SOSi – Working in Iraq Since 2003

By Jane Helmick


On Monday, June 4th, 2018, a massive landfill fire erupted in a landfill on the Iraqi side of a military depot, where SOSi provides critical life support services to more than 3,000 coalition military personnel and contractors. The outside temperature was already 102 degrees Fahrenheit. The Iraqi Army called on SOSi to help contain the fire, which was growing larger by the minute – at this point covering more than 40 acres, with flames up to 15 feet high. 

Kevin Castles, SOSi’s Director of Emergency Services, immediately responded to the Iraqi Government’s call for help and led the SOSi team into action. Together, the SOSi emergency fire, medical, and security teams battled the flames. Noticing live artillery in the landfill area, Terry Schneider, SOSi’s Deputy Program Director, quickly made the call to pull the SOSi teams back, moments later, the artillery began to explode. 

When the detonations ceased, the SOSi team quickly moved back into position to continue the fight. The fire was being managed, but the team needed a plan. Without hesitation, the team used a bulldozer to carve breaks into the trash piles, which would break down the fires into smaller, more manageable areas. The plan worked, and the fire was fully extinguished, and all of the facilities and equipment were saved. 

“Here at Camp Taji, the SOSi team takes emergency services seriously. Our team is made up of great people with a passion to go above and beyond the norm and truly embody our ‘challenge accepted’ ethos,” said Schneider. 

SOSi’s Rise in Iraq
SOSi was one of the first companies to put “boots on the ground” in Iraq at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Since then, it has steadily grown and diversified into numerous areas from logistics to cybersecurity, becoming one of the U.S. Government’s premier mission support contractors.

Following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011, SOSi continued to provide logistics and life support services to several of the large military equipment and hardware manufacturers operating in Iraq.  It was also awarded an $80 million contract by the U.S. Air Force to rebuild the runways and several critical structures at Balad Airbase.  

Since 2012, SOSi has made more than $30 million in infrastructure improvements at the bases it operates. SOSi employs hundreds of Iraqi citizens, investing in key skills-based training for the local workforce. SOSi also works closely with the Iraqi Army, providing support and technical training to Iraqi Army personnel on the maintenance of wastewater treatment plants and lift stations, electrical systems, and other local equipment and facilities. This knowledge transfer is critical to ensuring the Iraqi Army can eventually sustain its own operations. 

When ISIS emerged in June 2014, and the State Department evacuated all of their non-essential personnel from the country, SOSi was the only contractor that chose to remain in the country in order to maintain the continuity of the Iraq Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, a critical cornerstone of the U.S.-Iraq strategic cooperation relationship.  

When the U.S. Military sent its trainers and advisers back into Iraq at the end of 2014, SOSi was already there to meet its critical life support needs.  Rather than relying on the much more expensive life support solution represented by the LOGCAP IV contract, the U.S. Army awarded SOSi a commercial contract to provide base life support in Iraq. It was the first time the U.S. Army had ever contracted for a commercial life support solution on that scale in a conflict zone that included food, fuel, power, lodging, and security. 

SOSi’s team is led by LTG (Ret.) Frank Helmick, SVP for SOSi’s Mission Solutions Group and today provides life support services to the majority of U.S. and coalition personnel operating in central Iraq today.  Those services include: medical and emergency fire rescue, prime power, bulk fuel, internet/IT communications, site security, lodging and office space, laundry, food, and dining facility (DFAC) services. SOSi’s continued willingness to take calculated risks remains a tangible and credible demonstration of U.S. resolve in maintaining a strong partnership with the Government of Iraq.

The SOSi team does more than simply provide life support services to its customers - it also makes its facilities a safe “home away from home”, by providing a respite from the inherent stress of working in a deployed environment. SOSi constructed its own Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) facilities, offering its clients an impressive array of recreational activities and programs. The SOSi team hosts holiday meals, creates fun 5k runs around the holidays, even hosting its own version of the popular Army Ten-Miler race on the same day the official run takes place in Washington, D.C. 

“A great mentor of mine once told me “we’re not doing the normal; we’re doing what makes sense,” said Schneider. “Here in Iraq, we apply this idea to everything we do and, for that, we’re one of the few companies that enables others to become leaders and better themselves and their surroundings.” 


About SOSi
SOSi was founded in 1989 by a former university language professor named Sosi Setian to provide contract interpreters to the U.S. law enforcement agencies.  For approximately 10 years, it remained a relatively small, unknown company, until 9/11, when it became clear that the U.S. Government did not have the number of qualified linguists with security clearances to meet the growing demand to process the vast amount of foreign data that it collects through various means.  Through a subcontract it held in 2001 to provide cleared linguists to the U.S. Army – which was the executive agent for providing linguist support to the entire U.S. Military – SOSi rapidly became among the largest employers of cleared contract linguists to the Department of Defense globally.