Facility Protection Service (FPS)
Facilities Protection Forces
The Facilities Protection Service wroks for all ministries and governmental agencies, but its standards are set and enforced by the Ministry of Interior. It can also be privately hired. The FPS is tasked with the fixed site protection of Ministerial, Governmental, or private buildings, facilities and personnel. The FPS includes Oil, Electricity Police and Port Security.
The majority of the FPS staff consists of former service members and former security guards. The FPS will now secure public facilities such as hospitals, banks, and power stations within their district. Once trained, the guards work with US military forces protecting critical sites like schools, hospitals and power plants. Being part of the Baath Party does not disqualify an Iraqi from joining the Facility Protection Service or working elsewhere with coalition forces.
As of early August 2003 more than 4,000 Iraqis had been hired to be security guards with the Facility Protection Service. As of mid-October 2003 about 20,000 members of the new Facility Protection Service were guarding more than 240 critical sites.
In the An Najaf area, two hundred one facility protection service guards graduated from security training on 03 July 2003. Sixty-seven guards will work at oil and gas facilities and 134 will work at hospitals.
The FPS are paid on either on a contract basis or according to a civil pay scale which is lower than that of the Police or the New Iraqi Army. The FPS' uniforms consists of light grey shirts with brassards, which if worn, clearly indicate the letters 'FPS' and the Iraqi flag. FPS members may also wear dark blue pants, a leather belt, and a grey beret. They are armed with AKs. The FPS' vehicles are provided by the Ministries.
The 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment handed over security of the Al-Thawra district of Baghdad, a generally low-income neighborhood formerly known as Saddam City, to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and the new Facility Protection Service (FPS) during a transfer of authority ceremony 09 August 2003. The 2-2nd ACR selected and screened the FPS applicants for the best-qualified personnel. After employing the best-qualified civilians, the 2-2nd ACR then implemented a three-day training course. This course focused on individual and vehicle searches, ethics and human rights, and weapons proficiency. The two-day training included hand-to-hand combat, weapons familiarization, and conducting proper vehicle and person searches. The women were also given lessons on ethics, professional conduct and personal interaction. The class concluded with a written exam.
Many Iraqi Police Service (IPS) officers and Facility Protection Service (FPS) officers were honored by commanders of the 1st Armored Division and a representative of the Ministry of the Interior 29-30 October 2003 at the Iraqi Forum. 124 awardees were honored during the IPS ceremony, including 24 medals for valor and 79 medals for sacrifice. Twenty-one medals for sacrifice were awarded posthumously to IPS family members. The FPS award ceremony, held in the same place, but on the following day, recognized 24 awardees for valor and 21 for sacrifice. The awards given out were golden medals, each emblazoned with an imprinted map of the country of Iraq, with Arabic script reading, "It is an honor to serve country,"
The Facilities Protection Service, charged with protecting Iraq's strategic infrastructure, government buildings and cultural and educational assets, has more than doubled since November 2003. As of 15 February 2004, there were more than 70,000 guards on duty.
Erinys Iraq Ltd is the private security company hired to protect Iraq's oil pipelines under a US$40 million contract awarded in August 2003. Erinys Iraq is an affiliate of Erinys International formed in 2001, landed the Iraq contract to supply and train 6,500 armed guards charged with protecting 140 Iraqi oil wells, 7,000 kilometers of pipelines and refineries, as well as power plants and the water supply for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. A majority of Erinys' workforce (15,000 Iraqi and 350 international staff) in Iraq are Kurdish peshmerga. It seeks to deter attacks on oil infrastructure through an overt presence, aerial surveillance and liaison. Operational control of the Oil Protection Force (OPF) is exercised by Erinys, not Task Force Shield (TFS). TFS is not overseen by the Corps of Engineers (GRD), but is part of MNF-I. Erinys Regional Operations are located in Mosul, Kirkuk, Baghdad and Basrah. The contract for aerial surveillance granted in December 2003 was awarded to Erinys Iraq, which awarded a subcontract to
Florida-based AirScan Inc for aerial surveillance of the pipelines in support of Erinys. AirScan provides night air surveillance of the pipeline and oil infrastructure,
using low-light television cameras.
