. for the literary agency see the academi . academi type private industry private security services contractor founded 1997 founder erik prince headquarters mclean virginia u.s. 1 area served worldwide key people craig nixon products law enforcement training logistics close quarter training and security services services security management full service risk management consulting website www.academi.com academi is an american private military company originally founded in 1997 by former navy seal officer erik prince . 2 3 formerly known as blackwater 4 the company was renamed xe services in 2009 . it was renamed academi in 2011 after the company was acquired by a group of private investors in late 2010 . 5 the new investors instituted a board of directors and new senior management . prince retained the rights to the name blackwater and has no affiliation with academi . blackwater received widespread publicity in 2007 when a group of its employees killed 17 iraqi civilians and injured 20 in nisour square baghdad for which four guards were convicted in a u.s. court . 6 7 academi provides security services to the united states federal government on a contractual basis . since 2003 the group has provided services to the cia including a 2010 contract for 250 million . 8 in 2013 academi subsidiary international development solutions received an approximately 92 million contract for state department security guards . 9 in 2014 the company became a division of constellis holdings along with triple canopy and other security companies that were part of the constellis group as the result of an acquisition . 10 11 contents 1 corporate history 1.1 1997 blackwater usa 1.2 1998 training center opens 1.3 2002 2007 blackwater security company 1.3.1 2003 2006 first contracts 1.3.2 leadership 1.3.3 2006 2007 new training centers 1.4 2007 2009 blackwater worldwide 1.5 2009 2010 xe services llc 1.6 2010 2014 academi 1.7 2014 present constellis holdings 2 board of directors 3 services and products 3.1 united states training center 3.1.1 maritime security service 3.1.2 canine training 3.1.3 security consulting 3.2 products 3.2.1 target systems 3.2.2 grizzly armored vehicle 4 former corporate units 4.1 aviation worldwide services 4.2 greystone limited 5 former international services 6 role in the iraq war 6.1 contracts 6.2 incidents 6.2.1 fallujah and najaf 6.2.2 baghdad 6.2.3 other incidents 6.3 prosecution 6.3.1 u.s. congress 6.3.2 iraqi courts 6.3.3 lawsuits 6.3.4 federal prosecution 7 in popular culture 8 see also 9 references 10 further reading 10.1 books 10.2 articles 11 external links corporate history edit 1997 blackwater usa edit blackwater usa was formed in 1997 by al clark 12 and erik prince in north carolina to provide training support to military and law enforcement organizations . in explaining blackwater s purpose prince stated we are trying to do for the national security apparatus what fedex did for the postal service . 13 after working with seal and swat teams blackwater usa received its first government contract after the bombing of the uss cole off of the coast of yemen in october 2000 . after winning the bid on the contract jamie smith ran the program at blackwater that trained over 100 000 sailors . 14 1998 training center opens edit prince purchased approximately 7 000 acres 28 km2 of the great dismal swamp a vast swamp on the north carolina virginia border that is now mostly a national wildlife refuge from dow jones executive sean trotter . we needed 3 000 acres to make it safe prince told reporter robert young pelton . 15 there he created his private training facility and his contracting company blackwater which he named for the peat colored water of the swamp . 16 the blackwater lodge and training center officially opened on may 15 1998 with a 6 000 acre facility and cost 6.5 million . 15 the training facility comprises several ranges indoor outdoor urban reproductions ; an artificial lake ; and a driving track in camden and currituck counties . the company says it is the largest training facility in the country . the concept was not a financial success and was kept financially solvent by sales from sister company blackwater target systems . 17 2002 2007 blackwater security company edit jeremy scahill has claimed that blackwater security company bsc was the brainchild of jamie smith a former cia officer who became vice president of blackwater usa and the founding director of blackwater security company holding both positions simultaneously . 18 however this claim is denied by prince and blackwater executive gary jackson who describe firing smith from his position as a low level administrator for non performance after a 30 day contract . additionally smith has been accused of further embellishing his military and contracting record to defraud investors at scg international risk . 19 2003 2006 first contracts edit bsc s first assignment was to provide 20 men with top secret clearance to protect the cia headquarters and another base that was responsible for hunting osama bin laden . 20 blackwater was one of several private security firms employed following the u.s. invasion of afghanistan . bsc was originally formed as a delaware llc and 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 . 21 smith left blackwater to start his own firm scg international risk in 2003 . blackwater was also hired during the aftermath of hurricane katrina by the united states department of homeland security as well as by private clients including communications petrochemical and insurance companies . why 22 overall the company received over us 1 billion in u.s. government contracts . 23 the company consisted of nine divisions and a subsidiary blackwater vehicles . paul bremer escorted by blackwater security guards in august 2003 blackwater received its first iraq contract a 21 million contract for a personal security detachment and two helicopters for paul bremer head of the u.s. occupation in iraq . 