private military corporations

A private military corporations (PMC) provides specialized expertise or services of a military nature, sometimes called or classified as mercenary ("soldiers for hire").^[1] Such companies are equally known as private military contractors, private security contractors (PSCs), private military company, private military firms, military service providers, and generally as the private military industry.

The services and expertise cover those typically found in governmental military or police forces, but most often on a smaller scale. While PMCs often provide services to train or supplement official armed forces in service of governments, they are also employed by private defense agency firms. However, contractors who use offensive force in a war zone could be considered unlawful combatants, thereby referring to the "concept" being implicitly mentioned in the Geneva Conventions and explicitly specified by the Military Commissions Act.^[2]

Private military companies supply bodyguards for the Afghan president and pilot armed reconnaissance planes and helicopter gunships to destroy Coca crops in Colombia.^[3] ^[4] They are licensed by the State Department, they are contracting with foreign governments, training soldiers and reorganizing militaries in Nigeria, Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Equatorial Guinea. The PMC industry is now worth over $100 billion a year.^[5]

File:Republican Palace, Baghdad.jpg

Blackwater Security guarding U.S. State Department employees at the Republican Palace in Baghdad

General terms[edit]

PMCs are also known as security contractors, although this term usually refers to individuals employed or contracted by PMCs. Services are mainly rendered for other business corporations, international and non-governmental organizations, and state forces.

Private military companies are sometimes grouped into the general category of defense contractors. However, most defense contractors supply specialized hardware and perhaps also personnel to support and service that hardware, whereas PMCs supply personnel with specialized operational and tactical skills, which often include combat experience.

The 1949 Third Geneva Convention (GCIII) does not recognize the difference between defense contractors and PMCs; it defines a category called supply contractors. If the supply contractor has been issued with a valid identity card from the armed forces which they accompany, they are entitled to be treated as prisoners of war upon capture (GCIII Article 4.1.4). If, however, the contractor engages in combat, he/she can be classified as a mercenary by the captors under the 1977 Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol I) Article 47.c, unless falling under an exemption to this clause in Article 47. If captured contractors are found to be mercenaries, they are unlawful combatants and lose the right to prisoner of war status. Protocol I was not ratified by the United States because, among other issues, it does not require "freedom fighters" to obey the convention in order to be granted its protections.

United States[edit]

The United States State Department employs several companies to provide support in danger zones that would be difficult for conventional U.S. forces. The military employs many of them as guards to high ranking U.S. government officials in high risk areas all around the world. The term most often refers to the two dozen U.S. firms that provide services for the Pentagon and indirectly assist in overseas theaters of operation. Some contractors have served in advisory roles that help train local militaries to fight more effectively instead of intervening directly. Much of the peacekeeper training the United States provides to African militaries is done by private firms, and with the increasing absence of Western military support to international peace operations, the private sector is commonly utilized to provide services to peace and stability operations from Haiti to Darfur.

The Center for Public Integrity reported that since 1994, the United States Department of Defense entered into 3,601 contracts worth $300 billion with 12 U.S. based PMCs. Some view this as an inevitable cost cutting measure and responsible privatization of critical aspects of a military. However, many feel this is a troubling trend, since these private companies are not directly accountable to a legislative body and may cost more than providing the same functions within the military. Seventeen of the nation's leading private military firms have contributed $12.4 million in congressional and presidential campaigns since 1999.^[5]

Another issue of concern has been the recent high-profile operation of various PMCs within the United States, specifically during the initial response after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Supporters are quick to point out the stabilizing influence that the operators of these companies put into place in the first few days provided, whereas detractors have levied claims of abuse and unlawful activities. Neither side has provided much proof to back their claims, however, beyond anecdotal evidence.

Domestic operations are generally under the auspice of state or federal agencies such as the United States Department of Energy or the United States Department of Homeland Security rather than the Department of Defense. Driven by increasingly greater fears of domestic terror attacks and civil unrest and disruption in the wake of disasters, more conventional security companies are moving into operations arenas that would fall within the definition of a PMC.

