Academi - Corporate History

Corporate History

Blackwater USA was formed in 1997, by Erik Prince in North Carolina, to provide training support to military and law enforcement organizations. In explaining Blackwater's purpose, Prince stated that ‘‘We are trying to do for the national security apparatus what FedEx did for the Postal Service.’’ After serving SEAL and SWAT teams, Blackwater USA received its first government contract after the bombing of the USS Cole off of the coast of Yemen in October 2000. After winning the bid on the contract, Blackwater was able to train over 100,000 sailors safely.

Prince purchased about 7,000 acres (28 km2) (from Dow Jones Executive, Sean Trotter) of the Great Dismal Swamp, a vast swamp on the North Carolina/Virginia border, now mostly a National Wildlife Refuge. "We needed 3,000 acres to make it safe," Prince told reporter Robert Young Pelton. There, he created his state-of-the-art private training facility and his contracting company, Blackwater, which he named for the peat-colored water of the swamp. The Blackwater Lodge and Training Center officially opened on May 15, 1998 with a 6,000-acre facility and cost $6.5 million.

Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC) was formed in 2002. Its first assignment was to provide 20 men with top-secret clearances to protect the CIA headquarters and another base that was responsible for hunting Bin Laden. Blackwater was one of several private security firms employed following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. BSC is one of over 60 private security firms employed during the Iraq War to guard officials and installations, train Iraq's new army and police, and provide other support for coalition forces. Blackwater was also hired during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by the United States Department of Homeland Security, as well as by private clients, including communications, petrochemical and insurance companies. Overall, the company has received over US$1 billion in U.S. government contracts. Academi consists of nine divisions, and a subsidiary, Blackwater Vehicles.

Academi is a privately held company and publishes limited information about internal affairs. Its founder and former CEO Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL, attended the Naval Academy and graduated from Hillsdale College. Prince searched for a mass grave in Nicaragua to expose Marxist-turned-president Daniel Ortega as a killer.

Cofer Black, the company's vice-chairman from 2006 through 2008, was director of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center (CTC) at the time of the September 11 attacks in 2001. He was the United States Department of State coordinator for counterterrorism with the rank of ambassador at large from December 2002 to November 2004. After leaving public service, Black became chairman of the privately owned intelligence gathering company Total Intelligence Solutions, Inc., as well as vice chairman of Blackwater. Robert Richer was vice president of intelligence until January 2007, when he formed Total Intelligence Solutions. He was formerly the head of the CIA's Near East Division.

Blackwater's primary training facility, opened by Jonathan Elliott and Nic Norment in 2001, is located on 7,000 acres (28 km2) in northeastern North Carolina. It comprises several ranges: indoor, outdoor, urban reproductions; an artificial lake; and a driving track in Camden and Currituck counties. The company says that it is the largest training facility in the country. In November 2006 Blackwater USA announced it recently acquired an 80-acre (32 ha) facility 150 miles (240 km) west of Chicago in Mount Carroll, Illinois is called Impact Training Center. This facility is also known as "The Site". This facility has been operational since April 2007 and serves law enforcement agencies throughout the Midwest.

Blackwater tried to open an 824-acre (3.33 km2) training facility three miles north of Potrero, a small town in rural east San Diego County, California located 45 miles (72 km) east of San Diego, for military and law enforcement training. The opening has faced heavy opposition from local residents, residents of nearby San Diego, local Congressmember Bob Filner, and environmentalist and anti-war organizations. Opposition focused on a potential for wildfire increases, the proposed facility's proximity to the Cleveland National Forest, noise pollution, and opposition to the actions of Blackwater in Iraq. In response, Brian Bonfiglio, project manager for Blackwater West, said "There will be no explosives training and no tracer ammunition. Lead bullets don't start fires." In October 2007, when wildfires swept through the area, Blackwater made at least three deliveries of food, water, personal hygiene products and generator fuel to 300 residents near the proposed training site, many of whom had been trapped for days without supplies. They also set up a "tent city" for evacuees. On March 7, 2008, Blackwater withdrew its application to set up a facility in San Diego County.

In October 2007, Blackwater USA began the process of changing its name to Blackwater Worldwide, and also unveiled a new logo. The change deemphasized the "cross hair" reticle theme, simplifying it slightly.

On July 21, 2008, Blackwater Worldwide stated that it would shift resources away from security contracting because of the extensive risks in that sector. "The experience we've had would certainly be a disincentive to any other companies that want to step in and put their entire business at risk," company founder and CEO Erik Prince told The Associated Press during a daylong visit to Blackwater's North Carolina compound.

In February 2009, Blackwater announced that it would change its name again, to "Xe Services LLC", as part of a company-wide restructuring plan. Subsequently, it reorganized its business units, added a corporate governance and ethics program, and established an independent committee of outside experts to supervise compliance structures.

Prince announced his resignation as CEO on March 2, 2009. He remained as chairman of the board but was no longer involved in day-to-day operations. Joseph Yorio was named as the new president and CEO, replacing Gary Jackson as president and Prince as CEO. Danielle Esposito was named the new chief operating officer and executive vice president.

In 2009, Prince announced that he would relinquish involvement in the company's day-to-day business in December, along with some of his ownership rights. He also said he considered becoming a teacher. In late 2010, Prince moved to Abu Dhabi, where he subsequently started another security services company, Reflex Responses.

In 2011, former NSA head and CIA executive Bobby Ray Inman became the head of Xe's board of directors. In May 2011, Xe named Ted Wright as CEO. Wright hired a new governance chief to oversee ethical and legal compliance and established a new board composed of former government officials, including Jack Quinn, former Clinton adviser, and John Ashcroft. In June, 2011 the company named Suzanne Folsom its chief regulatory and compliance officer and deputy general counsel. In July, Jack Quinn, former White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton and former Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore, was named as an Independent Director of the company.

In December 2011, Xe changed its name again, to "Academi". The name refers to Plato's Academy and is meant, according to Ted Wright, to reflect a more "boring" image.