Triple Canopy, Inc.

"Triple Canopy, Inc is not related to the game production company Triple Canopy Productions."

Triple Canopy is a U.S. private military company (PMC) based in Herndon, Virginia. Its marquee client was the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, which it began serving in September 2003; it has also provided security services to the US Department of Energy, and training services to various foreign governments and domestic law enforcement agencies, and was one of three PMCs chosen to provide supplemental security personnel at U.S. embassies worldwide.

The name Triple Canopy was initially chosen to refer to the layered canopy jungle where some of the key founding members received their training; it also refers to the distinction among U.S. Army personnel of wearing the Airborne, Ranger, and Special Forces tabs, if authorized, when assigned to Special Forces units.

Triple Canopy is a member of the Private Security Company Association of Iraq.

Key personnel

Early promotional materials from Triple Canopy described their founding team as "an eclectic group of individuals from a dizzying array of backgrounds. From bankers to Green Berets, from technologists to management consultants, the one thing in common is that coveted combination of ability, character and intelligence." Some of the members of this eclectic group have included:

Principals

* Lee Van Arsdale (US Army, ret) is CEO; also a technical advisor for the movie Black Hawk Down.
* Greg Mulligan, COO
* Tom Katis, Co-Chairman
* Matt Mann, Co-Chairman
* Ignacio "Iggy" Balderas, Director
* James V. Kimsey, Director
* John O. Peters III, former CFO; current boardmember

Alumni

Barrett H. Moore, founding CEO; "left the company and all company-affiliated positions and relationships"

Worldwide Presence

Iraq

Roadside bombing in September, 2005

On September 7, 2005, four security professionals contracted by Triple Canopy were killed while in protective security operations for the U.S. Department of State in Basra [http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=153066] .

Whistleblowing lawsuit

A lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County by two former Triple Canopy employees in July 2006 claims that their shift leader (an unnamed former U.S serviceman) deliberately fired at vehicles and civilians in two incidents, saying it was his last day in Iraq and he was determined to kill, and that the company later fired the two employees for reporting what happened to the company's senior supervisor in Iraq, and blacklisted them from working in the industry.cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/17/world/middleeast/17contractors.html
title=Contractor's Boss in Iraq Shot at Civilians, Workers' Suit Says
author=C. J. Chivers
publisher=New York Times
date=November 17, 2003
accessdate=2006-11-18]

Security Contractor Cleared in Two Firings

Triple Canopy fired two employees who reported seeing their supervisor randomly shoot into two Iraqi civilian vehicles in Baghdad in 2006, because they had waited two days to inform their firm. A Fairfax County jury ruled on August 1, 2007 that the firm was correct in firing them. The jury forewoman Lea C. Overby wrote that "we strongly feel that [Triple Canopy] 's poor conduct, lack of standard reporting procedures, bad investigation methods and unfair double standards amongst employees should not be condoned." [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102350.html Security Contractor Cleared in Two Firings] , "The Washington Post", August 1, 2007 en icon] .

Honduras

"La Tribuna" revealed in its headlines on September 18, 2005 that the Lepaterique base in Honduras was being used as a training center for security personnel employed by Your Solutions, a Triple Canopy subsidiary. Other investigative efforts focused on Triple Canopy's Peru-based affiliates 3D Global Solutions and Gesecur SAC, which it contracted to search for security personnel in South America [ [http://www.rpp.com.pe/portada/politica/22681_1.php Cancillería está corroborando contratos de peruanos en Irak] , RPP, 14 October 2005 es icon] [ [http://noticias.terra.com.br/mundo/interna/0,,OI709450-EI865,00.html Governo investiga condições de 380 peruanos que estão no Iraque] , "Terra", 15 October 2005 pt icon ] .

Following these revelations, the Honduran authorities excluded, in September 2005, 105 Chilean personnel, who had entered the countries as tourists or businessmen and attended a training camp led by US and Chilean personnel in Lepaterique, 16 miles away from Tegucigalpa. The Honduran government had previously supported Triple Canopy, naming the Vice-minister of Labour Áfrico Madrid as intermediary between the administration and the firm. [http://www.lanacion.cl/prontus_noticias/site/artic/20050924/pags/20050924155052.html Capítulos desconocidos de los mercenarios chilenos en Honduras camino de Iraq] , "La Nación", September 25, 2005 - URL accessed on February 14, 2007 es icon] The Lepaterique camp was set up in the 1980s by the CIA and Argentine intelligence officers; the Batallon de Inteligencia 601 from the Argentine Army trained the Contras there. According to "La Tribuna", in one day in November, Your Solutions shipped 108 Hondurans, 88 Chileans and 16 Nicaraguans to Iraq. Approximatively 700 Peruvians, 250 Chileans and 320 Hondurans work in Baghdad’s Green Zone. "La Tribuna" also confirmed that the monthly pay was $1,000, with an additional $500 for English-speaking men. [ [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/merc-d28.shtml Latin American security personnel guarding Baghdad’s Green Zone] , December 28, 2005 ] . The media revelation developed into a scandal, in particular concerning illegal entrance on territory and the high wage differences between South American personnel and US personnel working for Triple Canopy. US employees are paid between $400 to $700 USD a day. Furthermore, while Chilean and Hondurans contracted for a full year, US employees contract for a duration of three-months, after which Triple Canopy pays for their return trip home, and they then choose if they want to renew their contract. The revelations also created a scandal in Chile, when it became known that Marina Óscar Aspe worked for Triple Canopy. Aspe took part in the assassination of Marcelo Barrios Andrade, a 21 year-old member of the FPMR, who is on the list of victims of the Rettig Report — Marina Óscar Aspe, on the other hand, is on the list of the "2001 Comisión Ética contra la Tortura" (2001 Ethical Commission Against Torture).

References

External links

* [http://www.triplecanopy.com/triplecanopy/en/home Triple Canopy corporate website]
* Daniel Bergner, [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/magazine/14PRIVATI.html|The Other Army] , a story about the founding of Triple Canopy and other PMCs in Iraq.
* [http://www.thespywhobilledme.com/ The Spy Who Billed Me] author Dr. R.J. Hillhouse's national security blog, focusing upon the outsourcing of the War on Terror and regularly covering the latest developments with Triple Canopy and other PMCs.
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400097819] Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in the War on Terror by Robert Young Pelton (Crown, Sept 1, 2006)
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Triple_Canopy_Inc.|Triple_Canopy] entry at Sourcewatch