DynCorp International
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| DynCorp International Inc | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Public (NYSE: DCP) |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Headquarters | Falls Church, Virginia, United States |
| Key people | Herbert Lanese, President & CEO Robert B. McKeon, Chairman Anthony C. Zinni, Executive Vice President Curtis L. Schehr, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary Robert B. Rosenkranz, President, International Technical Services Natale S. DiGesualdo, President, Field Technical Services |
| Industry | private military contractor, aircraft maintenance |
| Products | Drug eradication, law enforcement training, logistics, security services; maintenance for aircraft, support equipment, and weapons systems |
| Net income | ▲$7.2 Billion USD (2006) |
| Employees | 14,000 (2007)[1] |
| Website | www.dyn-intl.com |
DynCorp International[2] is a United States-based private military contractor (PMC) and aircraft maintenance company. DynCorp receives more than 96 percent of its $2 billion in annual revenues from the federal government.[3]
The company, based in Falls Church, Virginia, has provided teams for the U.S. military in major theaters, such as Bolivia, Bosnia, Somalia, Angola, Haiti, Colombia, Kosovo and Kuwait.[4] DynCorp International also provided much of the security for Afghan interim president Hamid Karzai's presidential guard and trains much of Afghanistan's and Iraq's fledgling police force.[5] DynCorp was also hired to assist recovery in Louisiana and neighboring areas after Hurricane Katrina.[6][7] Recently, Dyncorp and the Department of State have been criticized for not properly accounting for $1.2 billion in contract task orders authorized by the State Department to be used to train Iraqi police.[8][9]
Contents |
[edit] History
DynCorp traces its origins from two companies formed in 1946: California Eastern Airways, an air freight business and Land-Air Inc, an aircraft maintenance company. Two years after being organized, California Eastern Airways—- despite emerging as the second largest independent air carrier—- filed for bankruptcy in May 1948.[10]
[edit] Aviation Background
Land-Air, Inc., which is the predecessor to today's DynCorp International's Maintenance and Technical Support Services (MTSS) strategic business unit, reached a major milestone in 1951, when it was awarded the first Contract Field Teams (CFT) contract by the Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC). Contract field teams provide mission support and depot-level repair to U.S. military aircraft and weapons systems worldwide. This was a major innovation in aviation services. Under the Contract Field Teams system, teams of aviation-maintenance experts are deployed anywhere around the world to provide fast, flexible maintenance services to aircraft at their home bases. DynCorp International and its predecessors have provided services under the CFT program continuously since being awarded that first contract. DynCorp has been one of the United States federal government's top 25 contractors.
[edit] Name changes
From 1951 to 2004 the company went through a number of name changes from Land-Air, Inc. in 1951 to California Eastern Airways, Inc., and in 1962, California Eastern Aviation, Inc., changed its name to Dynalectron Corporation, and then in 1987, Dynalectron changed its name to DynCorp. In December 2000, DynCorp formed DynCorp International LLC, and transferred to it all of its international business to this entity while DynCorp Technical Services LLC continued to perform DynCorp’s domestic contracts. In March 2003, DynCorp and its subsidiaries were acquired by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) for approximately US$914 million. Less than two years later, CSC announced the sale of three units of the business to a private equity firm, Veritas Capital, for US$850 million. The units sold were DynCorp International, DynMarine and certain DynCorp Technical Services contracts.[11]. In December of 2004, DynCorp and CSC entered into an agreement to sell their equity interests in DynCorp International LLC, including its subsidiaries, Dyn Marine Services LLC, and DTS Aviation Services LLC, to DynCorp International Inc. In 2006, DynCorp International Inc went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DCP
[edit] Fleet
- Bell Helicopters UH1 Huey
- oil spill response vessels
- flagship communications suites - for the Military Sealift Command afloat maritime pre-positioned ship squadrons (Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean, and Indian Ocean (Diego Garcia)
- Global Fleet Sales/Ford F350 SORV (Severe Off Road Vehicles)
- International buses
[edit] Controversies
[edit] Colombia
- See also: Colombian armed conflict and Plan Colombia
Since the late 1990s, the United States has paid private contractors an estimated $1.2 billion, both to eradicate coca crops and to assist the Colombian army put down rebels that use the illegal drug trade to finance their insurgency.