U.S. administration policy on PMCs[edit]

From the December 5, 2005, lecture by Donald Rumsfeld, then U.S. Secretary of Defense: "The Future of Iraq"^[6] (In answer to a question by graduate student Kate Turner regarding PMCs during the Q&A session)

Turner: "There are currently thousands of private military contractors in Iraq and you were just speaking of rules of engagement in regards to Iraqi personnel and US personnel. Could you speak to, since the private contractors are operating outside the Uniform Code of Military Justice, can you speak to what law or rules of engagement do govern their behavior and whether there has been any study showing that it is cost effective to have them in Iraq rather than US military personnel. Thank you."

Rumsfeld: "Thank you. It is clearly cost-effective to have contractors for a variety of things that military people need not do, and that for whatever reason other civilians, government people, cannot be deployed to do.
There are a lot of contractors, a growing number. They come from our country but they come from all countries, and indeed sometimes the contracts are from our country or another country and they employ people from totally different countries including Iraqis and people from neighboring nations. And there are a lot of them. It's a growing number. Of course we've got to begin with the fact that, as you point out, they're not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We understand that. There are laws that govern the behavior of Americans in that country. The United States Department of Justice oversees that.
There is an issue that is current as to the extent to which they can or cannot carry weapons, and that's an issue. It's also an issue, of course, with the Iraqis. But if you think about it, Iraqâ€™s a sovereign country. They have their laws and they're going to govern, the United Nations (UN) resolution and the Iraqi laws, as well as U.S. procedures and laws govern behavior in that country depending on who the individual is and what he's doing. But I personally am of the view that there are a lot of things that can be done for a short time basis by contractors that advantage the United States and advantage other countries who also hire contractors, and that any idea that we shouldn't have them I think would be unwise."

^[7]

New U.S. law on PMCs[edit]

According to the fiscal year 2007 Defense Budget appropriation bill, the text of the Uniform Code of Military Justice has been amended to allow for prosecution of military contractors who are deployed in a "declared war or a contingency operation."

"SEC. 552. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE DURING A TIME OF WAR.
Paragraph (10) of section 802(a) of title 10, United States Code (article 2(a) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), is amended by striking 'war' and inserting 'declared war or a contingency operation'."
^[8]^[9]

Farah Stockman of the Boston Globe, (7 January 2007) writes: "Previously, the code applied to "persons serving with or accompanying an armed force in the field" only during a war, which US courts interpreted to mean a war declared by Congress. No such declaration was made in the Iraq conflict. Now, Congress has amended the code to apply to persons accompanying an armed force during a "declared war or contingency operation."

But the provision might also have unintended consequences, if the military chooses to use its new power to court-martial civilians. For instance, the language in the law is so broad that it can be interpreted as saying that embedded journalists and contract employees from foreign countries would also be liable under the military code. Other punishable offenses under the code include disobeying an order, disrespecting an officer, and possession of pornography in a combat zone."^[10]

Recruitment[edit]

In light of the above issues, some commentators have argued that there has been a recent exodus from many special operations forces across the globe towards these private military corporations. The British Special Air Service,^[11]^[12] the US Special Operations Forces ^[13] and the Canadian Army Joint Task Force 2^[14] have allegedly been severely affected. Finding work in the industry is not difficult for most former soldiers as their personal network of fellow and ex-soldiers is enough to keep them informed of available contracts.

PMC activities in Iraq[edit]

Currently in Iraq there are thought to be at least 100,000 contractors working directly for the United States Department of Defense which is a tenfold increase in the use of private contractors for military operations since the Persian Gulf War, just over a decade earlier.^[15] The prevalence of PMCs has led to the foundation of the Private Security Company Association of Iraq. In Iraq, the issue of accountability, especially in the case of contractors carrying weapons is a sensitive one. Iraqi laws do not hold over contractors. Just before leaving office as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Paul Bremer signed Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17 where it is stated that:

Contractors shall not be subject to Iraqi laws or regulations in matters relating to the
terms and conditions of their Contracts, including licensing and registering employees, businesses and corporations; provided, however, that Contractors shall comply with such applicable licensing and registration laws and regulations if engaging in business or transactions in Iraq other than Contracts. Notwithstanding any provisions in this Order, Private Security Companies and their employees operating in Iraq must comply with all CPA Orders, Regulations, Memoranda, and any implementing instructions or regulations governing the existence and activities of Private Security Companies in Iraq, including registration and licensing of
weapons and firearms.^[16]

