Army agency draws scrutiny for supervision of Blackwater unit in Afghanistan

[unhappycamper]

Army agency draws scrutiny for supervision of Blackwater unit in Afghanistan
By Richard Burnett, The Orlando Sentinel
Stars and Stripes online edition, Friday, April 23, 2010

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Army's Orlando-based training-contract agency is caught up in a congressional investigation of shootings and other incidents in Afghanistan tied to the controversial security company once known as Blackwater.

The Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training & Instrumentation, which issued $3 billion in defense contracts last year, has come under scrutiny for its connection to a firearms-training contract with the former Blackwater Worldwide, now known as Xe Services.

The local agency's role in failing to adequately oversee the training work of a Blackwater unit in Afghanistan contributed, in part, to some deadly events there, according to an investigation by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.

Other organizations also contributed to the problem, but the Senate investigation found that the Army's Orlando agency, also known as PEO STRI, did not have on-site supervision for more than a half year while a Blackwater unit called Paravant trained Afghan forces as part of a $25 million contract.

Details of the investigation emerged earlier this year during a hearing organized by the Senate committee.

[Solly Mack]

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