Mission Essential Personnel
Encyclopedia
Mission Essential Personnel (MEP) is an American
professional services
corporation offering human-capital solutions and program support to government and corporate clients. MEP is the U.S. government’s
primary provider of translators and interpreters for the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan
. The company is based in the Easton Area of Columbus, Ohio
.
, where more than 80 percent of its approximately 8,200 personnel work. Outside the U.S., the company has a presence in 13 countries in the Middle East
, Africa
, Asia
, and Europe
. MEP linguists serve on bases, in hospitals, and with members of the armed forces on patrol, playing a key role in coalition efforts to communicate with local populations. Regarding MEP’s language experts, Reuters
reported that, “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. And above all, their ability to read the situation on the ground can often save lives.”
In August 2010, the U.S. Army named MEP as a winner of a five-year, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Intelligence Support Services contract, with a ceiling of $492 million. CEO Taylor described it as a “great win for MEP and for our new Intelligence Services business unit.”
MEP also provides training/technical support to its clients. In spring 2010, it won a contract to teach the Air Force’s
Combat Airman Skills Training program, where instructors train airmen and women in basic skills including marksmanship, land navigation, convoy operations/vehicle roll over procedures, Survival Escape Resistance and Evasion (SERE), radio procedures, and squad level battle drills. MEP coordinates disaster response operations between military and civil authorities at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
in New Jersey. Justice Services International, a joint venture MEP formed, contributes to development missions overseas for the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, and the US Agency for International Development
.
In summer 2010, when CEO Chris Taylor testified before the Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC), he said:
MEP manages about 60 delivery orders for the U.S. government globally, under prime contracts for support in Afghanistan and Iraq. With the Afghanistan troop surge of troops into Afghanistan under U.S. Generals Stanley McChrystal and David Petraeus
, the need for language support has increased. The majority of MEP’s language experts have ties to the areas where they work. The Columbus Dispatch
profiled one U.S.-hired MEP translator, who said that while the work is often dangerous, "The belief in the cause and what I was working for undermined that fear." He continued that, "This is the process that will take us to a greater future and a better life for my people. Going back [to Afghanistan] is an opportunity to help this happen."
profiled MEP’s domestic recruiting at the Afghan Cup, an annual soccer tournament in the Washington area, where the company recruited 45 linguists in 2008 under the slogan "For America, For Afghanistan, For Me."
To protect linguists from Taliban reciprocity, MEP protects their identities and forbids media contact. When photojournalist Micah Garen
published headshots of Afghan natives and coalition forces in Vanity Fair
in 2010, he preserved a MEP linguist’s anonymity by photographing the back of his head.
and took the ship's captain and crew hostage. An MEP interpreter served as the prime negotiator with the pirates during the crisis, alongside a Navy SEAL team. The linguist earned the pirates' trust, and after four days of negotiations, convinced the pirates to allow their boat to be towed behind the USS Bainbridge
, until U.S. snipers ended the crisis.
. The pair recognized the need for improved language and cultural advising services in the Middle East and felt they could do a better job while treating linguists better. Later that year the pair was joined by Army Aviator Scott Humphrys who met Monnin and Miller in the army. Originally named Aegis Mission Essential Personnel, the company dropped “Aegis” in 2008.
The company started as a subcontractor providing a handful of linguists in Iraq, but the company’s turning point came in 2007, when Mission Essential Personnel won the $703 million Afghanistan language contract. Due to Afghanistan’s increased support requirements after 2008, the contract’s funding expired sooner than expected. In spring 2010, the Army increased MEP’s contract ceiling to ensure continuity of service while it prepared to re-compete the work later that year. According to MEP, due to the company’s performance the military has issued multiple Increased Levels of Effort for more than 1,500 linguist positions. The company also says the military has awarded it seven consecutive quarterly “outstanding” performance ratings. According to a company fact sheet, MEP “has reached a fill rate for translator positions as high as 97 percent. The previous incumbent [on the contract] was never able to surpass a 43 percent fill rate.”
