Erik Prince’s Constellis is sending at least 150 contractors to Haiti, according to several sources. Haiti’s government has hired American contractors, including Prince, in recent months to work on a secret task force to deploy drones meant to kill gang members, security experts said. Prince’s team has been operating the drones since March, but the authorities have yet to announce …

We start this look at PTSD through the years with one of the most recent developments. In 2001, Canadian Forces Lieutenant Colonel Stéphane Grenier. A noted expert in the field suggested that the CAF replace the PTSD moniker with OSI (Operational Stress Injury), to avoid what he called the “stigma” of PTSD. He also intentionally chose the I-word (injury) to …

In May 20205, in what many are calling a turning point in the relationship between Iran and Kuwait, Head of Kuwait International Automobile Club (KIAC) Essa Hamzah met with Head of Touring and Automobile Club of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Hossein Soufi during an official visit to Tehran. Expressing satisfaction over his presence in Iran, Hamzah said, “Soufi …

In May 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a carefully worded joint statement about the deepening military ties between the two countries. The deletion apparently indicates the Chinese leadership’s attempt to stabilize its relations with Japan, a U.S. security ally, amid an intensifying confrontation between Beijing and Washington. In the document endorsed by the two …

Private military contractors have a long, and some would say checkered, history in Africa. Their story is still being written today. Mercenaries have long shaped the course of African warfare, from Pharaoh Ramses II reportedly employing over 10,000 mercenaries in the 13th century B.C. to Carthage in the 5th century B.C., which heavily relied on hired soldiers from Iberia, Gaul, …

Within hours of its posts looking for “Humanitarian Liaison Officers”  and “Team Managers,” dozens of would-be private military contractors submitted applications on LinkedIn. Another position on offer a week ago but has since closed is for a “Team Deputy/Manager” to support “day-to-day management, planning, and mission execution.” A liaison officer position appears to be analytically focused. It says that hires …

Burn pit Defense Base Act benefit claims are independent from VA disability burn pit claims. But just like private military contractors overlap with regular servicemembers, the injury claims overlap as well. Just like the following conditions make VA disability benefits easier to obtain, they also make Defense Base Act benefits easier to obtain. Under U.S. law, exposure to burn pit …

A prominent American researcher believes that psychedelic drugs can effectively treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She wants the government to let her test her theory. “Initially, I discouraged them and rolled my eyes thinking about it,” remarked Dr. Sue Sisley, whose training taught her to view only approved drugs as medicines. “I lacked sympathy for their claims and thought they …

At Barnett, Lerner, Karsen & Frankel, P.A., we represent injured workers covered under the Defense Base Act (DBA), longshoremen under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, crew members under the Jones Act, and workers protected under state workers’ compensation laws. Coverage for Civilian Contractors The DBA extends Longshore protections to civilian contractors injured while working overseas. Benefits include medical …

Haiti is on the verge of “total chaos” as coordinated gang violence continues to escalate, the UN’s top Haitian envoy warned on Monday, April 21, 2025. Special Representative María Isabel Salvador told ambassadors in the Security Council that a “deliberate and coordinated” campaign is being waged by organized crime groups to expand territorial control and paralyze the capital, Port-au-Prince.   Recent …

The first of thousands of Marines currently stationed on Okinawa Island may take up residence in their new digs in Guam as early as June 2025, according to a base spokesperson. Maj. Diann Rosenfeld said that “current planning efforts support the commander’s priority to begin moving Marines and Sailors into the barracks aboard the Main Cantonment,” she wrote. “The barracks …

A prominent scholar is one of the first voices to sound the alarm over China’s growing and unregulated military presence in Africa. “Domestic laws in China lack jurisdiction over mercenaries operating abroad, and the enforceability of international laws remains a formidable challenge,” according to Habib al-Badawi, a professor at Lebanese University. “The absence of a robust regulatory framework raises concerns …