Revealed: The Former US Military Top-Brass Working for Companies Profiting from Drone Warfare

August 20, 2015

by Solomon Hughes

An MQ-9 Reaper Drone (Image via)

Generals and other top military staff who ran the US "Drone Wars" in the Middle East now work for the top drone firms, with lucrative positions at private contractors holding big contracts to help run the remotely controlled killing machines.

Supposedly "targeted killings" by drones have led to international concern, as victims of "surgical strikes" carried out by the unmanned weapons include wedding parties in Yemen, friendly-fire killings of Afghan soldiers, and nearly 200 children in Pakistan.

So, wreaking mass death from above is a negative, but on the positive side they have also led to big contracts for defence firms. A Bureau of Investigative Journalism investigation identified a bunch big companies that have major contracts helping analyse data and other support work that drones need to operate.

The Bureau found a booming private business analysing the images and data from drones to help the American military decide if and when the unmanned aircraft should launch their missiles and kill people. This was a new, privately run info-war, with companies on contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollar supporting the "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance" (ISR) that makes drones kill.

Now a separate analysis by VICE reveals a revolving door between the parts of the military responsible for drone attacks, and the private firms that have lucrative contracts to support drone warfare. In other words, ex-Generals are using their cache as military experts to work for drone companies with a financial interest in promoting new forms of war.

General James Mattis in 2012 (Photo via US Naval War College)

To take one example, ex-General James Mattis is on the board of General Dynamics. General Dynamics are a drone manufacturer, as well as having held a contract for analysing footage from drones. They are both involved in the old fashioned "physical" war and the new "info" war.

Mattis – who declared in 2005 that it was "fun to shoot some people" in the Afghan conflict – was the head of Centcom in 2010 until 2013. Centcom is the US Department of Defence's Central Command in charge of all operations in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. As head of Centcom, Mattis "oversaw the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was responsible for a region that includes Syria, Iran, Yemen."

Mattis is now regularly quoted in the media calling for a firmer military stance in the Middle East. He even testified recently at Congress alongside Jack Keane – another former General (and architect of the "Surge" in Iraq) who also sits on the General Dynamics board. In January, Mattis warned Senators against "mindless sequestration" – budget cuts – because America has to use "its ability to intimidate to ensure freedom for future generations" with more "forward-deployed forces overseas", and a military prepared for different types of warfare "including the pervasive cyber domain." I guess that would be the domain that his employer operates in.

Consultants Booz Allen Hamilton were also identified as a drone war firm, with a contract for "supporting special operations". Last February, Booz Allen hired US Army Chief Information Officer Lieutenant General Susan Lawrence as a Senior Vice President. Lawrence had also been the Commanding General of "Netcom" – the US Army Technology Command, in charge of all their "Command, Control, Communications, and Computers". She was in charge of the technology which was used for the surveillance of the battlefield enemy.

Lieutenant General Lawrence's first public appearance for Booz Hamilton this year involved showing off the firm's cyber capabilities at a military conference organised by the "Association for the United States Army" attended by "key leaders from the Army, Department of Defence and Congress".

General Ann E Dunwoody (Photo via US Army)

L-3 Communications won a contract for imagery analysis and earned $155 million (£99 million) over five years from 2010. The company boasts that, "Many of L-3's top business leaders are former military personnel". Their board includes General Ann E Dunwoody. She is the first woman to become a four star general. She was put in charge of the US Army Materiel Command by George Bush in 2008 until her retirement in 2012. This position included responsibility for the research and development of weapons systems. Now L-3 can draw on that experience.