Joint Audit of Blackwater Contract and Task Orders for Worldwide Personal Protective Services in Iraq

The Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security DS, is responsible for protecting personnel, facilities, and information - both domestic and abroad. Over the years, DS has been unable to provide long-term personal protective services solely from its pool of special agents, and it has turned to contractual support. When, in 2004, on short notice, the Department assumed responsibility for protecting Coalition Provisional Authority CPA personnel in Iraq, it turned to contractor support. In mid-2004, the Department negotiated sole-source letter contracts with Blackwater Security Consulting and with Triple Canopy for personal security services in Iraq, which were already providing personal protective services in Iraq to the CPA under Department of Defense contracts. In June 2005, the Department awarded its second Worldwide Personal Protective Services contract to three companies - Blackwater, Triple Canopy, and DynCorp International, LLC. This report focuses on the Blackwater contract in Iraq and associated task orders. The total estimated costs for the Departments contracts and task orders with Blackwater for Iraq were over 1 billion as of May 29, 2008. The contracts are funded primarily with Department Diplomatic and Consular Programs DCP funds and about 76 million of Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Funds IRRF. A joint audit by the Department of State Office of Inspector General OIG, Office of Audits, and the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction SIGIR, Office of Audits, was determined to provide an efficient way to review funding and performance under the contract.