Members of the Commission on Wartime Contracting have observed MEP’s significant growth: Co-chairman Michael J. Thibault said, “In 2006, they were a $70 million company ... By 2008 they were a $250 million company of actual costs subject to audit. That's pretty good growth. And this year it's estimated that it will be $430 million. And they were just awarded a $1.5 billion contract. Now, that's a great American success story.” Commissioner Dov S. Zakheim told CEO Taylor, “You’re growing like hotcakes.”
from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was director of the Harvard Defense and Security Initiative.
The company’s COO
, Marc Peltier, is a former Army intelligence officer, with an MA in national security from Georgetown University
and a BA from the Virginia Military Institute
. Peltier is a retired Army Intelligence Officer with more than 20 years of experience in Signals Intelligence, Human Intelligence, and program management.
MEP’s CFO, Michael Jakobowski, has more than 25 years of experience in corporate finance and public accounting, and previously served as CFO of Cambridge Information Group, overseeing a portfolio of information technology companies with revenues in excess of $600 million.
MEP’s chief of staff, Sunil Ramchand, served at the White House
Military Office (WHMO) during the presidencies of Presidents Clinton
, Bush
, and Obama
, including as executive director of the WHMO’s Policy, Plans, and Requirements directorate. He is a veteran surface warfare officer of the U.S. Navy and holds degrees from the U.S. Naval Academy and the Harvard Kennedy School.
MEP’s senior vice president for global growth, Peter Bloom has 30 years of experience in executive management, having built and led numerous technology businesses and teams in the U.S. and Europe. He earned an MBA from Marymount University
and a bachelor's in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
. He served six-and-a-half years as a surface warfare officer with the U.S. Navy and is a retired Naval Reserve Officer.
The company’s general counsel, Susan Zidek, has nearly 20 years of legal experience. She is admitted to practice in all Ohio courts, the northern
and southern district courts of Ohio
, the Sixth Circuit Court
, the US Court of Federal Claims
, and the US Supreme Court. She has also served as judicial staff attorney for the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Fourth District.
She earned her bachelor’s from Wittenberg University
and her law degree from the Ohio State University
. She is also a graduate of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy
program and the American University
national government program.
In September 2009, MEP’s owners, including Monnin, Miller, and Humphrys, left day-to-day management to serve on the company’s Board of Directors.
MEP also has a four-person Board of Advisors to guide its strategic planning. The board consists of Ambassador Mitchell Reiss
, a senior American diplomat and the president of Washington College
; Sarah Sewall
, a lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School and member of the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Policy Board; Dr. David Kilcullen
, former Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor, Multi-National Force – Iraq, to General Petraeus; and Dr. John Nagl
, President of the Center for a New American Security
.
MEP has corporate headquarters in Columbus, Ohio
; a national capital region office in Chantilly, Virginia; recruiting offices in New York
and California
; and support facilities in Georgia
, North Carolina
, and Maryland
. It also has offices in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
, and Imagine Asia, which assists children in rural Asian communities.
In July 2010, Taylor was elected to the Board of Trustees of the American University of Afghanistan
(AUAF) in Kabul
, noting that, “Developing nations like Afghanistan often suffer from ‘brain drain,’ where individuals leave the country to receive their education – and then never come back. Institutions like AUAF turn around this cycle by empowering locals who can then empower their own communities. The key to lasting peace in Afghanistan is education.” In fall 2010, MEP announced creation of a scholarship program at the AUAF to provide full tuition, room, and board for six students.
MEP is involved in other charity work with various organizations, including the Veterans First Foundation and Wounded Warrior, and it has performed company-wide clothes drives for Afghanistan.
, 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. MEP countered that it “files all claims and intervenes on behalf of our linguists with insurance companies and claims investigators. … In cases where insurance payments are delayed, we directly intervene on behalf of our linguists to ensure our professionals get what they are due. When complaints of delayed payments first arose in 2009, MEP deployed Defense Base Act
(DBA) insurance subject matter experts to Afghanistan to respond. At that time, there were 170 outstanding insurance claims. As of July 2010, there were 28. MEP’s goal is always zero outstanding claims.” In fall 2010, Corpwatch’s Pratap Chatterjee
told Columbus Monthly
, “I personally believe that MEP cares about the translators and tries to do a good job for them. The reality is beyond Chris Taylor’s control.”