PMCs supply support to U.S. military bases throughout the Persian Gulf, from operating mess halls to providing security. They supply armed guards at a U.S. Army base in Qatar, and they use live ammunition to train soldiers at Camp Doha in Kuwait. They maintain an array of weapons systems vital to an invasion of Iraq. They also provide bodyguards for VIPs, guard installations, and escort supply convoys from Kuwait. All these resources are called upon constantly due to the war in Iraq.^[5]

Events involving PMCs in Iraq[edit]

Employees of private military company CACI and Titan Corp. were involved in the Iraq Abu Ghraib prison scandal in 2003, and 2004. The U.S. Army "found that contractors were involved in 36 percent of the [Abu Ghraib] proven incidents and identified 6 employees as individually culpable",^[17] although none have faced prosecution unlike US military personnel.^[17]
On March 31, 2004, four American private contractors belonging to the company Blackwater USA were killed by insurgents in Fallujah as they drove through the town. They were dragged from their car in one of the most violent attacks on U.S. citizens in the conflict. Following the attack, an angry mob mutilated and burned the bodies, dragging them through the streets before they were hung on a bridge.
On March 28, 2005, 16 American contractors and three Iraqi aides from Zapata Engineering, under contract to the US Army Corps of Engineers to manage an ammunition storage depot, were detained following two incidents in which they allegedly fired upon United States Marine Corps checkpoint. While later released, the civilian contractors have levied complaints of mistreatment against the Marines who detained them.
On June 5, 2005, Colonel Theodore S. Westhusing committed suicide, after writing a report exonerating US Investigations Services of allegations of fraud, waste and abuse he received in an anonymous letter in May.
On October 27, 2005, a "trophy" video, complete with post-production Elvis music, appearing to show private military contractors in Baghdad shooting Iraqi civilians sparked two investigations after it was posted on the Internet.^[18]^[19]^[20] The video has been linked unofficially to Aegis Defence Services. According to the posters, the man who is seen shooting vehicles on this video in Iraq was a South African employee of Aegis Victory team named Danny Heydenreycher. He served in the British military for six years. After the incident the regional director for Victory ROC tried to fire Heydenreycher, but the team threatened to resign if he did. As of December 2005, Aegis is conducting a formal inquiry into the issue, although some concerns on its impartiality have been raised.
On September 17, 2007, the Iraqi government announced that it was revoking the license of the American security firm Blackwater USA over the firm's involvement in the deaths of eight civilians in a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade. Blackwater is currently one of the most high-profile firms operating in Iraq, with around 1,000 employees as well as a fleet of helicopters in the country. Whether the group may be legally prosecuted is still a matter of debate.^[21]

Legal position[edit]

Two days before he left Iraq, L. Paul Bremer signed "CPA Order 17"^[22] giving all Americans associated with the Coalition Provisional Authority and the American government immunity from Iraqi law.^[23] A July 2007 report from the American Congressional Research Service indicates that the Iraqi government still has no authority over private security firms contracted by the U.S. government.^[24]

PMC activities elsewhere[edit]

In 1994 and 1995 South African based PMC Executive Outcomes was involved in two military actions in Africa. In the first conflict, EO fought on the behalf of the Angolan government against UNITA after a UN brokered peace settlement broke down. In the second action EO was tasked with containing a guerrilla movement in Sierra Leone called the Revolutionary United Front. Both missions involved personnel from the firm training 4-5 thousand combat personnel for the Angolan government and retaking control of the diamond fields and forming a negotiated peace in Sierra Leone.
In 1999, an incident involving DynCorp in Bosnia and Herzegovina was followed by a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit was filed against DynCorp employees stationed in Bosnia, which alleged that: "employees and supervisors from DynCorp were engaging in perverse, illegal and inhumane behavior and were illegally purchasing women, weapons, forged passports and participating in other immoral acts."

