{"id":19129,"date":"2018-12-21T04:30:31","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T04:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/21\/mattis-is-out-and-blackwater-is-back-we-are-coming\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:48:13","slug":"mattis-is-out-and-blackwater-is-back-we-are-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/2018\/12\/21\/mattis-is-out-and-blackwater-is-back-we-are-coming\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattis is out, and Blackwater is back: \u2018We are coming\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article has been edited to clarify that Constellis no longer trains forces at Camp Integrity and that Blackwater, if it returns, would not have a connection to Constellis. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is out. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mattis’ resignation comes amid news that President Donald Trump has directed the drawdown of 2,000 U.S. forces in Syria, and 7,000 U.S. forces<\/a> from Afghanistan, a U.S. official confirmed to Military Times, a story first reported by the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This month, in the January\/February print issue of the gun and hunting magazine \u201cRecoil,”<\/a> the former contractor security firm Blackwater USA published a full-page ad, in all black with a simple message: \u201cWe are coming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the war in Afghanistan \u2014 and possibly elsewhere \u2015 about to be privatized?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Blackwater returns, it would be the return of a private security contractor that was banned from Iraq, but re-branded and never really went away. By 2016 Blackwater had been re-named and restructured several times, and was known at the time as Constellis Group, when it was purchased by the Apollo Holdings Group. Reuters reported earlier this year that Apollo had put Constellis up for sale, but in June the sale was put on hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A representative for Constellis told Military Times late Friday that while it had acquired the former Blackwater training center in the 2016 purchase, it has no affiliation with the former security firm. It did not retain Blackwater\u2019s founder and former CEO Erik Prince and has no current connection to him, or the firm\u2019s former management structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Recoil ad suggests Blackwater is making a resurgence on its own, but it was not clear in what form. The public affairs firm that handles Prince\u2019s media engagements told Military Times Friday that he would not be able to speak beyond what was in the media \u201cat this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prince h<\/a>as courted President Donald Trump\u2019s administration since he took office<\/a> with the idea that the now 17-year Afghan War will never be won by a traditional military campaign. Prince has also argued that the logistical footprint required to support that now multi-trillion<\/a> dollar endeavor has become too burdensome. Over the summer and into this fall Prince has engaged heavily<\/a> with the media to promote the privatization; particularly as the Trump administration\u2019s new South Asia Strategy, which was crafted with Mattis, passed the one-year mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constellis, which had maintained a footprint at Camp Integrity<\/a> by the Kabul Airport through its previous iteration as \u201cAcademi.” The firm no longer trains there, the Constellis spokesman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t