On The World of Troubles blog, journalist Jim Foley wrote that MEP was withholding pay from some linguists in dangerous areas. MEP responded that government regulations require a sometimes “cumbersome process which requires signatures from both MEP managers and military points of contact” and without those, pay cannot be disbursed. MEP further noted that the payroll problem had been successfully noted and resolved before Foley published his article.
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. Disparate commentators criticized ABC’s coverage of the story. 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. The American Spectator’s
Jed Babbin said Ross had “cobbled together information from irrelevant or financially interested sources.” Two weeks after the original report aired, the network published a follow-up on its website when U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema dismissed the case against MEP without prejudice. At the time, MEP CEO Chris Taylor said, "We are pleased with this favorable outcome which underscores our belief that the allegations failed to state a plausible claim against the company." When the case was refiled in November 2010, the same judge allowed the case against MEP to move forward. On February 10, 2011, the lawsuit was dismissed. The company released a statement saying, "The dismissals with prejudice result from a confidential negotiated agreement under which MEP will not make any payment to the Relator or the United States regarding the False Claims Act
fraud allegations."
named MEP’s founders Entrepreneurs of the Year for Emerging Markets at the regional level and as national finalists. In 2007, the company was ranked #1 on the Business First Fast Fifty list of fastest-growing companies in Central Ohio. In 2008, the company placed #6 on the list.
In 2009, the American Small Business Coalition presented MEP with its Founders Award for rapid growth and success serving U.S. Government personnel overseas. That year, Inc. Magazine
included MEP on its Inc. 500 roll of the fastest growing companies, at #8 in the Government Services category. MEP made the list again in 2010 and 2011. Washington Technology
listed the company among its Top 100 Government Contractors for 2009 at #82. MEP moved up to #62 in 2010 and #42 in 2011.
In 2010, MEP’s print and video ad campaigns won awards from the Columbus Society for Communicating Arts.
In 2011, MEP was named the #1 language services provider by the Common Sense Advisory Board and the #1 government contractor in Central Ohio by the Columbus Business Journal.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional services
Professional services
Professional services is an industry of infrequent, technical, or unique functions performed by independent contractors or by consultants whose occupation is the rendering of such services....
corporation offering human-capital solutions and program support to government and corporate clients. MEP is the U.S. government’s
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
primary provider of translators and interpreters for the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
. The company is based in the Easton Area of Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
.
Products and services
MEP provides translators, interpreters, and cultural advisors to the U.S. Army in AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, where more than 80 percent of its approximately 8,200 personnel work. Outside the U.S., the company has a presence in 13 countries in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. MEP linguists serve on bases, in hospitals, and with members of the armed forces on patrol, playing a key role in coalition efforts to communicate with local populations. Regarding MEP’s language experts, Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
reported that, “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. And above all, their ability to read the situation on the ground can often save lives.”
In August 2010, the U.S. Army named MEP as a winner of a five-year, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Intelligence Support Services contract, with a ceiling of $492 million. CEO Taylor described it as a “great win for MEP and for our new Intelligence Services business unit.”
MEP also provides training/technical support to its clients. In spring 2010, it won a contract to teach the Air Force’s
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
Combat Airman Skills Training program, where instructors train airmen and women in basic skills including marksmanship, land navigation, convoy operations/vehicle roll over procedures, Survival Escape Resistance and Evasion (SERE), radio procedures, and squad level battle drills. MEP coordinates disaster response operations between military and civil authorities at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
McGuire Air Force Base
JB MDL McGuire is a United States Air Force base located approximately south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. McGuire is under the jurisdiction of the USAF Air Mobility Command...
in New Jersey. Justice Services International, a joint venture MEP formed, contributes to development missions overseas for the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, and the US Agency for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
.
