I’m sure you have heard the term, “private military company” at some point or another since 9/11 as they have been heavily involved in the Iraq war. The company “Blackwater”, now defunct, will probably ring some bells. PMCs were probably made famous during the Iraq war when Western media couldn’t stop reporting them, and to an extent they really gave rise to the operator life. So what are they?
A private military company (PMC) simply put is a private company providing armed combat or security services for financial gain (they are 100% for profit organizations). The people who work for PMCs are often referred to as “security contractors” or “private military contractors”. Private military companies refer to their business generally as the “private military industry” or “The Circuit”.
PMCs will often provide services such as training or supplementing official armed forces in service of governments. They can also be employed by private companies to provide security such as bodyguard services for key staff or protection of company premises. For example, many container ships passing through the Gulf of Aden will employee PMCs to protect their ships from pirates off the cost of Somalia. It is important to note PMCs can be considered unlawful combatants if deployed to war zones as outlined to a concept in the Geneva Convictions.
Now these aren’t just any random joes starting their own PMCs. The services and expertise offered by PMCs are typically similar to those of governmental security, military or police forces, most often on a smaller scale. They are usually former special forces members who have gone private. For example, Blackwater, now known as Academi, was founded by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. Many of the members are former Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, etc. This is somewhat a necessary component as they will often be placed in situations with limited resources or be required to train military and law enforcement.
So how popular are they? Well, P. W. Singer, author of Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry, says “In geographic terms, it operates in over 50 countries. It’s operated in every single continent but Antarctica.” Singer states that in the 1990s there used to be 50 military personnel for every 1 contractor, and now the ratio is 10 to 1. He also points out that these contractors have a number of duties depending on whom they are hired by. In developing countries that have natural resources, such as oil refineries in Iraq, they are hired to guard the area. They are also hired to guard companies that contract services and reconstruction efforts such as General Electric. Apart from securing companies, they secure officials and government affiliates. Private military companies carry out many missions and jobs. Some examples include close protection for the Afghan president Hamid Karzai and piloting reconnaissance airplanes and helicopters as a part of Plan Colombia. According to a study from 2003 the PMC industry was worth over $100 billion a year at that time.
Ben