Private Military Companies in Afghanistan

[phil1477]

Hello

Has anyone of you information on Private Military Companies currently active in Afghanistan? I already found out some of them but details are scarce :-(

Best Regards, Phil

 

[pbi]

To the best of my knowledge, they are not really "Military" in the way, say, Executive Outcomes was known to be. They are really more along the lines of security companies. Two big ones are Dyncorps (who suffered the loss of a number of people in a VBIED attack last summer), Global Risk (who work with the UN and the Joint Election Management Board, and Blackwater who operate a STOL service for the US forces. I have heard that MPRI (of Croatia fame...) is here but I haven't seen any evidence of it.

Cheers

 

[phil1477]

Thx for your comment
Could you explain the abreveations VBIED and STOL
I already knew about Blackwater and Dyncorp and some other minor ones. Is Global Risk a part of Pricewaterhouse Cooper?
I havent heard anything of MRPI in Afghanistan which surprises me a bit as they are one of the real Big Players and very intimate with US DOD. Where did you read of MRPI and Afghanistan?

Phil

 

[tomahawk6]

Another is Triple Canopy.

http://www.triplecanopy.com/

 

[phil1477]

@tomahawk6
Do you have any web reference refering on triple canopy in Afghanistan?

THX, Phil

 

[Tpr.Orange]

www.globerisk.com

 

[meni0n]

Alot of US companies require you to have only about 4 years of military exp and a tour but you will need a US citizenship for most of them. You could probably find some that won't require one or you can try British companies.

 

[tomahawk6]

I hope this works for you Phil. Information is hard to come from in the public domain. I can say that Triple Canopy like the others recruits Spec Ops types [delta/rangers/SF/SEAL] and sometimes they will take airborne qualified types with recent combat experience.

http://www.triplecanopy.com/sec_services/selection.php

http://www.iraqsupplier.com/docs/profiles/triple/home.htm

Contractor Guide:

http://www.topsy.org/contractors.html

 

[KevinB]

Triple C is in Afghan.

 

[pbi]

I have heard (no proof) that MPRI has provided ex-US military to work for Combined Forces Command Afghanistan (CFC-A) in staff-officer type positions. In Croatia in 1994-95 they were fairly well known to have provided a number of retired US senior officers who helped the Croat Army plan and conduct AKTION GROM, the offensive in summer 1995 that re-captured the Krajina.

STOL: Short Take Off and Landing: a type of aircraft designed to operate from very limited airstrips;

VBIED: Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device: car or truck bomb.

Cheers.

 

[phil1477]

Thx a lot for those infos. Anybody who still knows some more is welcome to add. Its quite complicated to find out about the activities in Afgh. meanwhile there is a lot of material on pmcs in Iraq. Any idea why??? Are there fewer? Is it just the public interest currently focused on Iraq?

Phil

 

[pbi]

No-I think its just they aren't here in as great numbers because there isn't as much need for them. And , so, they really aren't going to make as much money. After all, they're businesses, right?  The big bucks are in Iraq.

In most of Afghanistan the threat is quite low, and there is not much infrastructure, US or Afgh, to protect. The really "red" areas are largely confined to the east and southeast, along the Pakistan border, and perhaps (potentially...) Kabul. Incidents do occasionally occur outside these areas, but rarely. As well, Afgh has a functioning police and army, both of which appear to be doing much better than their Iraqi counterparts. For example, in the five months I have been here, I have never heard of a single attack on ANA or ANP recruits. In Iraq they are slaughtered fairly regularly.

Cheers

 

[phil1477]

Thank you pbi

Those well functioning local police and military forces, by whom they were trained? I know that the german government did some polictraining but has there been an mayor outsourcing by the US as it happened in Kosovo with MRPI? As you have been there you might be able to report first-hand... Before Iraq as cash-cow where there activities of pmcs?

Phil

 

[pbi]

Be careful: I said "functioning"; not "well-functioning". While the ANA generally does quite well, and is highly thought of by the US forces who serve alongside them, the ANP really varies and still has serious problems with corruption in some areas. In other areas and other situations the ANP has done well. The ANP has been trained largely by the German Govt which is still running police programs but the US has also had quite a role in delivering police training through the MPs and the PRTs. I have not heard of any US PMCs doing this work. I have no idea what the level of PMC activity was in Afghanistan prior to OIF. Cheers.

 

[Soleman]

Armor Group is another company.  They have a couple of former Cdn military working for them.




http://www.armorgroup.com/

 

[phil1477]

@ Kalekadoo
Thanks,
Do you know more details or anyone who is into the topic of pmcs in Afghanistan?

THX

Phil

 

[Soleman]

Phil,

I would love to give you their names for contact but they request some privacy do to the nature of their business.  My suggestion is to go to the website and query them, I was informed by these guys when I was in theatre (Roto1) that they were recruiting former military pers with experience in certain areas. 

I don't know if you are specifically looking for PMC positions, but as an alternate I ran into a few former soldiers working for the UN as security advisors as well.

There are lots of options there, take a leap of faith and apply.  You can always say no if you don't like the contract they offer you.

Cheers

 

[phil1477]

@ Kalekadoo

I am doing a research on the advantages of pmcs and there deployment in Afgh. Therefore I am interested in contacts to persons already on the field.

Regards, Phil

 

[Teddy Ruxpin]

Following up to what PBI has had to say on this subject, there aren't as many PMCs here as in Iraq, but as others have pointed out, there are a few.  Dyncorps trains the Afghan National Police (under US government contract) and is contracted for some US Embassy and Karzai Protection Detail work (all this is public domain).  Global Risk Strategies, as PBI indicated, provided extensive election support and you can see Global guards at various places in Kabul (see www.globalrsl.com).

For PBI, MPRI is active here - via a "mentoring" programme with the ANA.  They're at the full Col and higher level - I've run into quite a few.

 

[phil1477]

Hey Teddi

Thx for the infos! I never heard about MRPI in Afghanistan although looking for it everywhere. You know where to find more on this training/mentoring program of ANA.

THX a lot, Phil