In summer 2010, when CEO Chris Taylor testified before the Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC), he said:
MEP manages about 60 delivery orders for the U.S. government globally, under prime contracts for support in Afghanistan and Iraq. With the Afghanistan troop surge of troops into Afghanistan under U.S. Generals Stanley McChrystal and David Petraeus
David Petraeus
David Howell Petraeus is the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sworn in on September 6, 2011. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander...
, the need for language support has increased. The majority of MEP’s language experts have ties to the areas where they work. The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since The Columbus Citizen-Journal stopped printing in 1985....
profiled one U.S.-hired MEP translator, who said that while the work is often dangerous, "The belief in the cause and what I was working for undermined that fear." He continued that, "This is the process that will take us to a greater future and a better life for my people. Going back [to Afghanistan] is an opportunity to help this happen."
Recruitment
The primary languages needed by the military in Afghanistan are Dari and Pashto. Recruiting U.S. citizens for security-cleared positions presents unique challenges because the last major wave of Afghan immigration to the U.S. was during the early 1990s. According to the 2000 Census, only 7,700 U.S. citizens speak fluent Pashto, and of those, MEP says about half meet health and other clearance requirements. The company employs more almost 1,000 of these citizens. To fill the rest of the military’s requirements, MEP also relies on more than 4,000 Afghan local national linguists. The Washington PostThe Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
profiled MEP’s domestic recruiting at the Afghan Cup, an annual soccer tournament in the Washington area, where the company recruited 45 linguists in 2008 under the slogan "For America, For Afghanistan, For Me."
To protect linguists from Taliban reciprocity, MEP protects their identities and forbids media contact. When photojournalist Micah Garen
Micah Garen
Micah Garen is a photographer, documentary filmmaker and writer, and founder of Four Corners Media.On August 13, 2004, Garen and his Iraqi translator, Amir Doushi, were kidnapped and held hostage in Nasiriya in southern Iraq...
published headshots of Afghan natives and coalition forces in Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
in 2010, he preserved a MEP linguist’s anonymity by photographing the back of his head.
Somali pirates incident
In April 2009, Somali pirates hijacked the Maersk vessel AlabamaMaersk Alabama hijacking
The Maersk Alabama hijacking was a series of events involving piracy that began with four Somali pirates seizing the cargo ship southeast of the Somali port city of Eyl. This event ended with the action of 12 April 2009. It was the first successful pirate seizure of a ship registered under the...
and took the ship's captain and crew hostage. An MEP interpreter served as the prime negotiator with the pirates during the crisis, alongside a Navy SEAL team. The linguist earned the pirates' trust, and after four days of negotiations, convinced the pirates to allow their boat to be towed behind the USS Bainbridge
USS Bainbridge (DDG-96)
USS Bainbridge is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is the fifth ship to carry that name, and the 46th destroyer of a planned 62-ship class...
, until U.S. snipers ended the crisis.
History
MEP was founded in early 2004 by Army Special Forces veterans Chad Monnin and Greg Miller, who met during training at Ohio’s Rickenbacker Air National Guard BaseRickenbacker Air National Guard Base
Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base is an Air National Guard facility of the Ohio Air National Guard. The base was named for the famous early aviator and Columbus native Eddie Rickenbacker...
. The pair recognized the need for improved language and cultural advising services in the Middle East and felt they could do a better job while treating linguists better. Later that year the pair was joined by Army Aviator Scott Humphrys who met Monnin and Miller in the army. Originally named Aegis Mission Essential Personnel, the company dropped “Aegis” in 2008.
The company started as a subcontractor providing a handful of linguists in Iraq, but the company’s turning point came in 2007, when Mission Essential Personnel won the $703 million Afghanistan language contract. Due to Afghanistan’s increased support requirements after 2008, the contract’s funding expired sooner than expected. In spring 2010, the Army increased MEP’s contract ceiling to ensure continuity of service while it prepared to re-compete the work later that year. According to MEP, due to the company’s performance the military has issued multiple Increased Levels of Effort for more than 1,500 linguist positions. The company also says the military has awarded it seven consecutive quarterly “outstanding” performance ratings. According to a company fact sheet, MEP “has reached a fill rate for translator positions as high as 97 percent. The previous incumbent [on the contract] was never able to surpass a 43 percent fill rate.”
