Aegis Defence Services

Aegis Defence Services is a British private military and private security company with overseas offices in Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Somalia and Mozambique. It is part of the Aegis Group of companies, which includes Aegis LLC, which is based in the United States. It was founded in 2002 by Tim Spicer, who was previously CEO of the private military company Sandline International;[2] Jeffrey Day, an entrepreneur; and Mark Bullough and Dominic Armstrong, former investment bankers.[3]

Aegis Defence Services
TypePrivate
Founded2002
FoundersTim Spicer
Mark Bullough
Jeffrey Day
Dominic Armstrong[1]
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
 Nicholas Soames (chairman)
Graham Binns (CEO)
ProductsDefence services
ServicesMilitary services
Websitewww.aegisworld.com

It is a founding signatory of the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers, inaugurated on 9 November 2010, a 'Swiss government convened, multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to both clarify international standards for the private security industry operating in complex environments, as well as to improve oversight and accountability of these companies.'[4] It was a founding member of the British Association of Private Security Companies (BAPSC), a body lobbying for the regulation of the British PSC sector,[5] which is now defunct. It is also a member of the Private Security Company Association of Iraq

In October 2015 Aegis was taken over by Canadian security company GardaWorld.[6]

Aegis in Iraq and Afghanistan

In Iraq, Aegis is under contract (worth $293 million over three years) to the United States Department of Defense to provide security support services to the Project and Contracting Office (PCO), responsible for managing the reconstruction program. These services include:

  1. Providing static and mobile security details for the PCO and United States Army Corps of Engineers;
  2. Maintaining situational awareness of logistical movement and reconstruction security operations;
  3. Facilitating intelligence–sharing between security forces and reconstruction contractors; and,
  4. Providing continuous information on the viability of road movement throughout the country.

Through its charitable foundation Aegis conducts a self-funded civil affairs programme to facilitate reconstruction in areas where there are gaps in mainstream projects. It also provides expatriate–led and Iraqi–manned Reconstruction Liaison Teams to monitor the progress of reconstruction work subcontracted to Iraqi building companies.

In separate contracts, Aegis is engaged in providing security protection to the inquiry into alleged corruption in the Oil-for-Food Programme. It provided security support to the UN Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD) and the Independent High Electoral Commission (IECI) facilitating both the constitutional referendum to proceed in October 2005 and the general election in December 2005.

In May 2011, it was announced that U.S. military was to pull out of Baghdad, in the air and ground, and to be replaced by eight companies including Aegis and DynCorp International to take over security operations.[7]

In 2011, Aegis was awarded a $497 million contract by the U.S. Department of State for assuming security forces operations at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Guardian newspaper reported that from 2011 onwards Aegis "broadened its recruitment" to include African countries, including Sierra Leone. Security guards recruited from Sierra Leone were paid only $16 (£11) a day.[6]

Trophy videos

On 27 October 2005 a number of "trophy" videos showing private military contractors in Baghdad firing upon civilian vehicles with no clear reason discernible from the footage itself sparked two investigations after they were posted on the internet. The videos were linked unofficially to Aegis Defence Services. Both the US Army and Aegis conducted investigations into the video; while the Aegis report is closed for client confidentiality reasons, the US Army enquiry concluded that the contractors involved were operating within the rules for the use of force. More4 News broadcast extracts of the videos in March 2006. The video showed Matthew Elkin (former U.S. Army Ranger and lead security contractor) denouncing the contractors and ordering a cease fire. Aegis benefited from CPA-mandated immunity from prosecution by Iraqi authorities.[8]

On 6 April 2006 More4 News reporter Nima Elbagir identified disaffected former Aegis contractor Rod Stoner as responsible for posting the videos on the website. Aegis would not confirm that its contractors were involved in the incidents shown in the videos, but obtained a High Court injunction to have Stoner's website closed down. In the same More4 program, Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn insisted that the Pentagon's contract with Aegis Defence Services should be suspended until the matter had been properly investigated and fully reported upon.

Acquisition

On 28 October 2005 Aegis acquired Rubicon International Services Ltd, a longstanding provider of corporate and other executive private security services. The public announcement was made on 4 November 2005. John Davidson, managing director of Rubicon, joined the Aegis board and became director of operations.

In July 2013, the Aegis chief executive was former Major General Graham Binns, who served in the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, which became the 1st battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment in 2006, and was the Colonel of the Yorkshire Regiment. The chairman of the Aegis board of directors was former Defence minister Nicholas Soames MP.[9]

On 13 July 2015, GardaWorld announced the acquisition of Aegis Defence Services to expand its strategic expansion in Africa and the Middle East.[10] The acquisition was completed on 12 October 2015 for $130,725,000 plus an earnout amount.[11]

Following the acquisition, former Aegis Defence Services co-founder and head of Aegis Risk Advisory (the intelligence arm of the company), Dominic Armstrong, founded strategic intelligence firm Herminius.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Tim Spicer". Sourcewatch. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  3. "Aegis Defence Services". Sourcewatch. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  4. "About the ICoC". ICoC. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015.
  5. Phinney, David. "From Mercenaries to Peacemakers?: Scandals Confront Military Security Industry". CorpWatch, 29 November 2005
  6. Ross, Alice (17 April 2016). "UK firm 'employed former child soldiers' as mercenaries in Iraq". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  7. "As U.S. Military Exits Iraq, Contractors To Enter : NPR". npr.org. 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  8. Fainaru, Steve; al-Izzi, Saad (27 May 2007). "The Global Intelligence Files – [OS] US/IRAQ: Blackwater's earlier scandals; Coalition Provisional Authority granted contarctors immunity from Iraqi legal process". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 February 2016 – via WikiLeaks.
  9. Aegis Defence Services website - Management Archived 24 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Inc, Groupe de sécurité Garda (13 July 2015). "GardaWorld Announces Strategic Expansion to Become the Premier Security Provider in Africa and the Middle East". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  11. "Mergers & Acquisitions - Highlights". Séguin Racine. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
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