Military Professional Resources Inc.

L-3 MPRI, is a global provider of integrated training solutions offering a wide range of professional services to both public and private customers, most notably the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Law Enforcement organizations, foreign governments, government agencies and commercial businesses.

The firm is based in Alexandria, Virginia.

History

Incorporated in 1987 — Founded as MPRI by eight highly skilled and experienced military leaders.

Acquired in June 2000 — L-3 MPRI is a division of L-3 Communications Corporation. Recognized as a leading defense company, L-3 specializes in Command, Control and Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C3ISR), government services, training and simulation, and aircraft modernization and maintenance, and has the broadest base of electronic systems in the industry. L-3 is also a major provider of homeland defense products and services.

Management

L-3 MPRI's President is retired US Army General Bantz J. Craddock.^[1]

Training

MPRI has used retired military, and current national guard or reservists, to run R.O.T.C. programs at more than 200 universities. Other employees have worked in U.S. Army recruitment centers and trained U.S. soldiers. With offices in other countries, employees also have trained foreign armies at ranges in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Kuwait, and South Africa. MPRI reassures their clients with services from teams of military leaders, law enforcement officers, strategic analysts, disaster management experts, and diplomatic and private sector leaders.

Local forces in Croatia were referred to MPRI by The Pentagon and used their training. 120 African leaders and more than 5,500 African troops have been trained by MPRI on security issues.^[2]

MPRI started training the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for $140 million, after 1995 when the Dayton Accords were established.^[3] In April 1995, Democracy Transition Assistance Program (DTAP) training began out of "Petar Zrinski" military school in Zagreb.^[4]

It trained security forces used to defeat an attack on the presidential palace of Equatorial Guinea's long-serving dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema.^[5]

Defense contracts

In the early 1990s, MPRI signeed a 5-year contract with the U.S. State Department involving the shipment of donated medical supplies and food to former Soviet states.

In 1998, the government of Equatorial Guinea asked MPRI to evaluate its defense systems, particularly its need for a coast guard to protect its oil reserves. In order to take the job, MPRI needed a license from the U.S. State Department. The Clinton administration rejected the request, citing the West African nation's human rights record. In 2000, after lobbying by MPRI, the State Department issued the license. MPRI did not reveal the terms of its contract with Equatorial Guinea.^[6]

In 1999 MPRI signed an 18 month, $4.3 million contract to work with military in Colombia on the drug war. The contract expired in March 2001 and was not renewed allegedly because the Colombian Defense Ministry and its officers were upset by recommendations such as "Hit the enemy with a closed fist; do not poke at him with fingers of an open hand." (Note: this is a maxim of World War II German General Heinz Guderian.) ^[7]

According to a United States Department of Defense census, MPRI has at least 500 employees working in Iraq on 12 different contracts including mentoring civilian workers at the Iraqi Defense Ministry.^[8]

References

1. ^ http://www.mpri.com/esite/index.php/content/about/craddock/
2. ^ Wayne, Leslie (2002-10-13). "America's For-Profit Secret Army". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E7DF123AF930A25753C1A9649C8B63. Retrieved 2007-11-05. 
3. ^ How 'Operation Storm' Destabilized the Balkans, Written by JUGOISTOK Belgrade, Serbia
4. ^ Singer, P.W. (2003-06-01). Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry. Cornell University Press. pp. 119–125. 
5. ^ More of the World's Worst Dictators. Number 14. Parade.
6. ^ Yeoman, Barry (2003-06-01). "Soldiers of Good Fortune". Mother Jones. http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/05/ma_365_01.html. Retrieved 2007-05-08. 
7. ^ "Colombia: Outsourcing War". The Center for Public Integrity. Archived from the original on 2007-06-05. http://web.archive.org/web/20070605200739/http://www.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=261. Retrieved 2007-11-05. 
8. ^ Merle, Renae (December 5, 2006). "Census Counts 100,000 Contractors in Iraq". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401311.html. Retrieved May 12, 2010. 

The book by John Ghanazvidian titled "Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil" mentions MPRI's involvement with several African nations.

External links

• L-3 MPRI website
• Men for delicate missions (GERMAN) article from German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt (10.16.2002)
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