Members of the Commission on Wartime Contracting have observed MEP’s significant growth: Co-chairman Michael J. Thibault said, “In 2006, they were a $70 million company ... By 2008 they were a $250 million company of actual costs subject to audit. That's pretty good growth. And this year it's estimated that it will be $430 million. And they were just awarded a $1.5 billion contract. Now, that's a great American success story.” Commissioner Dov S. Zakheim told CEO Taylor, “You’re growing like hotcakes.”
Leadership
Military veterans make up the bulk of MEP’s leadership. Chris Taylor, who became CEO in September 2009, is a 14-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, having served as an enlisted man. He holds an MBA from the College of William & Mary and an MPAMaster of Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration is a professional post-graduate degree in Public Administration. The MPA program prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive arm of local, state/provincial, and federal/national government, and increasingly in nongovernmental organization and...
from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was director of the Harvard Defense and Security Initiative.
The company’s COO
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
, Marc Peltier, is a former Army intelligence officer, with an MA in national security from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
and a BA from the Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...
. Peltier is a retired Army Intelligence Officer with more than 20 years of experience in Signals Intelligence, Human Intelligence, and program management.
MEP’s CFO, Michael Jakobowski, has more than 25 years of experience in corporate finance and public accounting, and previously served as CFO of Cambridge Information Group, overseeing a portfolio of information technology companies with revenues in excess of $600 million.
MEP’s chief of staff, Sunil Ramchand, served at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
Military Office (WHMO) during the presidencies of Presidents Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, and Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, including as executive director of the WHMO’s Policy, Plans, and Requirements directorate. He is a veteran surface warfare officer of the U.S. Navy and holds degrees from the U.S. Naval Academy and the Harvard Kennedy School.
MEP’s senior vice president for global growth, Peter Bloom has 30 years of experience in executive management, having built and led numerous technology businesses and teams in the U.S. and Europe. He earned an MBA from Marymount University
Marymount University
Marymount University is a coeducational, four-year Catholic university that has its main campus located in Arlington, Virginia. Marymount offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in a wide range of disciplines and has a diverse and welcoming academic community with approximately 3,600...
and a bachelor's in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. He served six-and-a-half years as a surface warfare officer with the U.S. Navy and is a retired Naval Reserve Officer.
The company’s general counsel, Susan Zidek, has nearly 20 years of legal experience. She is admitted to practice in all Ohio courts, the northern
United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio is the federal trial court for the northern half of Ohio...
and southern district courts of Ohio
United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio is one of two United States district courts in Ohio and includes forty-eight of the state's eighty-eight counties. Appeals from the court are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit at Cincinnati The...
, the Sixth Circuit Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
, the US Court of Federal Claims
United States Court of Federal Claims
The United States Court of Federal Claims is a United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. The court is established pursuant to Congress's authority under Article One of the United States Constitution...
, and the US Supreme Court. She has also served as judicial staff attorney for the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Fourth District.
She earned her bachelor’s from Wittenberg University
Wittenberg University
Wittenberg University is a private four-year liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio serving 2,000 full-time students representing 37 states and approximately 30 foreign countries...
and her law degree from the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
. She is also a graduate of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy
National Institute for Trial Advocacy
The National Institute for Trial Advocacy is a not for profit organization that was initially formed in 1969 in an effort to provide lawyers with better trial skills training, and was spurred on by criticisms within the judicial system of the apparent lack of trial preparation occurring within law...
program and the American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
national government program.
In September 2009, MEP’s owners, including Monnin, Miller, and Humphrys, left day-to-day management to serve on the company’s Board of Directors.
MEP also has a four-person Board of Advisors to guide its strategic planning. The board consists of Ambassador Mitchell Reiss
Mitchell Reiss
Mitchell B. Reiss is a senior American diplomat who became the 27th president of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland on July 1, 2010. He served as Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State under Colin Powell...