In 2000, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's international affairs program "Foreign Correspondent" broadcast a special report "Sierra Leone: Soldiers of Fortune", focussing on the exploits of South African pilot Neall Ellis and his MI-24 Hind gunship.^[25] The report also investigated the failures of the UN Peacekeeping Force, and the involvement of mercenaries/private military contractors in providing vital support to UN operations and British military Special Operations in Sierra Leone in 1999-2000.^[26]

On April 5, 2005, Jamie Smith, CEO of SCG International Risk announced the expansion of services from the traditional roles of PMCs of protection and intelligence to military aviation support. SCG International Air would provide air support, medevac (medical evacuation), rotary and fixed-wing transportation, heavy-lift cargo, armed escort and executive air travel to "any location on earth." This marks a unique addition and expansion of services to rival the capabilities of some country's armies and air forces.
On March 27, 2006, J. Cofer Black, vice chairman of Blackwater USA announced to attendees of a special operations exhibition in Jordan that his company could now provide a brigade-size force for low intensity conflicts. According to Black, "There is clear potential to conduct security operations at a fraction of the cost of NATO operations".^[27]
In mid-May 2006, police in the Democratic Republic of the Congo arrested 32 alleged mercenaries of different nationalities; 19 South Africans, 10 Nigerians and three Americans. Half of them worked for a South African company named Omega Security Solutions and the Americans for AQMI Strategy Corp. The men were accused of plotting to overthrow the government but charges weren't pressed. The men were deported to their home countries.^[28]^[29]
In 2006, a U.S. congressional report listed a number of PMCs and other enterprises that have signed contracts to carry out anti-narcotics operations and related activities as part of Plan Colombia. DynCorp was among those contracted by the State Department, while others signed contracts with the Defense Department. Other companies from different countries, including Israel, have also signed contracts with the Colombian Defense Ministry to carry out security or military activities.^[4]

List of PMCs[edit]

All of the below companies have articles on Wikipedia, as named in the left column

U.S. companies[edit]

AirScan. Based in Titusville, FL. Provides airborne surveillance and security. Clients/operations: US Department of Defense, US Air Force, NASA, US Forest Service, National Test Pilot School, National Response Corporation, US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Reclamation, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, Maximum Protective Services, ECOPETROL: the national oil company of Colombia, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (Angola), SONANGOL: national oil company of Angola.
Custer Battles. Based in McLean, Virginia. Iraq and oil sector (at present, have ceased operations in Iraq)
Defion Internacional
DynCorp. Based in Falls Church, VA. Clients/operations: Iraq
ITT Corporation. Based in Falls Church, VA. White Plains, NY. Clients/operations: Kosovo
KBR. Based in Houston. Formerly a Division of Halliburton
Military Professional Resources Inc. Based in Alexandria, VA
MVM, Inc. Based in Vienna, Virginia. Clients/operations: CIA and NSA contractor
Northbridge Services Group. Based in Turkmenistan, Somalia, Nigeria
Northrop Grumman. Based in Los Angeles
Paratus World Wide Protection. Based in Charlotte, New Jersey. Clients/operations: Iraq.
Pathfinder Security Services. Based in Casper, Wyoming. Clients/operations: Oil, gas and mining sector; mainly in the US.
Raytheon. Based in Cambridge, MA.
Red Star Aviation. Based in Quonset Point, RI. Clients/operations: Military Aircraft Operator.
Triple Canopy, Inc. Based in Herndon, Virginia. Clients/operations: South America, Iraq.
Sharp End International. Mainly uses Australian and New Zealand ex-special forces instructors.
Titan Corporation. Based in San Diego, CA. Clients/operations: Benin.
Triple Canopy. Clients/operations: Iraq
Vinnell Corporation. Based in Fairfax, Virginia. Clients/operations: Turkey, Saudi Arabia ||
Xe, aka Blackwater USA, aka Blackwater Worldwide, aka Blackwater. Based in Moyock, NC. Clients/operations: Iraq, Afghanistan, New Orleans, Louisiana, and others || Formerly Blackwater Worldwide

U.K. companies[edit]

Name	Portfolio	Details
Aegis Defence Services	Iraq, Afghanistan, and others
ArmorGroup		Now part of G4S
Control Risks Group		Provider of security and armed guards for British Embassies and Consulates
Erinys International		Britain company
Sandline International		Ceased operations on April 16, 2004
PMC Trust		Provides risk management

Others[edit]

Executive Outcomes, South Africa (ceased operations on January 1, 1999)
Omega Group - Norway
Integrated Risk Management Services - Ireland, protecting of Shell oil in Ireland and Bolivia
Unity Resources Group, Australia, Based in Dubai - Special Forces veterans from Australia, the US, New Zealand and Great Britain - as well as former law enforcement officers from those countries.

Resources[edit]