Academi is an American private military company founded in 1997 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince as Blackwater. The company received widespread notoriety in 2007, when a group of its employees killed 14 Iraqi civilians and injured 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad. In 2013, Academi subsidiary International Development Solutions received an approximately USD 92 million contract for State Department security guards. Academi became a division of Constellis Group along with Triple Canopy and other security companies as the result of an acquisition in 2011.
About Academi in brief
Academi is an American private military company founded in 1997 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince as Blackwater. The company received widespread notoriety in 2007, when a group of its employees killed 14 Iraqi civilians and injured 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad. In 2013, Academi subsidiary International Development Solutions received an approximately USD 92 million contract for State Department security guards. Academi became a division of Constellis Group along with Triple Canopy and other security companies as the result of an acquisition in 2011. The group has provided services to the Central Intelligence Agency since 2003. Blackwater was also hired during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by the United States Department of Homeland Security to protect government facilities, as well as by private clients, including communications, petrochemical, and insurance companies. Overall, the company received over US$1 billion in U.S. government contracts. It was one of over 60 private security firms employed during the Iraq War to guard officials and installations, train Iraq’s new army and police, and provide other support for coalition forces. It authorized 482 personnel and received USD 488m for its work following Hurricane Katrina, but the company moved about 200 personnel into the Blackwater’s presence after the storm. The contract with the Federal Protective Service to protect private facilities, most of whom were impacted by Katrina, expired on June 6, 2006. It has applied for contracts for the purpose of providing protective services in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Bosnia and Israel, and Israel for the past two years.
The firm has been accused of further embellishing its military and contracting record to defraud investors at SCG International Risk. It is also alleged that Jamie Smith, a former CIA officer who became Vice President of Blackwater USA and the Founding Director of Blackwalking Security Company, held both positions simultaneously. Smith left Blackwater to start his own firm, SCG international Risk, in 2003. He is accused of embellishing his military and contract record to fraudulently defrauded investors atSCG International risk. He has denied this claim and says he was fired from his position as a low-level administrator for ‘non-performance’ after a 30-day contract. Blackwalking has been involved in the deaths of at least four people in Iraq since 2007, including four guards who were convicted in the U. S. but later pardoned by U. s. president Donald Trump. In 2009, Blackwalking was renamed as Xe Services in 2009 and known as Academi since 2011 after the company was acquired by a groupof private investors. In 2010, Blackwater received a contract for a Personal Security Detachment and two helicopters for Paul Bremer, head of the U of S. occupation in Iraq. In 2011, Blackwalk was hired by DynCorp International with DynCorp Worldwide Protective Services to provide protective services for thepurpose of providing security in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2012, Blackwalker was hired to provide security services for a number of private clients in Afghanistan and Bosnia.
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This page is based on the article Academi published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
