VIRGINIA BEACH -- A Virginia Beach company is on the front lines of training the Iraqi navy. VSD just won a $23 million contract to show Iraqi sailors how to operate and maintain their fleet.
Oil platforms generate nearly $100 million a day for the war-torn country, according to United Press International.
For the last six years, the United States and its coalition partners have been handling the security work around its oil platforms.
VSD Managing Director Chuck Wythe says that's where his firm comes in. In partnership with Swiftship Shipbuilding, the company is developing the training for a 35-meter patrol craft specificially for the Iraqi navy.
"We're actually going to be flying 100 Iraqi sailors under this contract and possibly more next year,” he said. “We’ll be running them through the training program where we'll be providing them with hands-on operation and maintenance training, everything from soup to nuts.”
He knows that when Iraqis take control of their own security, Americans will be coming home.
“The opportunity for us to be able to take part in something that will allow those guys to get out of there and come home and see their families, when they’re doing extended tours over there and they’re really under a pretty hard op-tempo right now, it’s pretty exciting.”
VSD says its expect to add more than 15 full-time jobs in Hampton Roads and hiring is underway.
