A former Navy SEAL explains why he chose to work for a private security contractor in Iraq
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By T. Trent Gegax
Newsweek
Updated: 5:15 p.m. ET June 08, 2004
June 8 - It's plain that the Army is short-handed by at least 30,000 troops. Meanwhile, the Navy and Air Force are overstocked and private security firms are filling the breach in Iraq. The private forces protect convoys, disarm local fighters and train the indigenous Iraqi forces to take over the protection of the civilian contractors who are rebuilding the country's infrastructure. But if all these sound like military jobs, then why aren't the contractors serving in the U.S. armed services? Bottom line: it’s the pay check.
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The gruesome March ambush and mutilation of four contractors in Fallujah put the spotlight on the security business in Iraq. Now that the Army is suspending many retirements and reaching deep into its personnel shelves, coaxing out its long-retired "ready-reserve" ranks, it's worth noting the composition of the private security firms. Most of their personnel are retired or reserve members of special operations units. Navy SEALs gravitate toward the Blackwater Security Consulting, Army Rangers prefer SOC-SMG (Special Operations Consulting-Security Management Group), which has some 300 personnel in-country, and retired Green Berets and Delta Force personnel are comfortable at Illinois-based Triple Canopy, another risk-management firm. In addition, private med-evac companies supply paramedics to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, and retired soldiers-cum-SWAT officers are also signing on.
The mutual attraction between private contractors and the military's special operations reserve ranks is understandable. If the hole to be filled is, say, a medic who's also a sharp-shooter with a special operations background, they hire someone like Mike Meoli, a former Navy SEAL who spoke to NEWSWEEK about his experiences in Iraq. Most military medics don’t have that sort of high-speed experience—they haven't seen people die in large numbers. But semi-retired "spec ops," generally in their 40s and 50s, also provide a boost to U.S. military operations. "There are all these (National) Guard Special Forces units that are getting pissed off because their guys are going to the private security firms and they don't have anyone," Meoli, on leave from his Marine Reserve unit, told NEWSWEEK. When Meoli was last activated, in 2001, he did 32 missions in Afghanistan, including a "ship take-down" and capture of Taliban members. "But I got out $30,000 in debt," he said.
It's hard to beat a better wage. Even at 50, those like Meoli still thrive on the adrenalin. But they risk their lives for the money. If the U.S. Army has been able stave off (so far) a widely-feared retention and recruitment crisis with the help of $10,000 bonuses, you can only imagine the powerful lure of six-figure incomes. "I'm making more now than I've ever made in my life," says Meoli, a fireman. "It's probably the most hazardous job on the face of the earth, but it's a windfall that my family needs." Employed by SOC-SMG to protect convoys, VIPs and munitions caches, Meoli's job isn't simple. He also does field surgeries and totes around about a hundred medications. On one occasion, Meoli recalls, he saved the life of an elderly man whose car tires were shot out after he sped into a military checkpoint. The man had accidentally hit the gas pedal and suffered a heart attack during the shooting.
Guys like Meoli are independent contractors who sign on with a corporation, receive limited benefits and work 80-hour weeks (some even punch time cards) for about $15,000 per month. "Others do it to make enough for the house or the swimming pool they want to buy," Meoli says, "and then they get out. It's totally mercenary. But there are a few guys like me who feel like they're prosecuting a war. I really feel like I'm making a difference."
In return, they lessen the Defense Department’s political and financial exposure. "They save money on us," Meoli says, "because when we die we don't cost as much as regular military guys." Contractors may cost more on a day-to-day basis, but the government isn't obliged to pay out life insurance to families left behind. On the other hand, it's the rare contractor who sets aside military-style money and time for training. Meoli spent a mere five days at Ft. Bliss, Tex., going through orientation, immunization and medical screening before hitting the sand running in Iraq. Nor was there much in the way of the disqualification hurdles that typically weed out the weak from the armed forces.
On paper, discipline is strict among private security firms. Sex and alcohol are forbidden. But in fact, Meoli says, contractors can get alcohol. Meoli's rules of engagement are shoot-to-kill. "But our morals and ethics kick in unless they're shooting at us," he says. Private security firms didn't even come under scrutiny until CACI International Inc., which provided civilian interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison, became embroiled in the abuse scandal there.
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The vast majority of contractors are solid men doing dangerous work. They protect themselves with the M-4 rifles familiar to U.S. special operators—not the Army's bulkier, standard M-16 rifles—as they ride alongside military convoys that Meoli calls "bullet magnets." He's comfortable being armed to the teeth. "I'm never going to get taken hostage," he said. "I'm going down fighting. After Fallujah, you know the enemy isn't going to treat you well." Those who do get captured, like truck drivers, are unarmed because Defense Department contracts allow only "security" workers to carry weapons. "The contractors that arm and train their non-security logistical people are the smartest ones," Meoli said, "because they're least likely to have somebody taken hostage by a terrorist and tortured or raped or decapitated on TV."
The future of the private-security industry in Iraq is unpredictable. Some, like Alistair Morrison, head of Kroll Security International, see Iraq as a short-term market, with about a year left before Iraq is secured by its own indigenous force. Morrison says private security contracts will shift toward homeland security roles, U.S. embassy protection and jobs guarding the world's mining and oil-production sites. For his part, Meoli hopes for a long-term stretch of part-time work, with big-time pay checks. "I love salvaging around Iraq and being told something's impossible to get done, and then I go and do it," Meoli said. It's the gung-ho attitude for which the Army should put up more money. But when Meoli returns from making big private-contractor bucks, he's heading back to his fire department in San Diego.
