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What are the implications of the growth in private military corporations

and current lack of regulation?
Lewis Winston
Global Connections
Instructor: Gregory Falls
11\5\15

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Abstract

Since the Dark Ages there has been some variation of a mercenary force available for
hire. always having a place somewhere in history where there is war, even on the relatively
virgin soil of the United States of America during the Revolutionary war, where the German
mercenary Hessian forces fought For the British. Unfortunately, none of these Groups ever
proved themselves to be viable combat units. Now the world has fast forwarded to the age of
terrorism, the war on drugs, a world full of Numerous regional conflicts, with large super powers
updating there defense forces to adapt to this ever changing environment. The Private Military
Corporations ( PMC) are the answer to this new world, whether the public likes it or not.
Although, perhaps the reasons the public is uncomfortable with this idea is because they simply
don't understand what and who they work for. The true range of there capabilities is far greater
than just glorified bodyguards but they fill a void that are necessary within a modern defense
force. Post 9\11 changed every aspect of our national defense and the private sector is no
different, from the way there services are marketed to, who they tailored there services for, and
most importantly capability. The modern PMC is an interesting topic and there are no signs that
it is going away anytime soon, so there is no harm in beginning to understand what makes this
industry tick.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction

Limitations

Methodology

Literature Review

Body/ Discussion

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Conclusion of paper

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Citations

19

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Introduction

Since The Dark Ages, mercenaries have been hired to fill the gap within armies. These
mercenaries have been a part of the battlefield in all major conflicts from there forward. The
situation is no different in the age we live in, however the idea has changed slightly, no longer
are they called mercenaries, but private military contractors. Private military corporations now
control a large portion of nation defense and international security, playing an important role in
the global war on terror. Despite the immense power and lack of regulation on these
corporations, they fill the gap conventional forces cannot.
The question for research is what are the implications of the power and scope of private
military corporations and the current lack of regulation in the industry? The research will need
to be conducted on how PMCs effectively fill voids that conventional military and law
enforcement forces cannot, also research must be conducted on how this alternative is more cost
effective for the client, governmental or private. On the flip side, however, actions regarding
unauthorized use of force and related incidents must also be investigated to gain a balanced
understanding on the topic. The research intends to inform individuals such as lawmakers and
military officials, as well as the average person on a somewhat unknown topic, to perhaps allow
them to more fully understand this topic. The research also obtains its originality from the
general difficulty of obtaining information about the private security industry and the cloud of
secrecy it is often shrouded in. The research intends to lift the veil on the industry and allow for
a more in depth study than what the media can allocate.

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Limitations of study

There are several limiting factors on the research that can be conducted on the private
military industry and additional relating events. First of these limitations for the study is the
reasonably small sample size that is available to study, in quantity and regional availability,
requiring additional outside research that can be less reliable than first-hand accounts. Another
limiting factor on the research of the topic is the lack of reliable data and also the amount of data
in general. A vast amount of the resources available on the topic are heavily swayed in a liberal
point of view with strong opposition to the industry (mostly referring to the known human rights
violations and particularly the Nisour Square incident), but also expanding on the publics fears
and ignorance all together about the topic. The remaining articles and resources often do not
provide a large amount of statistics regarding the industry. The lack of prior research particularly
on the topic of legislation and laws regarding the industry is troubling to a researcher who does
not have the available time to devote to a full research study, that say a full time journalist may
be able to devote.
An original research of the topic would entail the same limitations and issues as those
preceding it, however the biased points of view, while never entirely eliminated can be greatly
reduced through a more in depth analysis of the benefits and detriments of the industry. Part of
this process is finding the center of the industry and asking important questions previously
unknown. The two most sensical sources for these are contracted operating individuals/
previously contracted, and the representatives of companies themselves, while presumably
biased, they are important in making a balanced paper portraying all information fairly for the
reader to come to a conclusion. The distance of locations of these companies makes it a limiting

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factor of the research with the closest location of a Private security headquarters to the Hampton
Roads area being in Moyock, North Carolina at the Academi training center. In addition to this
the amount of operators working for these companies is fairly small particularly after the
controversial events in Iraq regarding PMCs made it more difficult for an individual to become a
contractor. This leaves the researcher to rely almost exclusively on personal contacts and
recommendations. Even assuming a reliable contact can be obtained the amount of access that
will be granted will still be fairly low due to the inherent nature of the business and secrecy that
the industry tries to retain. Unfortunately this limitation exists because of the not so good history
of the industry and the medias relationship with it. On the flip side of the issue dealing with
those involved in the law making process and legislation, will presumably show a considerable
amount of party bias and will ultimately limit the information gained. Finally, the longitudinal
progress of the topic research is far from peaking and in the scope of time the industry has only
just been born and has yet to fully prove itself in any real conflict besides Afghanistan as the
modern PMC.
Methodology

When researching a topic such as this, it is important to understand that the most
important resource is the human element. The use of good interviews and internship will be the
most valuable asset in gaining information on not only statistics on topic, but personal accounts
of events and as well as personal interpretations of the development of the industry. Through
interning or shadowing a company the study of operations can be recorded in detail and also
more access will presumably be granted.

