Commission on Wartime Contracting

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Hearing September 14, 2009

State Department Contractor Oversight and Conduct

The Sept. 14 hearing of the Commission on Wartime Contracting focused on the U.S. State Department’s selection, management, and oversight of security and other contractors in support of the Kabul Embassy.

The hearing complements the Commission’s mandate to study matters including the widespread use of private security contractors, and was spurred by recent allegations of misconduct among employees of the State Department’s contractor ArmorGroup North America (AGNA). ArmorGroup, a unit of Wackenhut Services, Inc., has a contract to protect the U.S. embassy and personnel in Kabul, Afghanistan. The company attracted intense media scrutiny recently when a watchdog group released photos purporting to show ArmorGroup employees engaging in alcohol-laced incidents of nudity, sexual misconduct, and degradation of junior employees. The State Department has announced that several guards and some supervisors have now been fired.

The hearing ran from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Room 2247 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses represented the U.S. Department of State, the Project on Government Oversight, an individual witness, the International Peace Operations Association, DynCorp International, and Wackenhut Services, Inc.

Photos:

Videos:
September 14, 2009 hearing on state department contractor oversight and conduct video Panel 1 - Department of State Panel 2 - Mr. Pearson and POGO Panel 3 - AGNA, IPOA, and DynCorp
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Press Release:

Documents:
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