While attention may be focused on Iraq, the U.S. government is also spending substantial cash on private security contractors in Africa. I had never heard of the AFRICAP contract until today, when I noted that the Department of State is looking to recompete a contract worth approximately one billion dollars to train peacekeepers and provide military logistics in Africa:
*The Department of State (DOS), Bureau of African Affair's Africa Peacekeeping Program (AFRICAP) program covers much of the security assistance work being requested throughout the continent of Africa. The program enhances African countries ability to conduct peacekeeping operations and builds African capacities for crisis management and counter terrorism. One of the program?s key objectives is regional peace and stability. DOS uses its peacekeeping operations (PKO) funds to advance that goal by undertaking training of armed forces, enhancing their ability to deploy by land, air and sea. AFRICAP contractors also work with regional organizations to enhance their abilities to prevent, manage, and resolve conflict and supporting peacekeeping and peace building operations. *
The current AFRICAP contract, which dates back to fiscal 2003, is held by a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, Pacific Architects and Engineers, and DynCorp International. It's unclear how much that one was worth, but the recompeted contract is expected to award some $1 billion in work over five years. There are very few references to the AFRICAP contract, or the work performed under it, which may not mean much more than it's managed stayed under the radar screen thanks to all the attention focused on Iraq. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Theresa Whelan did make some references to the AFRICAP contract at a dinner held by the International Peace Operation Associations, the trade group with represents private security contractors:
*Additionally, LOGCAP contracts, like Brown and Root or AFRICAP contracts as we’re now calling the support contractors in context of some of the log operations we’re doing in Africa, enable both U.S. Government and contractors to move very rapidly to support contingencies. Take this summer’s Liberia operation as an example. If you look at the time between when the decision was made and when things got started on the ground in country, it was pretty darn short, a matter of weeks actually. And if you look at the time between when the Africans made the decision that they were going to send forces to Liberia at the end of July and then look at when we were actually getting the Africans on the ground which was about the middle, or early August, again, very short. And in comparison if you look at the UN current deployment schedule, which is weeks behind, we were actually lightning fast. So there is a big advantage in being able to put the contractors on the ground and get things going fast. *
Of course, a lot has happened between 2003 and 2008, and LOGCAP contracts have taken a beating.
Update:
Mountain Runner writes:
*At the AFRICOM conference at USC on Friday, the Liberian Ambassador to the U.S. complained about U.S. contractors brought in to train his soldiers. His complaint was the contractors brought in cooks to prepare, among other meals, continental breakfasts while unemployed Liberians cooks were looking for work outside the wire. His people didn’t want continental breakfasts and it took 1 year and a trip to DC to get the contractor to stop this practice. The comments were in the context that AFRICOM would bring U.S. mil resources, not contracted resources, to such projects. *
