Blackwater Security Agency

BLACKWATER SECURITY AGENCY/FIRM
Susan Adams Morgan
Criminal Justice 3335-XTIA
February 11, 2016
Professor Kevin Poole
Troy University

Abstract

The world of private security companies is very large and diverse.  There are companies that specialize in only one aspect of that security by providing just a single function that is required by a company, corporation, or an individual.  These requirements may be short-term or long-term depending on the mission requirements.  Then we have those private security firms that are diverse and can cover multiple needs that a client may need. This essay will cover one such company, Blackwater Security Agency/Firm.

There is a world of overt and covert private security companies, firms, and individuals who do the job of providing personal security.  They do this for the protection and security of multi-billion dollar corporations, governments around the world, and for the individual who need their services.  The services they provide may include armed guards, bodyguards, chauffer drivers, military experts (both overt and covert), cooks, office staff, and electronic surveillance operations.  They also may provide private investigation services that include watching people for the client, and for employee screenings.  Although there are literally hundreds of these such companies and firms around the world doing this type of security, the focus of this paper will be on just one of those many firms, The Blackwater Security Agency/Firm.

Just who and what is the Blackwater Security Agency/Firm?  They were one of the world’s most successful security professional services.  They were innovative and provided many creative solutions to security problems any company or individual could need.  This company was founded in 1997 by a Mister Al Clark and a former navy seal, Mister Erik Prince (www.rt.com).  It had its main headquarters in North Carolina where it also had a 7,000-acre training facility, which was the largest training facility in the United States at the time.  Erik Prince is actually the individual who headed the company and ran the day to day operations and the training programs for the firm.  Erik Prince was a navy seal from, is considered to be a true United States hero, or he is seen as one of the most disgusting people to ever profit from his involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq through government contracts to provide security in those wartime areas.  Was he used and then dumped by the United States government, or was he one of the biggest war profiteers in the history of armed conflict? (www.abcnews.go.com).  All of that is open to interpretation by the viewer.

The mission of the Blackwater Security Agency/Firm (from now on it will be referred to as the Blackwater Security Agency only), is to give their clients professional security services that will exceed all of the expectations of those clients.  It will also meet all of the needs of the clients and they will do it with professional integrity and to the best of their skills.  They also strive to adapt their unique skills and training to any of the security needs of the companies or individuals that use their services.  Through the training provided by the Blackwater Security Agency, they are able to be relevant to today’s growing threats from around the world as well as in the United States.  They will provide customized protection for their clients.  Whatever the security solution that is needed, it will be provided (www.blackwaterus.com).  They have state of the art training facilities at multiple sites throughout the United States.  

So what areas did the Blackwater Security Agency provide security in?    They provide services in many aspects of security.  Their services included, but not limited to, the areas of advanced training, logistics and mobility, technology and innovation, and finally, material and human resources.  In all areas of security needs, they seemed to foot the bill of anything needed to cover a company’s personnel and assets.  The same was true of protecting an individual’s person, family, or property.  Next, is a breakdown of some of the areas the specifically provided training and security for.  

Their advanced training is their main area of focus for security personnel.  This includes counterterrorism training for today’s new threats, small arms training for security personnel.  They also train personnel for cultural identification purposes and language usage.  

Blackwater Security also did some maritime training.  They were United States Coast Guard approved.  Their training consisted of basic shipboard safety and training courses in tactics for law enforcement and the military.  They were able to develop courses and teach those courses to support all areas of the maritime industry.  They were able to teach ship operations to clients worldwide.  

Their protective operations specialty area included teaching a company about risks management and understanding what areas needed to be improved based upon security assessments.  Within the scope of this training was also looking at safety concerns to protect employees.  Blackwater Security Agency was able to provide realistic training at their facility in North Carolina using real world scenarios.  They had trained personnel that would act out any type of situation that was needed for the needs of the client.

Since 9/11, the security needs of the country, company, and individual has increased tremendously.  People no longer feel as safe as they did prior to 9/11, so the requests for better security and protection has also gone up at the same rate as the needs.  Blackwater Security Agency realized this and their training facility anticipated the need for training law enforcement officers for this type of emergency.  This training also took into account things like the Hurricane Katrina disaster where you had mass looting and assaults and so quick response teams are needed for these types of natural disasters.  

International Training was done by the agency as well.  They could train foreign soldiers and special operation troops in protecting against terrorism and threats.  This involved protecting important government buildings, the country’s harbors and coasts, searching for chemical weapons, and supporting any American interests in a foreign country at the time of need.

The security agency also supported the handling of special cargo and shipping because they had a network of worldwide logistics centers.  They guaranteed that all of their shipments will arrive in good condition, safely, and on time.  They could handle hazmat materials following all government guidelines.