilitary security forces, provided logistics for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia from 1992-95. It was not immediately clear if DynCorp employees would work inside Somalia under the new contract, signed three weeks ago.
In Liberia, DynCorp helped disarm and rehabilitate former soldiers and is currently advising the government on the reconstitution of the army. The company also supports peacekeepers in southern Sudan and works with the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia to help the African Union create a standby military force to respond to emergencies, according to the company Web site.
DynCorp, with annual revenues of over US$2 billion (about ?1.5 billion) a year, has held the overarching State Department contract since 2004 to do work on "peacekeeping, capacity enhancement and surveillance efforts" in Africa. The contract is valued at between US$20 million (about ?15 million) and US$100 million (about ?76 million).
The company is on standby to provide services anywhere on the continent to include "support of peacekeeping missions by training specific countries' armed services to enhance their ability to deploy through air and sea, provide logistics supports to mission and work with regional organization to prevent and resolve conflict," according to bid documents.
Before the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, these missions were routinely carried out by uniformed troops.
Dyncorp is not the only security company working in Africa. Northrop Grumman has a similar contract to support the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program, which aims to train 40,000 African peacekeepers in five years and could bring in revenues of up to US$75 million (about ?57 million).
Blackwater USA submitted a proposal in January to provide military training to former rebel forces in southern Sudan, a State Department spokeswoman said. KBR Inc., a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., provides services to at least three bases in Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia used by the U.S. Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.
DynCorp, KBR and Blackwater have all held contracts providing the U.S. military with a variety of services in Iraq and Afghanistan. While providing meals or base services is widely accepted as a way to free up troops, members of Congress and human rights groups have criticized the Pentagon for contracting out jobs that require civilians to engage in military activities.
The contracts come at a time when the Pentagon wants to develop closer relationships and provide greater military assistance to Africa.
U.S. Special Forces have already fought alongside Ethiopian troops in Somalia against a Somali extremist group the U.S. has linked to al-Qaida, the terror network behind Sept. 11.
A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the mission was classified, said a handful of U.S. ground forces entered Somalia when Ethiopian troops intervened in December to destroy the radical Islamic movement, which threatened to take control of the country.
In January, U.S. Special Operations aircraft staged two airstrikes against suspected al-Qaida forces inside Somalia, the official added.
The Pentagon's close relationship with the Ethiopian army is the product of years of joint military training. The U.S. military's largest African operation is the Horn of Africa task force, headquartered in Djibouti, but with forward operating bases in Kenya and Ethiopia.
But the task force only has 1,800 people for a region half the size of the United States and home to 170 million. Five hundred of the task force members are civilians working for military contractors.
The United States is not the only country seeking to provide private military services in Africa.
Piracy along the Somali coast has been a growing problem in recent years, of course to international business.
In 2005 the Somali government signed a US$50 million (about ?38 million) contract with New York-based TopCat Marine Security to help create a coast guard. But the State Department blocked TopCat from deploying because of a U.N. arms embargo, Hassan Abshir Farah, Somalia's marine resources minister said.
Farah said his government was now discussing a deal with the Chinese government and Chinese marine security firms.
Last month, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the formation of an Africa Command by the end of 2008 to consolidate all military operations on the continent. As U.S. military operations increase in Africa, the role of private military firms will likely increase as well.
Source: AP, Mar 07, 2007
By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The United States has hired a major military contractor to provide equipment and logistical support to the peacekeeping mission in Somalia, bringing U.S. dependence on private military companies in several hot spots to a particularly troubled corner of Africa.
The DynCorp International contract is the latest in a series of deals that allow the United States to play a greater role in African military matters, without having to use uniformed troops who are needed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The African contingent that DynCorp will be supporting, which began deploying Tuesday, is the first peacekeeping mission in Somalia in more than 10 years. When the first Ugandans arrived in Somalia's capital on Tuesday, they were greeted with a mortar attack and a major fire fight.
The U.S. wants to improve the quality of African soldiering and promote greater peace and stability in the region. It also wants to improve U.S. ties to governments in a region that is becoming a major oil and mineral producer and could become the next battlefield in the war against terrorism.
Other countries competing for influence in Africa, such as China, appear to be following suit.
