Erik Prince Says He's Bringing Back Blackwater

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackwater was the most notorious contractor in the Global War on Terror. Founder Erik Prince announced to FOX anchor Brian Kilmeade he's bringing back the private military firm.

Morgan Lerette, a former Army intelligence officer who spent 18 months in Iraq as a Blackwater operator has a few thoughts about that. How will Prince rehab the firm's name and image? Does he plan to contract overseas or with domestic government agencies?

In a scathing, honest memoir, Lerette writes with deft irony and dark humor to pull back the curtain on the Blackwater myth. It's a story both laugh-out-loud absurd and cry-your-eyes-out sad.

Were they a necessary evil? Prince has stated Blackwater completed more than 40,000 missions with only 200 shots fired. Want the truth? Unregulated and unsupervised, Lerette and his cohorts provided security for State Department personnel in Iraq. They protected the diplomats assigned to build a new government, a mission the United States was ill-equipped to complete. Blackwater was hired to fill the gap.

Published by Onward Press, an imprint of the United States Veterans Artists Alliance, "Welcome to Blackwater" is the story of a hard-scrabble guy who grew up in a double-wide in Cottonwood, Arizona. Lerette enlisted in the Air National Guard at 18 and deployed to Oman, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq.  He was honorably discharged and faced construction work and community college with an equal lack of enthusiasm until a buddy called.

Seeking adventure and money, Morgan signed on with Blackwater at age 23.  As a private security contractor from 2004-05, he learned about hookers, death, fine art and how to become completely heartless towards humans while still loving animals.          

"Blackwater was a real turning point in my life, much more than my stints in the military," said Lerette, now 40.  "I wanted to write about the people, my brothers, and how we survived."

Days were filled with harrowing danger or mind-numbing tedium. Nights were raunchy parties with a cast of characters and antics to rival the most raucous frat house. Contractors had one goal: get home. Some didn't. For Lerette, Blackwater proved a maturing experience that underscored the inhumanity of war.      

After Blackwater, Lerette completed college and was commissioned as a U.S. Army intelligence officer. Later, he earned a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona where he is a husband, father of two and a corporate program manager. This is his first book.

"Welcome to Blackwater" is available on Amazon.

Morgan Lerette is available for interviews and speaking engagements. Contact Timothy Wurtz

Onward Press – An imprint of United States Veterans Artists Alliance, a 501-c-3 educational non-profit. Onward Press publishes fiction and non-fiction related to the military experiences of veterans and their families. It is based in Los Angeles. For more information, see www.onwardpress.org.

CONTACT: Timothy Wurtz
PHONE: 310-486-7725
E MAIL: [email protected] 
WEBSITE:  www.onwardpress.org

SOURCE United States Veterans Artists Alliance; Onward Press