From 2008 to 2019, the Pentagon spent over $1 trillion on private military contractors. None of this money was part of the “official” accounting figures, according to a recent report. Brown University researchers dubbed this hidden spending the “camo economy.” Many agreements with private military contractors are “non-competitive.” The government picked a specific contractor and negotiated the terms only with …

Over a dozen embassy security guards from Nepal are infected with coronavirus, causing some panic among embassy workers. Contractors in Afghanistan are not new. In 2015, there were four times as many contractors in Afghanistan as regular servicemembers. Many of these individuals are Nepalese Gurkhas, whose ancestors fought alongside British and Indian forces in World War II as well as …

Fears of a future confrontation with China over the South China Sea have exponentially increased activity levels at previously sleepy military installations. The Air Force recently sent a detachment of long-rage B-1 and B-52 bombers to Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base. The B-52s flew 28 hours nonstop from Louisiana to reach their new home. Officials described the B-1 redeployment as …

Only one member of Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council remains after a wave of resignations, and no one is sure when the next election will be held. Prior to the resignations, Léopold Berlanger’s government had been in power for four years without any serious corruption or other issues, an unprecedented tenure for an elected government in this island nation. The last …

Details regarding private military contractor deployment is a closely-guarded secret. However, the U.S. Central Command issues quarterly figures that convey some general items about contractor deployment. According to CENTCOM, over 52,000 contractors were in the field in countries under the command’s jurisdiction. Over half these contractors were in Afghanistan. Almost 6.300 contractors were in “Iraq and Syria.” CENTCOM provided no …

Violence in this war-torn country has moved up to the next level, according to the U.S. Africa Command, since Russian fighter planes are now based at Al Jufra Airfield, which is about 200 miles southeast of Tripoli. American intelligence officers believe that the MiG-29 and Su-24 aircraft flew to Syria, where they were repainted to conceal their Russian Air Force …

In June 2020, a Bat Hawk ultralight aircraft crashed under suspicious circumstances while on routine patrol near the city of Mudimbe. Rescuers located the badly-injured Dyck Advisory Group pilot in a heavily wooded area. He is recovering in a South African hospital. Military commanders are concerned about the crash. In April, Islamic militants shot down a contractor’s helicopter. And, Bat …

Former prison doctor Alaa Mousa may soon become the third Assad-affiliated physician to face such charges. Authorities arrested Mousa in Germany, where he was apparently trying to evade capture. Along with millions of other refugees, Mousa fled to Germany in 2015, where he resumed practicing medicine. Before then, he was on the medical staff at an undisclosed facility near Homs. …

Fears that China’s most recent land-grabbing moves might involve Japan prompted officials to redeploy advanced ballistic missiles provided and maintained by Lockheed Martin. Territorial expansion is a basic tenant of the Chinese Communist Party, so China’s neighbors are understandably alarmed over the latest acts of aggression at the Indian border. By summer 2020, The Land of the Rising Sun intends …

COVID-19 is a dangerous virus that attacks the respiratory system. That is bad news for everyone, especially people who are physically weak due to burn pit exposure in Iraq or elsewhere. An estimated 3.5 million people were exposed to toxic burn pit smoke in Iraq or Afghanistan. Doctors say these people should take extra precautions so they do not get …

A revolving door of contractors and mercenaries from around the world have tried to quell an Islamist insurgency in this East African nation, but so far, the only result has been more brutality. A contractor’s gunship helicopter went down in April 2020. According to Dyck Advisory Group, the chopper developed mechanical problems and made an emergency landing. When contractors returned …

The shadowy Kremlin-linked mercenary group used chemical weapons against government fighters during an operation in southern Tripoli, according to multiple reports. For the last year, these Russian fighters have supported Khalifa Haftar’s efforts to occupy the Libyan capital. The country’s interior minister, Fathi Bashaga, claims that Wagner fighters used nerve gas to paralyze and then snipe at government forces. “Wherever …