DynCorp has been awarded under competitive bid more of this business than any other company. They help Colombia's national police destroy coca crops with aerial defoliants. Although Colombia remains a major drug producing country, the Government of Colombia (GOC) is completely committed to fighting the production and trade in illicit drugs. Colombia had a sixth consecutive record year for illicit crop eradication and continued its aggressive interdiction programs. In 2006, the U.S.-supported Colombian National Police (CNP) Anti-Narcotics Directorate (DIRAN) sprayed 171,613 hectares of illicit coca and opium poppy, and manual eradication accounted for the destruction of an additional 42,111 hectares of coca and 1,697 hectares of poppy.[12] Colombia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. According to experts familiar with this operation, the company's role goes far beyond crop spraying. DynCorp employees "are engaged in combatant roles, fighting in counterinsurgency operations against the Colombian rebel groups," says Peter W. Singer, a foreign-policy fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Corporate Warriors. "Indeed, the DynCorp personnel have a local reputation for being both arrogant and far too willing to get ‘wet,' going out on frequent combat missions and engaging in firefights." DynCorp has not responded to the allegation.[citation needed]
In this regard, concerning the company's activities and alleged abuses in Colombia, an extensive accusation was presented against DynCorp at the Hearing on Biodiversity of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, session on Colombia, which took place at the Cacarica Humanitarian Zone from February 24 to 27, 2007. [13]
In addition to Human rights abuses, it is common for Dyncorp employees to frequent known houses of prostitution.[citation needed] In at least one case, a Dyncorp employee has been released for sexual involvement with underage females in Colombia. This would be statutory rape in the US. But dyncorp offered the individual an opportunity to resign. He was never reported to the authorities.[citation needed]
The 1992 assassination of three DynCorp employees, whose helicopter was shot down during an anti-drug mission in Peru, received a brief 113 word mention in the New York Times.[3]
[edit] Hurricane Katrina
DynCorp, along with partners Dewberry of Fairfax, Va., and Parsons Corporation of Pasadena, California, were awarded a contract to provide temporary housing to hurricane victims by FEMA.[14] It is not known how many security contractors DynCorp may have sent with regards to that contract. However 13 officers were dispatched to assess possible damage to five hospitals in New Orleans, including the Memorial Medical Center and one in Biloxi, Mississippi at the request of Ross Perot and Tenet Healthcare.[15]
Writing mainly about the involvement, competitor Blackwater USA, columnist Jeremy Scahill of The Nation, stated that employees "from companies like DynCorp, Intercon, American Security Group, Blackwater USA, Wackenhut and an Israeli company called Instinctive Shooting International (ISI) are fanning out to guard private businesses and homes, as well as government projects and institutions."[16] This passage seems to have angered, then president and CEO, Stephen J. Cannon enough to respond. In his letter Cannon protests Scahills use of words such as "mercenaries" and "fan out" and feels that DynCorp is the victim of bias. Clarifying that Tenet Health Organization Group engaged DI to help protect its facilities, patients and employees and assist in evacuations.[17]
[edit] Iraq
In September 2005, Brigadier General Karl Horst, deputy commander of the Third Infantry Division in charge of security in Baghdad after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, had this to say regarding some members of the private security firms operating in Iraq: "These guys run loose in this country and do stupid stuff. There's no authority over them, so you can't come down on them hard when they escalate force... They shoot people, and someone else has to deal with the aftermath. It happens all over the place."[18]
In February 2007 federal auditors cited DynCorp for wasting millions on projects, including building an unapproved, Olympic-sized swimming pool at the behest of Iraqi police officials.[19]
On October 11, 2007, a DynCorp security guard in a US State Department convoy killed a taxi driver in Baghdad. According to several witnesses, the taxi did not pose a threat to the security of the convoy.[20]
A US government audit report of October 2007 revealed that $1.3 billion was spent on a contract with DynCorp for training Iraqi police. The auditors stated that the program was mismanaged to such an extent that they were unable to determine how the money was spent.[21]
[edit] Afghanistan
DynCorp has come under heavy criticism in Afghanistan for aggressive behaviour, with one security guard allegedly slapping the Afghan Transport Minister.[22] They were replaced as Karzai's Presidential Guard in November 2005, apparently in a bid by Karzai to demonstrate his independence and because of DynCorp's aggressive approach.[23] DynCorp continues with both the Afghanistan Police Program and the Poppy Elimination Programme in Afghanistan. The qualification of personnel in the police programme have been called into question by the previous minister of Interior Jalili. All DynCorp police advisors are required to have at least eight years of police experience in either the U.S. or the UK
[edit] Gaza strip
On October 15, 2003, three DynCorp employees were killed in a bombing in the Gaza Strip. They were serving as security guards for American diplomats, supplementing the Diplomatic Security Service.[24]
[edit] References
- ^ “Increasing the Number of U.S. Border Patrol Agents” - statement of Robert B. Rosenkranz. June 19, 2007. Committee on Homeland Security (2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
- ^ pronounced /ˈdaɪnkɔrp/. The pronunciation of the company has been confused in the past, with mispronunciations such as "Dine-Core" (silent "p") and "Dine-uh-Core" commonplace; the proper pronunciation is "Dine-Corp," which includes the "p" sound, as stated by Herb Lanese, the new CEO, at an employee town hall meeting, January 2007 in Fort Worth.
