Mercenaries

[Yosy]

Soldiers of fortune

The profession of mercenary is one of the oldest in the world. Throughout recorded history, mercenaries have played a key part in wars around the world - from Biblical times to modern conflicts such as Bosnia.
Mercenaries are often decried by the media as 'dogs of war' - psychopathic inadequates in search of thrills and cash. True enough, there are a good few Walter Mittys around calling themselves mercenaries. Bosnia attracted a large number of social rejects with plenty to prove. But units such as the French Foreign Legion and the British Gurkhas are, strictly speaking, mercenaries - and they are among Europe's most effective and respected military units.

PMCs

Outside conventional armed forces, there are international companies which sell military skills - in much the same way as a corporation might sell its services in the field of oil exploration, civil engineering, etc. Nowadays these are often referred to as PMCs (Private Military Companies). Examples include Executive Outcomes (active in Africa during the 1990s, but now closed down), the UK-based Sandline International (Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone), and the US Military Professionals Resource Incorporated (MPRI).
Such companies consist largely of ex-armed forces staff, providing military advice, training, support and materiel to customers who include oil and mineral companies, and states who lack the military capabilities themselves to deal with rebel forces. These type of organisations dislike being labelled 'mercenaries', with all the negative connotations the word carries, but their operations fall squarely into the area that most civilians would think of as the realm of the mercenary. They are, on the whole, keen to point out that they have strict rules about who they will and will not work for, and always operate under the control of a client country's legitimate government.

Employers

For the professional mercenary, the post-Cold War world provides plenty of potential customers, from deposed rulers and governments, to businesses needing protection from organised crime, to the organised criminals themselves looking to recruit military support to protect drug factories and the like against security forces and rival gangs alike. The individual has to make up his own mind about what kind of work he is prepared to do, and for whom.
Mercenaries also, on occasions, provide Western governments with a conveniently 'deniable' way of conducting foreign policy. A mercenary outfit can be hired anonymously to conduct operations which would be politically impossible for a government to carry out with its own armed forces. If things turn nasty, the whole thing can be denied. This type of operation has happened in the past, and it would be naive to think it could not happen again.

One of the mercenary's problems can, on occasions, be knowing exactly who he is really working for. The real employer may hide behind a chain of middle men.

Recruiting

Back in the 1960s and 70s, mercenary organisations advertised openly to recruit ex-Special Forces personnel for 'interesting work abroad' - such as the bloody wars in Biafra, Angola and the Congo. Today recruiting is largely a word-of-mouth affair, with recruiters approaching former comrades. This has the advantage that the unit consists of soldiers who have worked together before - making it much quicker and easier to form an effective combat unit.

Finding work

There are many more 'wannabe' mercs than real mercenary jobs. Most of the wannabe's are totally unsuited to the life - even those who have some military training. Mercenary soldiering is not something you should go into because you can't think of any other way of earning a living after leaving the army. Some do it for the money, some because they believe in the cause they are fighting for; almost all enjoy the sense of adventure, and the chance to use skills which have little or no application in civilian life.
Military skills are a vital part of being a mercenary, but the successful mercenary needs other skills that the average squaddie never picks up during his military career. A special forces background is helpful, providing a greater level of self-reliance and independence of mind - plus a healthy scepticism which can prove a lifesaver. When a mercenary group's backer pulls out unexpectedly, the individuals who saw the danger coming and made their own arrangements stand the best chance of getting out alive.

Courtesy of Combat-online.com

[Kekkonen]

Seems like they have more to do these days, "than ever before" I almost did the
mistake to say. Well large parts of the European armies "back in the days" were
mercenaries that were hired. IMO the mercenaries of today, for example the Afghani
fighters that get paid by some local leader and end up at Guantanamo is not much
different of those non-Iraqi civilians that run around in Iraq.


