By Rafael Enrique Valero, National Journal
Blackwater Worldwide's gunfights in Iraq have attracted more congressional scrutiny than the private security industry would like. It was bound to happen, though. After all, men with guns tend to draw attention. And isn't that the point?
But while Congress and the public decide what to make of this new generation of corporate warriors, and what rules if any should apply to them, the industry as a whole isn't looking back.
In October, leaders in the private military security industry -- ArmorGroup, DynCorp, MPRI, and several others -- gathered at the Phoenix Park Hotel near the Capitol for the annual three-day summit of their trade group, the International Peace Operations Association. Panel speakers and members of the audience debated the future of nation-building efforts in failed states. Almost snapping to attention, the former military officers who dominate this industry introduced themselves in sincere baritones of "Lieutenant Colonel So-and-So, retired," or "Major So-and-So, retired." The one active-duty soldier I met handing out his business card that day, Army Lt. Col. James Boozell, a branch chief of the Stability Operations/Irregular Warfare Division at the Pentagon, said that the U.S. military was in fact experiencing a "watershed" moment in its 200-plus-year history -- nation building was now a core military mission to be led by the Army.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=38972&dcn=e_gvet
