most of those guys are retired or ex military and most likely have very good medical coverage as part of their contracts going over there. probably better than USG
Washington Post
January 24, 2007
Pg. 10
Contractor Helicopter Downed In Iraq
5 Killed as Guards Respond to Attack on Embassy Convoy
By Ernesto Londono, Joshua Partlow and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Staff Writers
BAGHDAD, Jan. 24 -- A private security company helicopter was shot down after responding to assist a U.S. Embassy convoy that came under attack in central Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon, U.S. officials said.
One contractor traveling with the convoy and four contractors aboard the helicopter were killed. The contractors, officials said on condition of anonymity, were employed by North Carolina-based Blackwater USA. Blackwater officials declined to comment.
The convoy came under small-arms fire while traveling through a Sunni neighborhood en route to an Iraqi government ministry, officials said. The helicopter, a small, lightly armed surveillance craft, was dispatched to assist. According to a summary of events drafted by a U.S. Embassy employee and made available to The Washington Post, the convoy was also targeted with rocket-propelled grenades.
The helicopter crashed after being "riddled with small-arms fire," a State Department official said. The official said it was unclear whether the men aboard died from gunfire or from the impact of the crash.
No State Department employees were hurt in the attack, but some vehicles were destroyed, according to the summary of events in the report. Other vehicles in the convoy returned safely to the Green Zone.
Two separate Sunni insurgent groups, Ansar al-Sunnah and the Islamic Army in Iraq, asserted responsibility for the attacks on Web sites used by the groups. The accounts differ in significant detail, although Ansar published photos of what it said were the U.S. Embassy badge, credit cards and dog tags of one of the men killed in the attack.
The authenticity of the statements, translated and made available by the Washington-based SITE Institute, could not be independently confirmed.
The identification posted by Ansar was that of Arthur Laguna, 52, a pilot for Blackwater. His mother, Lydia Laguna, said in an interview that she received a call early Tuesday morning from her other son, also a Blackwater pilot in Baghdad, notifying her that Arthur had been killed.
"As far as any details, we're waiting for representatives from Blackwater to come by tomorrow," said Mary Beth Laguna, 52, Arthur Laguna's wife. "All I know is he's gone."
Arthur Laguna joined Blackwater about six months ago, after a military career that spanned about three decades with the U.S. Army and the California National Guard, she said.
The Pentagon has estimated that there are 100,000 government contractors operating in Iraq. More than 700 civilian contractors have been killed since 2003.
Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association, an industry group that includes security contractors, said the type of helicopter downed, known as a "little bird," is among the safest modes of transportation in war zones.
"Their crews are the best -- they really know their stuff," he said in an e-mail. "They are very good at avoiding fire, flying low and fast -- and the tiny helicopters are very hard to hit."
It appears to be the second civilian helicopter downed in Iraq since the war began. The attack occurred three days after a U.S. military Black Hawk crashed north of the capital, killing 12.
In another development, U.S. military officials said Tuesday that they have in custody four people suspected of unleashing a brazen attack on U.S. troops Saturday at a government building in Karbala.
The assailants apparently drove to the building in GMC trucks, slipping through checkpoints by displaying official-looking badges and wearing what looked like U.S. military uniforms. U.S. and Iraqi officials were discussing security plans for a Shiite holiday in the holy city when the assailants attacked the Americans with grenades and other weapons.
Also Tuesday, the military reported the deaths of three U.S. service members. Their deaths bring the death toll of American troops over the weekend to at least 29.
A soldier with the 89th Military Police Brigade was killed Monday in Baghdad by an improvised explosive device; a Marine with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force died Sunday from wounds suffered in fighting in Baghdad; and a service member assigned to the Marine Regimental Combat Team 5 was killed Monday in Anbar province in western Baghdad.
DeYoung reported from Washington. Special correspondent Waleed Saffar in Baghdad and staff researchers Julie Tate and Robert E. Thomason in Washington contributed to this report.