A special group composed of several hundred American veterans of the Vietnam war and World War II has been assembled by a Los Angeles construction company to train Saudi Arabia’s 26,000-man national guard, it was disclosed Sunday. The contractor, the Vinnell Corp, will carry out the training program in Saudi Arabia beginning next July under a $77 million U.S. Defense Department contract awarded to it last month. It was described as the first such contract ever let to a private American firm to train members of a foreign army. The purpose of the training was said to be to prepare the Saudian troops to guard their country’s oil fields.
Vinnell is to train three newly mechanized infantry battalions of 1000-men each and a light artillery battery of about the same size using 109 mm. howitzers. The U.S. government will provide the military equipment under a $335 million contract signed with Saudi Arabia last year which includes Vinnell’s fees. The Saudians will pay the U.S. which will pay Vinnell.
NOT A MERCENARY EXPEDITION
The Saudi Arabian national guard is a special internal security force apart from that country’s 36,000-man regular army. Vinnell recruited its force by placing two newspaper advertisements which reportedly drew an immediate response from veterans and army soldiers and officers retiring early because of U.S. military outbacks. The salaries of most of the recruits will range from $1500-$1800 monthly plus a $2400 bonus at the end of the 18-month contract period. Housing in Saudi Arabia will be provided free.
Executives of the Vinnell Corp. and some recruits are stressing that the program cannot be considered a “mercenary expedition.” According to Robert Montgomery, Vinnell’s general manager for special projects, “We are not creating a mercenary force. This is a one-time thing to do a specific job.”
The Vinnell contract was described as part of a vast program to utilize Saudi Arabia’s billions of dollars of oil profits to strengthen its armed forces. Vinnell, which has had construction projects in 50 countries over the last 40 years as well as major contracts in the U.S., said it made a five-year effort to gain the confidence of the Persian Gulf countries which finally yielded the Saudian contract.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