, a senior American diplomat and the president of Washington College
Washington College
Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts college located on a campus in Chestertown, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782...
; Sarah Sewall
Sarah Sewall
Sarah Sewall is a Lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School and a member of the Secretary of Defense's Defense Policy Board. She served as the first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance during the Clinton administration and served on President Obama's transition team...
, a lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School and member of the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Policy Board; Dr. David Kilcullen
David Kilcullen
David John Kilcullen F.R.G.S is an Australian author and consultant who is a leading theorist on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism. In 2007 he served as the Senior Counterinsurgency Adviser to the Commander of the Multi-National Force - Iraq responsible for planning and executing the Joint...
, former Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor, Multi-National Force – Iraq, to General Petraeus; and Dr. John Nagl
John Nagl
John A. Nagl is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army who is regarded as an influential expert in counterinsurgency....
, President of the Center for a New American Security
Center for a New American Security
The Center for a New American Security is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank established in 2007 by co-founders Michèle Flournoy and Kurt M. Campbell which specializes in U.S. national security issues...
.
MEP has corporate headquarters in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
; a national capital region office in Chantilly, Virginia; recruiting offices in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; and support facilities in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, and Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. It also has offices in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Charity
MEP is a member of the UN Global Compact, the Internaional Stability Operations AssociationInternational Peace Operations Association
The International Stability Operations Association , formerly known as the International Peace Operations Association , is a 501 non-profit trade association. Founded in April 2001, IPOA was created to support the private military industry and is based in Washington, D.C....
, and Imagine Asia, which assists children in rural Asian communities.
In July 2010, Taylor was elected to the Board of Trustees of the American University of Afghanistan
American University of Afghanistan
The American University of Afghanistan is Afghanistan’s first private, not-for-profit institution of higher education. Chartered in 2004, AUAF offers undergraduate degree programs as well as intensive English-language college preparatory courses and continuing education and professional...
(AUAF) in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, noting that, “Developing nations like Afghanistan often suffer from ‘brain drain,’ where individuals leave the country to receive their education – and then never come back. Institutions like AUAF turn around this cycle by empowering locals who can then empower their own communities. The key to lasting peace in Afghanistan is education.” In fall 2010, MEP announced creation of a scholarship program at the AUAF to provide full tuition, room, and board for six students.
MEP is involved in other charity work with various organizations, including the Veterans First Foundation and Wounded Warrior, and it has performed company-wide clothes drives for Afghanistan.
Care for linguists
MEP has been the subject of critical media reports. In 2009, CorpwatchCorpWatch
CorpWatch is a research group based in San Francisco, California, USA. The group's mission is non-profit investigative research and journalism to expose corporate malfeasance and to advocate for multinational corporate accountability and transparency...
, 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. MEP countered that it “files all claims and intervenes on behalf of our linguists with insurance companies and claims investigators. … In cases where insurance payments are delayed, we directly intervene on behalf of our linguists to ensure our professionals get what they are due. When complaints of delayed payments first arose in 2009, MEP deployed Defense Base Act
Defense Base Act
The Defense Base Act is an extension of the federal workers' compensation program that covers longshoremen and harbor workers, the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act . The DBA covers persons employed at United States defense bases overseas...
(DBA) insurance subject matter experts to Afghanistan to respond. At that time, there were 170 outstanding insurance claims. As of July 2010, there were 28. MEP’s goal is always zero outstanding claims.” In fall 2010, Corpwatch’s Pratap Chatterjee
Pratap Chatterjee
Pratap Chatterjee is an Indian/Sri Lankan investigative journalist and progressive author. He is a British citizen and was raised in India, although he has lived in California for many years. He served as the executive director of CorpWatch, an Oakland-based corporate accountability organization...
told Columbus Monthly
Columbus Monthly
Columbus Monthly is a magazine that has been an important and influential voice in Central Ohio. The magazine which was created in June 1975 has a well-earned reputation for tweaking the local establishment, challenging the monopoly daily on breaking news and providing a much-needed perspective and...
