Academi, formerly known as Blackwater, is a private military company that was founded in 1997 by Erik Prince, a former member of the US Navy SEALs. From 1997 to 2010, Blackwater was awarded $2 billion in both classified and unclassified contracts, including $600,000,000 from the CIA. Academi recruited former SEALs and other soldiers as contractors making large salaries, and Blackwater sent contractors to assist the Iraqi government during the Iraqi Civil War after fighting in the Iraq War alongside the US Army. The company has had a history of controversy due to its role in several massacres committed against civilians and for allegedly being hired by unsavory dictators and greedy companies during proxy wars.