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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private security services contractor |
| Founded | 1997 North Carolina, U.S. |
| Founders | Erik Prince Al Clark |
| Defunct | June 2014 |
| Fate | Merged with Triple Canopy |
| Headquarters | 12018 Sunrise Valley Drive Suite 140 Reston, Virginia, U.S.[1] 38°56′54″N 77°21′42″W / 38.9484°N 77.3618°W |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Craig Nixon and Allen Schaffer |
| Products | Law enforcement training, logistics, close quarter training, and security services |
| Services | Security management, full-service risk management consulting |
| Website | www |
Academi, formerly known as Blackwater and Blackwater Worldwide, is an American private military contractor founded on December 26, 1996,[2] by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince.[3][4] It was renamed Xe Services in 2009, and was again renamed to Academi in 2011, after it was acquired by a group of private investors.[5] In 2014, Academi merged with Triple Canopy to form Constellis Holdings.[6][7][8]
Constellis and its predecessors provide contract security services[9] to the United States federal government. Since 2003, it has provided services to the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2013, its subsidiary, International Development Solutions, received an approximately $92 million contract for U.S. State Department security guards.[10]
In 2007, Constellis (then Blackwater) received widespread notoriety for the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, when a group of its employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured 20. Four employees were convicted in the United States and later pardoned on December 22, 2020, by President Donald Trump.[11][12]
- ^ "Academi – About Us – Contact Us". Archived from the original on April 24, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ^ "North Carolina Secretary of State Business Registration Search". Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
- ^ Gielink, Dirk; Buitenhuis, Maarten; Moelker, René (2007). "No Contractors on the Battlefield: The Dutch Military's Reluctance to Outsource". In Thomas Jäger, Gerhard Kümmel (ed.). Private Military and Security Companies: Chances, Problems, Pitfalls and Prospects. VS. p. 149. ISBN 978-3-531-14901-1.
- ^ Flintoff, Corey (September 25, 2009). "Blackwater's Prince Has GOP, Christian Group Ties". NPR. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
- ^ "Ex-Blackwater firm gets a name change, again" Archived October 2, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. December 12, 2011, The Washington Post
- ^ Brannen, Kate. "Blackwater's Descendants Are Doing Just Fine". Foreign Policy. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
- ^ Risen, James (June 30, 2014). "Before Shooting in Iraq, a Warning on Blackwater". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
- ^ "Constellis Holdings, Inc. Acquires Constellis Group, Inc" (Press release). Constellis Holdings. PR Newswire. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Charges Dismissedwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Brannen, Kate (July 1, 2014). "Blackwater's Descendants Are Doing Just Fine". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- ^ "U.S. Jury convicts Blackwater guards in 2007 killings of Iraqi civilians" Archived March 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian. October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- ^ "Ex-Blackwater Guards Sentenced to Prison in 2007 Killings of Iraqi Civilians" Archived June 27, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times. April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2015.