Aahana Swrup
‘War Dogs,’ Todd Phillips’ crime-driven comedy film, follows the misadventures of protagonists David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who start brokering arms deals to the military in their early 20s. The film follows the duo’s rapid rise through the ranks as they go from bidding on crumbles to landing a deal worth millions of dollars. However, on their path to such lucrative industry success, David and Efraim also experience a fair share of setbacks and threats. Henry Girard, the man who helps them secure good fortune, ends up becoming one such element as his one move settles a doomed fate for David, Efraim, and their AEY company. Therefore, since Henry remains such an instrumental addition to the on-screen narrative, viewers must naturally be compelled to wonder about his basis in the true story that inspired the film’s events.
Heinrich “Henri” Thomet: The Real-Life Inspiration Behind Henry Girard
‘War Dogs’ retains the real identities of key characters within the narrative in the spirit of maintaining authenticity to the actual tale of AEY Inc. and their role in the arms dealing industry. Nevertheless, most characters outside David and Efraim sport a different name than their off-screen inspirations. Thus, Heinrich “Henri” Thomet— the real-life arms dealer with connections to AEY— becomes Henry Girard within the film’s dramatized narrative. For the most part, Henry’s character maintains an authentic connection to Thomet’s real-life association with Packouz and Diveroli’s business, with a few creative liberties equipped.
Thomet, a known Swiss arms dealer, first crossed paths with the AEY duo at the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition center during Eurosatory, one of the biggest arms trade shows in the world. The man was well-connected with several international contacts and often brokered big deals within the weapons industry. In the Rolling Stone report by Guy Lawson, which became the basis for ‘War Dogs,’ Packouz described the Swiss dealer and said, “Thomet could get body armor, machine guns, anti-aircraft rockets — anything. He was one of the best middlemen in the business, a real-life Lord of War.”
However, Thomet also came with some pitfalls, such as his presence on the US “watch list” due to a breach of sanctions or the government’s active investigation against him. Nevertheless, his worldly connections allowed him access to ammunition at highly beneficial prices. Since Thomet couldn’t broker a deal with the Pentagon directly due to his controversial past, he wanted to use AEY as a way to secure lucrative deals. Consequently, Packouz and Diveroli went into business with him after he provided the latter with ammunition from Albania.
As a result, Packouz and Diveroli were able to bid on and secure a multi-million dollar deal with the US Army. Ultimately, Diveroli insisted on employing Thomet’s Albanian source for the deal. Thus, a sale structure was set wherein Thomet bought the ammunition from the Albanian company through a shell company of his own. Afterward, the latter company sold the ammunition to AEY, allowing the Swiss dealer to cut a broker’s fee. Although the Albanian ammunition was Chinese-made, making them ineligible to be sold to the US as per embargos, the AEY decided to skirt the law and repackage the ammunition to make a profit.
In the end, Diveroli set himself up for failure due to his greed after he used a cardboard box manufacturer, Trebicka, to cut Thomet out of the deal entirely. While the film depicts the same as resulting in a violent altercation between Henry and David, in real life, no such roughhousing took place. Instead, Trebicka lost his position in the chain of profit and went on to become a whistleblower, reporting AYE’s repackaging scheme. Thus, upon comparing the chain of events that took place in reality between Thomet, Diveroli, and Packouz, Henry Girard’s inspiration from the Swiss arms dealer remains evident.
Still, the film fictionalizes and embellishes certain aspects of Thomet’s reality. Much of the same occurs to infuse dramatic action into the story, but it diverges Henry from his real-life counterpart. Likewise, the film also equips a fictionalized route when it comes to Thomet’s involvement with Packouz post-conviction. In reality, there aren’t any records of clandestine meetings taking place between the two.
Heinrich “Henri” Thomet’s Whereabouts Remain Unknown
Heinrich “Henri” Thomet was involved in the arms dealing business since his teenage years. Therefore, as a result of his unique profession and infamous reputation, the man was never one to exist in the public eye. For the same reasons, no images of the man are available anywhere, leaving only Guy Lawson’s Rolling Stone report as a reference for his physical being. In the report, Lawson described Thomet as having blond hair, light-blue eyes, movie-star looks, and impeccable fashion. The 2011 writing remains the only account of his physical description. Thus, unsurprisingly, once the authorities closed in on AEY— Thomet disappeared, vanishing into the proverbial thin air.
Furthermore, since Thomet’s departure from his Swiss defense supplier company B&T AG, formerly Brügger & Thomet AG, in 2005, the same remains an empty source of information for him as well. However, a report from Balkan Insight discussed his brief resurfacing in 2017, when he was believed to be supplying ammunition to the US through UK defense giant Chemring, a blue-chip contractor. Apart from the same, no new updates about Thomet are available.
