Mission Essential (formerly Mission Essential Personnel or MEP) is a government contractor primarily serving intelligence and military clients. It is a provider of translators and interpreters to the US government. The company is based in New Albany, Ohio, with an office in Herndon, Virginia.
Services
Mission Essential's goal is to operate missions regarded as "high-consequence" to defense, diplomatic, intelligence community and law enforcement customers, and multinationals and foreign governments. The company tries to combat terrorism, transnational crime, natural disasters, and other hazards. Its three tranches of service are: Intelligence & Insight (such as All-Source Analysis and ISR operations), Development & Capacity Building (such as counter-narcotics and cultural advisory), and Readiness & Resilience (including emergency management, training, and continuity of operations). Mission Essential is of confidential work.
Intelligence and insight In August 2010, the U.S. Army named Mission Essential as a winner of a five-year, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Intelligence Support Services contract, with a ceiling of $492 million. In September 2010, Mission Essential won a spot on the multimillion-dollar Intelligence Support Services – Afghanistan (ISS-A) contract vehicle providing MULTI-INT operations in support of CENTCOM. The company won three task orders on ISS-A providing MULTI-INT operations support in March 2012 and another in September 2013. Mission Essential has also won work with the Defense Intelligence Agency on the Solutions for Intelligence Analysis (SIA) II vehicle.“The DIA’s $5.6 Billion SITA-II Umbrella Contract”, "Defense Industry Daily," July 11, 2012 Intelligence analyst Marisa Freese, who joined the company after her time serving in the military, said, "Mission Essential gives me an opportunity to continue working in the Intelligence Community. The work is really important. Everything we do is to protect our nation's security."
Development and capacity building Mission Essential has assisted in capacity building, counter-narcotics, multi-national law enforcement, and border management. It has included former top DEA operative Mike Vigil, who infiltrated drug cartels during his decades with the DEA as detailed in his memoirs "Deal."
2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking In April 2009, Somali pirates hijacked the Maersk vessel Alabama and took the ship's captain and crew hostage. A Mission Essential interpreter assisted negotiation with the pirates during the crisis, alongside a Navy SEAL team. After four days of negotiations, they convinced the pirates to allow their boat to be towed behind the USS Bainbridge, until US snipers killed three of the pirates and captured a fourth, Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, rescuing the hostages.
The linguist was portrayed in the 2013 film Captain Phillips by Omar Berdouni.
Readiness and resilience Mission Essential also provides training and technical support to its clients, notably first responders. In spring 2010, it won a contract to teach the Air Force's Combat Airman Skills Training program, where instructors train airmen and women in combat and survival skills. Mission Essential has coordinated a response at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, New Jersey.Wilson, Zachary. “Eagle Flag exercise expands, achieves new milestones”, "U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center," August 5, 2010 In 2013, the company conducted a high-profile disaster training operation in Butlerville, Indiana.DeHart, Christopher. “Army North’s TF-51 successfully completes catastrophic disaster exercise mission”, "Army North," August 22, 2013
Contract management In 2012, Mission Essential's contract changed to reflect changing budgets for the Afghanistan military effort. The company deployed a 50-person transition team to visit 7,000 of its personnel in remote locations throughout the warzone. 99.7% of the employees stayed on board.
Recruitment The primary languages needed by the military in Afghanistan are Dari and Pashto. According to the 2000 census, only 7,700 U.S. citizens speak fluent Pashto, and of those, Mission Essential says about half meet health and other clearance requirements. The company employs more than 1,000 of these citizens. To fill the rest of the military's requirements, Mission Essential also relies on more than 4,000 Afghan local national linguists.“Setting the Record Straight: Commentary Regarding Mission Essential”, "Missionep.com," August 5, 2010 The Washington Post profiled Mission Essential's domestic recruiting at the Afghan Cup, an annual soccer tournament in the Washington area, where the company recruited 45 linguists in 2008 under the slogan "For America, For Afghanistan, For Me."Sieff, Kevin. “At Afghan Cup in Virginia, recruiters offer big money for interpreters”, "The Washington Post," July 11, 2010
Company profile
History Mission Essential was founded in early 2004 by army Special Forces veteran Greg Miller. The company started as a subcontractor providing a handful of linguists in Iraq, but in 2007, Mission Essential Personnel won a $703 million Afghanistan language contract in support of the Operation Enduring Freedom.
According to Reuters, "The 'terps,' as the soldiers call them in military slang, don't just do literal translations, they provide insights into local culture and customs that are key to any attempt to win the people over. And above all, their ability to read the situation on the ground can often save lives."Miglani, Sanjeev. “Half a billion dollars for Afghan interpreters”, "Reuters," May 17, 2010 The Columbus Dispatch profiled one US-hired Mission Essential translator, who said that while the work is often dangerous, "The belief in the cause and what I was working for undermined that fear. This is the process that will take us to a greater future and a better life for my people. Going back [to Afghanistan] is an opportunity to help this happen."
