Members of the elite Blackwater Aviation Unit, codename "The Assmonkeys" conduct air support operations in support of ground units in Iraq.

Fun Fact: Did you know that no one would insure the Blackwater Little Birds flying combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom? As a result, the company had to insure every single one of their birds out of pocket in the event anything happened to them, otherwise they wouldn't be able to fly them in Iraqi airspace.

On January 23, 2007, a Blackwater MD 530F Little Bird helicopter fell victim to enemy fire in Baghdad while providing support for an American convoy on the ground. As a result, five U.S. Contractors were killed-in-action. A week later, another Little Bird was shot down when a 7.62 round impacted the gear box of the helicopter bringing it to the ground. No contractors were killed in that incident, but the U.S. Army had to destroy the aircraft on the ground.

So, while the Blackwater Aviation Unit did do a lot of really great work in Iraq, it was also a massive liability for the company. Even still, without the Blackwater Aviation Unit, there's a good chance that during the initial firefight in Najaf, many Americans, including U.S. Marines and U.S. Soldiers, probably would have been killed as the Blackwater aircraft were the only ones capable of conducting combat resupplies to the besieged Americans.