- ^ a b Yeoman, Barry. "Soldiers of Good Fortune", Mother Jones, 2003-06-01. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
- ^ Outsourcing Post-Conflict Operations. Princeton University (2004). Retrieved on 2006-11-11.
- ^ IRAQ: Misjudgments Marred U.S. Plans for Iraqi Police. New York Times Company (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-11.
- ^ Merle, Renae (2006-03-14). "Storm-Wracked Parish Considers Hired Guns". Washington Post: A01.
- ^ Jonsson, Patrik (2006-03-28). "Katrina survivors play defense against looting". Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ Template:Url=http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20071022162111.pdf
- ^ "report Most of $1.2 billion to train Iraqi police unaccounted for - CNN.com" (2007-10-23). CNN: A01.
- ^ "California Eastern Files Under Bankruptcy Act", Wall Street Journal, 1948-05-14, p. 9.
- ^ CSC Sells DynCorp Units for $850m. Datamonitor Computerwire (2004-12-14). Retrieved on 2006-10-16.
- ^ "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report", Department of State, March 2007, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/81446.pdf
- ^ "Accusation against the Transnational DynCorp", Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, 2007, http://www.prensarural.org/spip/spip.php?article673
- ^ DynCorp International and its Partners in Partnership for Temporary Housing (PaTH) Awarded a Contract by FEMA. Dyncorp International (2006-08-16). Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
- ^ Hamm, Crystal. DynCorp International Provides Security and Relief in Louisiana After Katrina. Dyncorp International. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
- ^ Scahill, Jeremy (2005-09-21). "Blackwater Down". The Nation.
- ^ Scahill, Jeremy (2005-11-01). Tender Mercenaries: DynCorp and Me. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
- ^ Finer, Jonathan (2005-09-10). "Security Contractors in Iraq Under Scrutiny After Shootings". Washington Post: A01.
- ^ Rosen, Nir. "Riding Shotgun With Our Shadow Army in Iraq", Mother Jones, 2007-05-01. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ Glanz, James. "Security Guard Fires From Convoy, Killing Iraqi Driver", The New York Times, November 12, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
- ^ "US-Iraqi contract 'in disarray'", BBC News, 23 October 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
- ^ US chides 'hostile' Karzai guards. BBC News (2004-10-14). Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
- ^ Baseer Saeed, Abdul (2005-11-13). Karzai's Afghan Protectors. Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
- ^ Clabaugh, Jeff (2003-10-15). American victims in Gaza bombing worked for DynCorp. Washington Business Journal. Retrieved on 2006-05-21.
[edit] External links
- DynCorp International home page
- Sourcewatch: DynCorp
- State Outsources Secret War, article from The Nation
- Outsourcing the Pentagon, information on Dyncorp Pentagon contracts and lobbying from Center for Public Integrity
- American firm in Bosnia sex trade row poised to win MoD contract article from The Guardian
- "Outside the Law" - Salon investigation of activities of DynCorp and other private military contractors in Bosnia.
- CorpWatch profile - CorpWatch profile on Dyncorp/CSC.
- "the Windfalls of War" - Center for Public Integrity report on Dyncorp.
- Accusation against the Transnational DynCorp Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, Session on Colombia.
- [1] Private Security Transnational Enterprises in Colombia.
