BlackwaterUSA acquires Idaho-based Backup Training Corp (online police-training video company)

[seafan]

Blackwater Acquires Leading Online Training Company

October 26, 2007

Moyock, NC (PRWEB) October 18, 2007 -- Blackwater Worldwide, a global leader in advanced law enforcement and military training is proud to announce the acquisition of The Backup Training Corporation.

Developed in 1997 by Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, businesswoman Yvonne Ellis, The Backup Corporation has maintained its goal of providing US law enforcement with useful low cost training tools, up to date professional information, and state of the art training tactics. The Backup Training Corporation provides superior CD-ROM training courses and online access to training coursework. Its training products are used in over 9,600 police departments nationwide.

"Blackwater and The Backup have long shared the same customer base, but have provided different services. Aquiring the Backup will allow Blackwater to broaden its offerings and to provide our customers a fuller array of training solutions," said Jim Sierawski, Blackwater's Vice President of Domestic Training and Operations.

With this acquisition Blackwater Worldwide continues to build its core capability as a premier training provider, delivering efficient, effective, and economical global training solutions for the 21st century.

From October 9, 2007, John Stucke at Spokesman Review:

The pending sale of a Coeur d'Alene-based police training-video company to Blackwater USA, under fire for its militaristic actions in Iraq, has hit a snag as the Iraqi government pursues the military contractor's ouster.

Rick Gallia, chief executive officer of Backup Training Corp., said he hopes the maelstrom of news and controversy about Blackwater subsides so he can complete the sale.

Several months ago the companies signed a letter of understanding. Final terms have not been hammered out, said Gallia. He declined to discuss a sale price, but held out hopes a deal could be done by December.
Gallia owns 89 percent of Backup Training with his wife, company founder and president Yvonne Ellis. The business has 17 employees and annual sales of less than $5 million.

The business has been performing contract work for Blackwater, mostly offering computer training materials and extended learning classes.
The business relationship has grown and Gallia said a Blackwater takeover of The Backup would add jobs and much needed investment money to expand the training offerings.

Blackwater performs security service contracts in Iraq and has been under fire for high-profile killings and gunbattles that have led some members of Congress to accuse the firm of employing mercenary killers.

Blackwater was founded by a 38-year-old former U.S. Navy Seal. It is now a multibillion-dollar company and at the center of questions about the appropriateness of military contracting and excessive use of force.
Among the actions scrutinized include last month's killing of 17 people when Blackwater guards unleashed heavy gunfire into traffic. The fallout has included the Congressional probe and the Iraqi government's insistence that Blackwater be booted from the country and be forced to pay $8 million to each victim's family.

Gallia said he has been asked to refrain from commenting on Blackwater's problems in Iraq.

"I will say that sometimes things aren't always reported the right way," Gallia said, "What we know of the company is that they are a bunch of outstanding Americans who are working hard to train other Americans and are doing a good job."

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Looks like the deal went through much more quickly than they'd hoped...



A bit more background on The Backup Training Corporation:

April 21, 2007

The Backup Training Corporation has announced a new alliance with security contractor, Blackwater USA, to combine efforts in providing digital learning and tactical training to law enforcement, government agencies and military units throughout the world.

Coeur d'Alene, ID, April 21, 2007 --(PR.com)-- The Backup Training Corporation, one of the nation’s leading computer-based training providers for law enforcement, has announced that it has completed a multi-year agreement to provide exclusive digital learning services to Blackwater Lodge and Training Center, Inc. The Backup will also provide digital learning services for proposals Blackwater provides to its substantial contract customer base. In addition, Blackwater will become the exclusive provider of practical skill development training for The Backup in the areas of firearms and tactics training, Law Enforcement training, Law Enforcement Special Operations training, K9 training, military training, security and Law Enforcement driving training and aviation training. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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About The Backup Training Corporation:

The Backup Training Corporation has been supplying law enforcement agencies with training since 1997. Started by businesswoman Yvonne Ellis, the company designs, produces and distributes interactive training courses with content ranging from club drugs to weapons of mass destruction. With distribution to over 3,500 departments and thousands of individuals worldwide, they are known as the leader in computer-based training in the law enforcement industry.

