Prince said he believes that much of this criticism stems from politics. The criticism continued after president Barack Obama took office in 2009. Three guards were convicted in October 2014 of 14 manslaughter charges, and another of murder, in a U.S. īlackwater came under increasing criticism after the Nisour Square massacre in September 2007, in which Blackwater employees opened fire in a crowded square in Baghdad, killing 17 Iraqi civilians and seriously wounding 20 more.
Prince built a shooting range on his rural Virginia land to serve as a nearby training facility to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. It became the largest of the State Department's three private security companies, providing 987 guards for embassies and bases abroad. From 2001 to 2010, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) awarded up to $600 million in classified contracts to Blackwater and its affiliates.
You have to act." įrom 1997 to 2010, Blackwater was awarded $2 billion in government security contracts, more than $1.6 billion of which were unclassified federal contracts and an unknown amount of classified work. It made me realize you can't sit back and pontificate. Prince credits the 1994 Rwandan genocide with his decision to found Blackwater. The name "Blackwater" comes from the peat-colored bogs in which the school is located. He bought 6,000 acres (24 km 2) of the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina and set up a school for special operations. Prince moved to Virginia Beach and personally financed the formation of Blackwater Worldwide in 1997. Navy service prematurely after less than 3 years in NAVY and 2 in SEALs in 1995. In his autobiography he states that during the Yugoslav Wars in the early 1990s, he realized that there was a need for private training facilities for special operations. He credits the SEALs for being an outlet for his entrepreneurial spirit. He went on to become a Navy SEAL and deployed for 2 years with SEAL Team 8 to Haiti, the Middle East, and the Balkans. Īfter college, Prince was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy via Officer Candidate School in 1992. Rohrabacher described Prince as "a bright, driven young man." At the age of 21, Prince volunteered to search for a mass grave in Nicaragua, to expose killings that had taken place under President Daniel Ortega and later said that he had found the mass grave. Bush, but soon left to intern for California congressman Dana Rohrabacher, President Ronald Reagan's former speechwriter. In 1990, Prince secured an internship in the White House under George H.W. Prince eventually became an emergency medical technician. During his time at Hillsdale, he served as a volunteer firefighter and as a cold-water diver for the Hillsdale County Sheriff's Department. in economics from Hillsdale College in 1992. Prince was accepted into the United States Naval Academy and attended for three semesters before leaving, explaining that he loved the Navy but disliked the Academy. According to his mother, these trips "made a big impression" on the young Prince. Prince and his father toured the world together, visiting the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, divided Berlin, and the battlefields of Normandy. He graduated from Holland Christian High School. Prince and his wife, Elsa (Zwiep), and the youngest of four children. Prince was born on June 6, 1969, in Holland, Michigan, the son of Edgar D. 3.2 Contributions to political and charitable causesĮarly life, education, and military service.2.7 Proposed cooperation with the Wagner group and activities in Libya.2.6 Political infiltration operations allegations.2.5 Connections to Nicolas Maduro and Venezuela.2.2 Private security for the United Arab Emirates.2.1 Disclosure as part of a covert CIA task force.1 Early life, education, and military service.