, “I personally believe that MEP cares about the translators and tries to do a good job for them. The reality is beyond Chris Taylor’s control.”
Payment of linguists
Corpwatch also claimed MEP underpays its local national linguists (LNLs). In a fact sheet, the company said, “Local nationals are paid well by the standards of their community. MEP’s LNLs are compensated better than doctors and cabinet-level officials in Afghanistan. MEP presently has a backlog of more than 600 Afghan nationals waiting to become linguists.”On The World of Troubles blog, journalist Jim Foley wrote that MEP was withholding pay from some linguists in dangerous areas. MEP responded that government regulations require a sometimes “cumbersome process which requires signatures from both MEP managers and military points of contact” and without those, pay cannot be disbursed. MEP further noted that the payroll problem had been successfully noted and resolved before Foley published his article.
Qualifications of linguists
MEP has also been charged with deploying interpreters who were old or otherwise physically unfit. 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. According to MEP literature, “Each linguist must pass a physical exam and comply with pre-training requirements. As of July 2010, 84 percent of U.S.-hired linguists and 99 percent of local linguists are 55 or younger.”ABC News report/lawsuit
In September 2010, ABC News’ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
Brian Ross
Brian Ross (journalist)
Brian Elliot Ross is an American investigative correspondent for ABC News. He has been with ABC News since July 1994. From 1974 until 1994, Ross was a correspondent for NBC News.-Major scoops:...
quoted a former MEP employee who alleged in a whistleblower lawsuit that the company had sent unqualified linguists to Afghanistan two years earlier. Disparate commentators criticized ABC’s coverage of the story. The Huffington Post’s
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
David Isenberg pointed out Ross’s use of “weak, secondary sources,” and the former employee’s financial motives in bringing the case. The American Spectator’s
The American Spectator
The American Spectator is a conservative U.S. monthly magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. From its founding in 1967 until the late 1980s, the small-circulation magazine featured the writings of authors...
Jed Babbin said Ross had “cobbled together information from irrelevant or financially interested sources.” Two weeks after the original report aired, the network published a follow-up on its website when U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema dismissed the case against MEP without prejudice. At the time, MEP CEO Chris Taylor said, "We are pleased with this favorable outcome which underscores our belief that the allegations failed to state a plausible claim against the company." When the case was refiled in November 2010, the same judge allowed the case against MEP to move forward. On February 10, 2011, the lawsuit was dismissed. The company released a statement saying, "The dismissals with prejudice result from a confidential negotiated agreement under which MEP will not make any payment to the Relator or the United States regarding the False Claims Act
False Claims Act
The False Claims Act is an American federal law that imposes liability on persons and companies who defraud governmental programs. The law includes a "qui tam" provision that allows people who are not affiliated with the government to file actions on behalf of the government...
fraud allegations."
Awards
In 2006, Ernst & YoungErnst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
named MEP’s founders Entrepreneurs of the Year for Emerging Markets at the regional level and as national finalists. In 2007, the company was ranked #1 on the Business First Fast Fifty list of fastest-growing companies in Central Ohio. In 2008, the company placed #6 on the list.
In 2009, the American Small Business Coalition presented MEP with its Founders Award for rapid growth and success serving U.S. Government personnel overseas. That year, Inc. Magazine
Inc. (magazine)
Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is a monthly publication focused on growing companies. The magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., the "Inc...
included MEP on its Inc. 500 roll of the fastest growing companies, at #8 in the Government Services category. MEP made the list again in 2010 and 2011. Washington Technology
Washington technology
Washington Technology is a United States magazine for government contractors providing an in-depth look at government programs, technologies and spending priorities, as well as management issues, case studies M&A, and trends that impact the contractor community. It is published by 1105 Government...
listed the company among its Top 100 Government Contractors for 2009 at #82. MEP moved up to #62 in 2010 and #42 in 2011.
In 2010, MEP’s print and video ad campaigns won awards from the Columbus Society for Communicating Arts.
In 2011, MEP was named the #1 language services provider by the Common Sense Advisory Board and the #1 government contractor in Central Ohio by the Columbus Business Journal.