Firm with Irving hub will help equip, support peacekeepers

March 8, 2007

NAIROBI, Kenya – The State Department has hired DynCorp International, a major military contractor with an operational hub in Irving, to help equip and provide logistical support to international peacekeepers in Somalia, giving the U.S. a significant role there without assigning combat forces.

DynCorp, which also has U.S. contracts in Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, will be paid $10 million to help the first peacekeeping mission in Somalia in more than 10 years.

It's a potentially dangerous assignment. When the first 1,500 Ugandan peacekeepers arrived in Somalia's capital Tuesday, they were met with a mortar attack and a major firefight. And on Wednesday, attackers ambushed the peacekeepers in Mogadishu, setting off another gunfight.

The State Department has committed $14 million for the African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia and has asked Congress for $40 million more.

DynCorp, based in Virginia, has been contracted until April to help with the "moving of supplies and people" engaged in the Somalia mission, including supplying tents, vehicles and generators, said DynCorp spokesman Greg Lagana.

"We have an overall contract for African peacekeeping; this is a specific task order for Somalia," he said. "But we are also present in Liberia and southern Sudan."

Source: The Associated Press