Due to increased demands, the army continued to raise Mission Essential's contract ceiling and linguist requirements.Pincus, Walter. “Fine Print”, "The Washington Post," February 22, 2012
In 2010, a member of the Commission on Wartime Contracting called the company, "A great American success story." Mission Essential was named the No. 1 language services provider by the Common Sense Advisory Board in 2011 and again in 2012.
In 2013, MEP went through a major rebranding, changing its name to Mission Essential. In October 2014, the company released a Spanish version of its website, as part of its "inroads into Latin America."
In August 2016, Mission Essential acquired Information Management Technology Corporation (IMT). IMT is the lead technical support and provider for the Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) Enterprise, the Defense Department's worldwide satellite-connected communications network, threat warning, and targeting data to Joint Service and Allied partner decision-makers and operators.
Charity Mission Essential made charitable giving a part of its corporate philosophy.
Mission Essential support Ride 2 Recovery, which treats injured vets by using cycling for rehabilitation. In November 2013, Mission Essential donated $25,000 to Ride 2 Recovery at an Honor Ride. In May 2014, Mission Essential sponsored the first annual Memorial Day Weekend Honor Ride in Central Ohio. The event enlisted more than 500 riders, raised $140,000, and generated coverage from local television affiliates. The Second Annual Honor Ride was held on Memorial Day Weekend, May 23, 2015, with over 900 cyclists participating and over $300,000 raised.
In January 2013, Mission Essential donated $26,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project office in Fayetteville, North Carolina, as a result of organizing the largest charity run in Afghanistan with more than 1,400 runners at US military bases in Bagram and Kandahar. Paul Clemens said, "As partners with the US military, Mission Essential recognizes their sacrifices, and the importance of supporting those who truly enable freedom. In one form or another, Mission Essential has contributed to several Wounded Warrior Project events, but none as impressive as this."
Mission Essential employees stationed in the Horn of Africa co-founded the Camp Lemonnier Cheetah Refuge Volunteer Program, which clears invasive tree species at the DECAN animal refuge and tends to the needs of the animals. Mission Essential's Scott Johnson said, "The ultimate goal of the refuge is to eventually release the animals back to the wild."
From 2010 to 2014, Mission Essential funded a scholarship program to provide tuition and accommodations for students at the American University of Afghanistan.
Controversies
Use of fraudulent linguists The allegations started with Obama's 2009 to 2012 "surge" of troops in Afghanistan and the need for Dari and Pashto speakers who could be granted top-secret security clearances. Only a few thousand people across the country qualified. A small contractor called Mission Essential Personnel (MEP) had a $679 million contract. Linguists make over $200,000 a year; successful recruiters got bonuses of $250 to $2,500. Problems were discovered at FedSys, a Crystal City subcontractor for MEP. A recruiter named Abdul Aman was fired by FedSys and accused of helping people cheat. The case was investigated by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). Internal documents indicate billions of dollars were involved.
Immigration visas Local National Linguists (LNLs) frequently apply for Special Immigration Visas to the United States, or for equivalent asylum with other foreign governments.
Danish government In 2013, reports surfaced that the Danish government was missing information that it needed to process Mission Essential linguists, such as names and employment periods, who sought asylum in Denmark after helping the country's efforts in Afghanistan. The issue was quickly resolved. The Danish Minister of Defense Nicolai Wammen said, "Mission Essential will assist in validating information about employment for interpreters who make contact with the Danish authorities. This arrangement is similar to the arrangement which Mission Essential has with the US Government."“Agreement with Mission Essential”, "Danish Ministry of Defense," August 21, 2013
Care of linguists In 2009, Corpwatch, a non-profit foundation focused on oversight of government contractors, accused the company of failing to care adequately for wounded local national linguists, including being slow to pay insurance benefits.Chatterjee, Pratap. “Mission Essential, Translators Expendable”, "Corpwatch.org," August 11, 2009 MEP countered that it
In fall 2010, Corpwatch's Pratap Chatterjee told Columbus Monthly, "I personally believe that MEP cares about the translators and tries to do a good job for them. The reality is beyond [then CEO] Chris Taylor's control."Maag, Christopher. "War of words", "The Columbus Monthly," November 2010, p. 105-106
Corpwatch also claimed MEP underpays its local national linguists (LNLs). In a fact sheet, the company said, "Local nationals are paid well by the standards of their community. MEP's LNLs are compensated better than doctors and cabinet-level officials in Afghanistan. MEP presently has a backlog of more than 600 Afghan nationals waiting to become linguists."
On The World of Troubles blog, journalist Jim Foley wrote that MEP was withholding pay from some linguists in dangerous areas. MEP responded that government regulations require a sometimes "cumbersome process which requires signatures from both MEP managers and military points of contact" and without those, pay cannot be disbursed. MEP further noted that the payroll problem had been successfully noted and resolved before Foley published his article.