If not for the federal government, contractor DynCorp International wouldn’t be in business. Virtually all of its revenue (96%) comes from government contracts. That includes the vast majority of the taxpayer dollars that the State Department has awarded to companies to help rebuild Afghanistan.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) says that of the $4 billion allotted by the State Department from 2002 to 2013, 69.3% went to DynCorp. In terms of actual dollars, DynCorp took in $2.8 billion.

Giving so much to one company might not have been a good idea, given DynCorp’s record.

The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) notes the contractor’s ‘colorful history” includes ‘instances of labor smuggling, weak performance and overpayments on a base support services contract, botched construction work on an Afghan Army garrison, and lawsuits filed by disgruntled subcontractors.”

Most of DynCorp’s contracts have been to train and equip the Afghan National Police and counternarcotics forces, SIGAR reports. It was during this work that the company was accused by a top Afghan official of hiring ‘dancing boys” in 2009 to entertain DynCorp trainers.

A diplomatic cable revealed by Wikileaks quoted Interior Minister Hanif Atmar as having ‘deep concerns that lives could be in danger if news leaked […]