It was founded in 2002 by Tim Spicer, who was previously CEO of the private military company Sandline International;[2] Jeffrey Day, an entrepreneur; and Mark Bullough and Dominic Armstrong, former investment bankers.

to the United States Department of Defense to provide security support services to the Project and Contracting Office (PCO), responsible for managing the reconstruction program.

These services include: Through its charitable foundation Aegis conducts a self-funded civil affairs programme to facilitate reconstruction in areas where there are gaps in mainstream projects.

[6] On 27 October 2005 a number of "trophy" videos showing private military contractors in Baghdad firing upon civilian vehicles with no clear reason discernible from the footage itself sparked two investigations after they were posted on the internet.

[8] On 6 April 2006 More4 News reporter Nima Elbagir identified disaffected former Aegis contractor Rod Stoner as responsible for posting the videos on the website.

In the same More4 program, Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn insisted that the Pentagon's contract with Aegis Defence Services should be suspended until the matter had been properly investigated and fully reported upon.