The State Department has committed US$14 million (about ?10 million) to support the African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia and has asked Congress for US$40 million (about ?30 million) more. DynCorp has been awarded a US$10 million (about ?7 million) contract to support 1,500 Ugandan troops assigned to Somalia, a State Department official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
DynCorp spokesman Greg Lagana confirmed that the Virginia-based firm had been contracted until April to help with the "moving of supplies and people" engaged in the Somalia mission, including supplying tents, vehicles and generators.
"We have an overall contract for African peacekeeping, this is a specific task order for Somalia," he said. "But we are also present in Liberia and southern Sudan."
The Somalia contract set aside US$8 million (about ?6 million) for equipment while US$2 million (about ?1.5 million) would be spent on transportation, the State Department official said.
DynCorp, with services ranging from military maintenance contracts to paramilitary security forces, provided logistics for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia from 1992-95. It was not immediately clear if DynCorp employees would work inside Somalia under the new contract, signed three weeks ago.
In Liberia, DynCorp helped disarm and rehabilitate former soldiers and is currently advising the government on the reconstitution of the army. The company also supports peacekeepers in southern Sudan and works with the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia to help the African Union create a standby military force to respond to emergencies, according to the company Web site.
DynCorp, with annual revenues of over US$2 billion (about ?1.5 billion) a year, has held the overarching State Department contract since 2004 to do work on "peacekeeping, capacity enhancement and surveillance efforts" in Africa. The contract is valued at between US$20 million (about ?15 million) and US$100 million (about ?76 million).
The company is on standby to provide services anywhere on the continent to include "support of peacekeeping missions by training specific countries' armed services to enhance their ability to deploy through air and sea, provide logistics supports to mission and work with regional organization to prevent and resolve conflict," according to bid documents.
Before the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, these missions were routinely carried out by uniformed troops.
Dyncorp is not the only security company working in Africa. Northrop Grumman has a similar contract to support the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program, which aims to train 40,000 African peacekeepers in five years and could bring in revenues of up to US$75 million (about ?57 million).
Blackwater USA submitted a proposal in January to provide military training to former rebel forces in southern Sudan, a State Department spokeswoman said. KBR Inc., a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., provides services to at least three bases in Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia used by the U.S. Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.
DynCorp, KBR and Blackwater have all held contracts providing the U.S. military with a variety of services in Iraq and Afghanistan. While providing meals or base services is widely accepted as a way to free up troops, members of Congress and human rights groups have criticized the Pentagon for contracting out jobs that require civilians to engage in military activities.
The contracts come at a time when the Pentagon wants to develop closer relationships and provide greater military assistance to Africa.
U.S. Special Forces have already fought alongside Ethiopian troops in Somalia against a Somali extremist group the U.S. has linked to al-Qaida, the terror network behind Sept. 11.
A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the mission was classified, said a handful of U.S. ground forces entered Somalia when Ethiopian troops intervened in December to destroy the radical Islamic movement, which threatened to take control of the country.
In January, U.S. Special Operations aircraft staged two airstrikes against suspected al-Qaida forces inside Somalia, the official added.
The Pentagon's close relationship with the Ethiopian army is the product of years of joint military training. The U.S. military's largest African operation is the Horn of Africa task force, headquartered in Djibouti, but with forward operating bases in Kenya and Ethiopia.
But the task force only has 1,800 people for a region half the size of the United States and home to 170 million. Five hundred of the task force members are civilians working for military contractors.
The United States is not the only country seeking to provide private military services in Africa.
Piracy along the Somali coast has been a growing problem in recent years, of course to international business.
In 2005 the Somali government signed a US$50 million (about ?38 million) contract with New York-based TopCat Marine Security to help create a coast guard. But the State Department blocked TopCat from deploying because of a U.N. arms embargo, Hassan Abshir Farah, Somalia's marine resources minister said.
Farah said his government was now discussing a deal with the Chinese government and Chinese marine security firms.
Last month, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the formation of an Africa Command by the end of 2008 to consolidate all military operations on the continent. As U.S. military operations increase in Africa, the role of private military firms will likely increase as well.
Source: AP, Mar 07, 2007
