[5] In August 2010, the U.S. Army named Mission Essential as a winner of a five-year, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Intelligence Support Services contract, with a ceiling of $492 million.
"[10] Mission Essential has assisted in capacity building, counter-narcotics, multi-national law enforcement, and border management.
According to the 2000 census, only 7,700 U.S. citizens speak fluent Pashto, and of those, Mission Essential says about half meet health and other clearance requirements.
The company started as a subcontractor providing a handful of linguists in Iraq, but in 2007, Mission Essential Personnel won a $703 million Afghanistan language contract in support of the Operation Enduring Freedom.
[20] According to Reuters, "The 'terps,' as the soldiers call them in military slang, don't just do literal translations, they provide insights into local culture and customs that are key to any attempt to win the people over.
"[22] Due to increased demands, the army continued to raise Mission Essential's contract ceiling and linguist requirements.
In January 2013, Mission Essential donated $26,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project office in Fayetteville, North Carolina, as a result of organizing the largest charity run in Afghanistan with more than 1,400 runners at US military bases in Bagram and Kandahar.
Paul Clemens said, "As partners with the US military, Mission Essential recognizes their sacrifices, and the importance of supporting those who truly enable freedom.
Mission Essential's Scott Johnson said, "The ultimate goal of the refuge is to eventually release the animals back to the wild.
"[34] From 2010 to 2014, Mission Essential funded a scholarship program to provide tuition and accommodations for students at the American University of Afghanistan.
[35] The allegations started with Obama’s 2009 to 2012 “surge” of troops in Afghanistan and the need for Dari and Pashto speakers who could be granted top-secret security clearances.
[36] Local National Linguists (LNLs) frequently apply for Special Immigration Visas to the United States, or for equivalent asylum with other foreign governments.
In 2013, reports surfaced that the Danish government was missing information that it needed to process Mission Essential linguists, such as names and employment periods, who sought asylum in Denmark after helping the country's efforts in Afghanistan.
"[37] In 2009, Corpwatch, a non-profit foundation focused on oversight of government contractors, accused the company of failing to care adequately for wounded local national linguists, including being slow to pay insurance benefits.
When complaints of delayed payments first arose in 2009, MEP deployed Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance subject matter experts to Afghanistan to respond.
"[18] On The World of Troubles blog, journalist Jim Foley wrote that MEP was withholding pay from some linguists in dangerous areas.
[41] MEP's response was that it recruits, vets, and trains linguists according to the military's specifications, but does not control their final assignments throughout Afghanistan.
[18] In September 2010, ABC News' Brian Ross quoted a former MEP employee who alleged in a whistleblower lawsuit that the company had sent unqualified linguists to Afghanistan two years earlier.
The Huffington Post's David Isenberg pointed out Ross's use of "weak, secondary sources," and the former employee's financial motives in bringing the case.
"[44] Two weeks after the original report aired, the network published a follow-up on its website when US District Judge Leonie Brinkema dismissed the case against MEP without prejudice.
[47] In response, MEP released a statement saying that the army had conducted a thorough investigation of the incident and found the shooting was "the result of the unforeseeable criminal acts" of the shooter, who had been vetted and approved by the US Government.
[62] The Association of the United States Army named Mission Essential its member company of the month for July 2012, noting that, "For the current conflicts with which the US Army is involved, communication can be more valuable than weaponry: so the United States can share its message of good will with those we can help while deciphering the message of those who would do us harm.