Mercenary 1498

Criticism of the growing role of military contractors

Nicholas von Hoffmann, writing in the June 2004 issue of Harper's
(p.79-80), gives a brief but strong statement of the case against the
growing role of military contractors to provide personnel on or near the
front lines:

In theory, private contracting creates competitive pressure to reduce
costs, but in practive the bidding process can be so opaque and distorted
by favoritism that it becomes an empty formality... The financial savings
have turned out to be highly debatable. The costs and attendant risks are
not. The government's monopoly of violence -- its role as the guarantor
of civil peace and the rule of law -- has been diluted by the new arrangements.

He also argues that we should not take false security for the fact that
these contractors have so far stayed obediently in their assigned roles,
writing, "[T]he praetorian guard protected the Roman emperors for a
long time before it started killing them."

It is notable, however, that much of the criticism of private military
contractors seems to focus on largely theoretical issues with free use of
arguments based on historical precedents whose relevance is to many
non-obvious. Analyses usually make the radical claim that the practice is
fundamentally flawed and has to be rejected. There has been little
publicized effort made to actually go into details to try to pinpoint and
suggest corrections to the actual flaws of the system, thus reaching an
optimal middle ground.

[OldRecon]

To me PMC is just an euphemism for the same thing.
Most of the soldiers beating back the Turks at the gate of Vienna were "mercs". Yet the enemy they were fighting was mostly moslems or led by moslems as with todays PMC's.
Only difference is today there seems to be a puking need to gloss over and "unharmabelize" things.
On the other hand I guess one could well term the "mercenary" companies that where such an integral part to the power struggles in Italy during the rennaisance as PMC's led by condottieris. They were a scourge to the area nevertheless.

[Yosy]

The 3 oldest professions in the world: prostitution, soldiering (in the mercenary sense), and spying.

Mercenaries always exist and always will exist. They existed before standing armies were created, when cities and countries hired people for defense. Hell, they might even existed before civilazation itself. Even today they are needed.

Now PMCs are not mercearies in the strict sense of the word. They provide security. body-guarding, etc. And are less lawless than mercenaries before them.

When I was a kid, I asked my father what a mercenary was. He gave me the best definiton I've heard: "A mercenary is a person paid to do war".

[Sayeret]

One thing nice about mercenaries is they don't have to deal with all the bureaucratic crap that the government has to deal with if it was going to send the military out to do something.

[EffJi]

But then again, that's also the reason they have a bad reputation.

[mountainbear]

The oldest armed force are olso the mercenaries who served the longest time, 500 years.





The Swiss Guard in Vatican

[mountainbear]

If you want more informations:
in english
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/swiss_guard/index.htm

in french, german or italian
http://www.gardesuisse.org/

[Sayeret]

But then again, that's also the reason they have a bad reputation.

true

[TriggerPuller]

Iam not a Mercenary.....but Iam a hired gun!! LOL

TP

[ElHombre]

If you want more informations:
in english
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/swiss_guard/index.htm

in french, german or italian
http://www.gardesuisse.org/

thanks for the link.

[Delta Niner]

The oldest armed force are olso the mercenaries who served the longest time, 500 years.





The Swiss Guard in Vatican

Do they carry anything more lethal than spears and swords? pistols and SMGs? or is there another group of swiss guards that handles the 21st century security requirement of the Vatican?

[Virus]

i would guess that there is both, some who fill ceremonial purposes, and others who fill conventional purposes...but then i dont know for sure :O

[mountainbear]

Do they carry anything more lethal than spears and swords? pistols and SMGs? or is there another group of swiss guards that handles the 21st century security requirement of the Vatican?

Some of the guards are in providing bodyguard services to the pope but it is more often done by the Vatican Security Corps. They also train shooting with the SIG-550 assault rifle. One of my friends know two guards, he lives in a catholic county, but he says they don’t talk a lot about their special activities.

[stateofequilibrium]

With today's climate and no end in sight, PMC's/Mercs will be even in greater demand by large companies, especially those with international dealings.