24 in july 2004 blackwater was hired by the u.s. state department under the bureau of diplomatic security s worldwide personal protective services wpps umbrella contract along with dyncorp international and triple canopy inc. for protective services in iraq afghanistan bosnia and israel . 25 the applied for two years and expired on june 6 2006 . it authorized 482 personnel and blackwater received 488m for its work . 26 on september 1 2005 following hurricane katrina blackwater dispatched a rescue team and helicopter free of charge to support relief operations . 27 following that it was reported that the company also acted as law enforcement in the disaster stricken areas such as securing neighborhoods and confronting criminals . 28 blackwater moved about 200 personnel into the area hit by hurricane katrina most of whom 164 employees were working under a contract with the department of homeland security to protect government facilities 29 but the company held contracts with private clients as well . overall blackwater had a visible and financially lucrative presence in the immediate aftermath of hurricane katrina as the use of the company contractors cost u.s. taxpayers 240 000 a day . 30 in may 2006 the u.s. state department awarded wpps ii the successor to its previous diplomatic security contract . 26 under this contract the state department awarded blackwater along with triple canopy and dyncorp a contract for diplomatic security in iraq . under this contract blackwater is authorized to have 1 020 staff in iraq . 26 blackwater s responsibilities include the united states embassy in iraq . 31 at the time it was a privately held company and published limited information about internal affairs . 32 leadership edit blackwater employee jamie smith along pakistani border in afghanistan in 2002 cofer black the company s vice chairman from 2006 through 2008 was director of the cia s counterterrorist center ctc at the time of the september 11 attacks in 2001 . he was the united states department of state coordinator for counterterrorism with the rank of ambassador at large from december 2002 to november 2004 . after leaving public service black became chairman of the privately owned intelligence gathering company total intelligence solutions inc. as well as vice chairman of blackwater . 33 34 robert richer was vice president of intelligence until january 2007 when he formed total intelligence solutions . he was formerly the head of the cia s near east division . 33 34 2006 2007 new training centers edit in november 2006 blackwater usa announced that it had acquired an 80 acre 32 ha facility 120 miles 190 km west of chicago in mount carroll illinois called impact training center . this facility has been operational since april 2007 and serves law enforcement agencies throughout the midwest . citation needed blackwater tried to open an 824 acre 3.33 km2 training facility three miles north of potrero a small town in rural east san diego county california located 45 miles 72 km east of san diego for military and law enforcement training . 35 36 37 37 38 the opening had faced heavy opposition from local residents residents of nearby san diego local congressmember bob filner and environmentalist and anti war organizations . opposition focused on a potential for wildfire increases the proposed facility s proximity to the cleveland national forest noise pollution and opposition to the actions of blackwater in iraq . 39 40 in response brian bonfiglio project manager for blackwater west said there will be no explosives training and no tracer ammunition . lead bullets don t start fires . in october 2007 when wildfires swept through the area blackwater made at least three deliveries of food water personal hygiene products and generator fuel to 300 residents near the proposed training site many of whom had been trapped for days without supplies . they also set up a tent city for evacuees . 41 on march 7 2008 blackwater withdrew its application to set up a facility in san diego county . 42 2007 2009 blackwater worldwide edit blackwater logo introduced 2007 top and original logo below in october 2007 blackwater usa began the process of changing its name to blackwater worldwide and unveiled a new logo . 43 the change deemphasized the cross hair reticle theme simplifying it slightly . 43 on july 21 2008 blackwater worldwide stated that it would shift resources away from security contracting because of the extensive risks in that sector . said company founder and ceo erik prince the experience we ve had would certainly be a disincentive to any other companies that want to step in and put their entire business at risk . 44 2009 2010 xe services llc edit xe logo in february 2009 blackwater announced that it would change its name again to xe services llc as part of a company wide restructuring plan . subsequently it reorganized its business units added a corporate governance and ethics program and established an independent committee of outside experts to supervise compliance structures . 45 prince announced his resignation as ceo on march 2 2009 . he remained as chairman of the board but was no longer involved in day to day operations . joseph yorio was named as the new president and ceo replacing gary jackson as president and prince as ceo ; yorio and his team are credited with restructuring the company resolving several legal issues implementing numerous internal controls and compliance programs and improving the top and bottom line all the while positioning it for sale . danielle esposito was named the new chief operating officer and executive vice president . 46 47 in 2009 prince announced that he would relinquish involvement in the company s day to day business in december along with some of his ownership rights . he also said he considered becoming a teacher . 48 in late 2010 prince moved to abu dhabi where he subsequently started another security services company