About Blackwater:

Founded in 1997 by a former U. S. Navy SEAL, Blackwater was created from the belief that both the military and law enforcement communities would require additional capacity to train fully our brave men and women in and out of uniform to the standards required to keep the country secure. The Blackwater family of businesses includes Blackwater Training Center, Blackwater Security Consulting, Blackwater Canine, Blackwater Armor & Targets, Blackwater Logistics, Blackwater Airships, and Raven Development Group. Blackwater also has strategic partnerships with the Terrorism Research Center (www.terrorism.com) and Greystone Limited (www.greystone-ltd.com).

Hmmmm. Computer-based educational programs... wonder if Neil Bush is lurking somewhere...



Regarding Greystone Limited:

...

At present, Blackwater has forces deployed in nine countries and boasts a database of 21,000 additional troops at the ready, a fleet of more than 20 aircraft, including helicopter gun-ships, and the world's largest private military facility - a 7,000-acre compound in North Carolina. It recently opened a new facility in Illinois (Blackwater North) and is fighting local opposition to a third planned domestic facility near San Diego (Blackwater West) by the Mexican border. It is also manufacturing an armoured vehicle (nicknamed the Grizzly) and surveillance blimps.

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While the private military/security industry rejects the characterisation of their forces as mercenaries, Blackwater executives have turned the grey area in which they operate into a brand asset. The company has been quietly marketing its services to foreign governments and corporations through an off-shore affiliate, Greystone Ltd, registered in Barbados.

In early 2005, Blackwater held an extravagant, invitation-only Greystone "inauguration" at the swanky Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington, DC. The guest list for the seven-hour event included weapons manufacturers, oil companies and diplomats from the likes of Uzbekistan, Yemen, the Philippines, Romania, Indonesia, Tunisia, Algeria, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Kenya, Angola and Jordan. Several of those countries' defence or military attaches attended. "It is more difficult than ever for your country to successfully protect its interests against diverse and complicated threats in today's grey world," Greystone's promotional pamphlet told attendees. "Greystone is an international security services company that offers your country or organisation a complete solution to your most pressing security needs."

Greystone said its forces were prepared for "ready deployment in support of national security objectives as well as private interests". Among the "services" offered were mobile security teams, which could be employed for personal security operations, surveillance and countersurveillance. Applicants for jobs with Greystone were asked to check off their qualifications in weapons: AK-47 rifle, Glock 19, M-16 series rifle, M-4 carbine rifle, machine gun, mortar and shoulder-fired weapons. Among the skills sought were: Sniper, Marksman, Door Gunner, Explosive Ordnance, Counter Assault Team.

While Blackwater has become one of the most powerful and influential private actors in international conflict since the launch of the war on terror, in many ways it is like a small, high-end boutique surrounded by megastores such as DynCorp, ArmourGroup and Erynis, operating in a $100bn industry. In fact, experts say, there are now more private military companies operating internationally than there are member nations at the UN.

"I think it's extraordinarily dangerous when a nation begins to outsource its monopoly on the use of force ... in support of its foreign policy or national security objectives," says Wilson. The billions of dollars being doled out to these companies, he says, "makes of them a very powerful interest group within the American body politic and an interest group that is, in fact, armed. And the question will arise at some time: to whom do they owe their loyalty?"

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat and a leading member of the House select committee on intelligence, echoes those fears. "The one thing the people think of as being in the purview of the government is the use of military power. Suddenly you've got a for-profit corporation going around the world that is more powerful than states".

Roving global mercenaries, much more powerful than nations, that will be loyal only to the highest bidder... The safety of our world is blinking red.


This will be our final downfall, assuming that we can first stop BushCheney from attacking Iran.



And, finally, from the "up is down, ignorance is strength, war is peace" file:


October 20, 2007:

Blackwater withdraws from the International Peace Operations Association.