Blackwater was the main US private military company to provide security services in theaters of war. It was founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark. The main headquarters is located in North Carolina, where they have a specialized tactical training complex. The company trains more than 40,000 people a year from different branches of the Armed Forces, as well as other security agencies from various countries. Various media have pointed to the company as the symbol of the privatization of the wars of the 21st century.

Currently the new BlackWater, ACADEMI, is the largest private contractor in the US Department of State.
About 90% of its current profits come from contracts with the US government.
In 2010, the company merged with Triple Canopy and they are linked to the United States Intelligence Agency (CIA) since, by law, both the Agency and the company must work outside of American territory.

Some missions carried out by members of Academi have generated controversy due to the damage - threats, assassinations, illegal arms trafficking - suffered by civil society outside the war conflicts in their area.
On September 28, 2007, the company was involved in the death of 17 civilians during the Gulf War, when they were in an ambush. The State Department found the statements of the guards to be contradictory, while the FBI determined that 14 of the 17 civilians had been shot from vehicles belonging to Academi, then Blackwater.
The Iraqi government asked the company to withdraw from the country.
Today (2018) it continues to be the world's leading conflict zone security contractor.
Although you think you are very safe in your sofa, there are many conflictive areas very close to us and the current world situation is far from what we have known until a few years ago.
If you want to know more....
https://youtu.be/zFM5zkIPWM0
https://youtu.be/5NEcOAJL8vw
https://youtu.be/5BbhZ5ziXdw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJzKv1SwnpE
That's life ...