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The Interview will be conducted with a personal contacts regarding the appropriate topic
to their qualifications and experiences on topics, certifiable and credible as well to preserve
legitimacy. Interviews should be conducted regarding lawmaking and the public side of the issue
as well as the private side to get a balanced look at the industry. Questions should be asked on a
case to case basis to successfully gain as much information out of the selected source. Following
the interview and examining responses to questions, only responses containing the most
information will be taken and following will be reviewed for bias. Responses should stay
unedited to preserve the voice of the speaker and not allow the writer to obscure the responses to
sway in any particular direction.
Regarding shadowing and interning the process should stay fairly simple and
minimalistic. A simple journal should be kept of the day or other period of time of experiences
and thoughts had about each experience and small things that may interest the researcher. The
journal can include small interviews or interactions but relatively must stay simply an
observation. Later the important details learned can be included in the study to enhance the
readers understanding on the topic. Using the shadowing experience can be very beneficial to
both the reader and the writer, and perhaps even be used as a source of original research.
Particularly in the case of this research topic both governmental organizations and PMCs are
both very hard to gain public access to and the opportunity should be seized to gain as much
information as possible from the experience.

Literature review

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Various sources of information come together in writing a research paper with a broad
prospective and making a generally bias limited paper. With a very longitudinally based
limitation on time for a student doing a research paper, depending on other authors and
researchers is a must. Finding the sources, papers, and research presentations is by no means a
struggle, however actually sifting through the flurry of bias and misinformation can be quite a
challenge. Many of the website articles regarding the Private military industry have an apparent
liberal bias, in addition many of these are pertaining to the negative PR events that have plagued
the industry for a while now. These are nonetheless very important in understanding why the
publics perception of the industry is not so good, and indeed might need some work. Horton, S.
(2014, November) and (Risen, J., & Rosenberg, M.) discuss the ramifications of the events
specifically regarding the events of the Nisour Sqaure incident and how not only public approval
of both the Iraqi and American people fell, more importantly perhaps though taught the american
government to revaluate how they implement their use of the private military sector. This being
discussed specifically in the latter article about how the effects of the events go beyond the
public view and recognize that it is still a business, a business that indeed values being quiet and
covert about its actions in any case over a front page news article, regardless if what is happening
ethical or not. The result of all this was an overhaul of the industry which included many
different factors that indeed shaped the future.
Rousseau R. (2012, November), (A/RES/44/34) Help raise the question that is perhaps
the most important and makes the research question for this topic. whether or not the Private
Military Industry is even under the jurisdiction of any international governing body is up for
debate. The actual convention raises questions of what they are actually allowed to do vs. what

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their current operational capabilities currently stand at. In addition it brings up valuable
conversation on the loyalty that these companies may or may not owe to their home countries.
Many of the aspects of this industry have developed however from the long history of
things that have preceded it and make sense for where it stands today. Piecing together the more
recently written about events and the development of the industry over time requires a bit of a
historical background to perhaps understand where it has developed from. In (David Head
Ph.D.) the author refers all the way back to the Hessians during the revolutionary war and
discusses an early form of the Private military, or just more traditionally referred to as the
mercenary. While the research topic is more importantly about the modern PMC it is necessary
to understand how it has developed. Flash forward to the strikingly similar comparison of the
80s mercenary groups to those of the early Iraq war in (Conor Hanlan, 2006) and it is easy to
see the modern dynamic of the mercenary transform into the modern post Iraq war PMC, not
only through the scope of roles filled by them but also the piecing together of a type of business
marketable to a wide array of private clients. Indeed improving the companies legitimacy and
making it no longer reserved for billionaires and drug lords, but for any individual needing its
services, with the constant being the United States government as usual.
a large part of the argument and research on the topic is also on the understanding of
how cost effective this choice is over say the traditional military and how the U.S. government in
particular plans to use this asset in the global war we fight. The interview conducted for this
research is perhaps the most valuable resource of understanding for the researcher. Using a
website no matter how well written the article is, will always leave room for improvement, while
an interview with a qualified individual will most likely be the best bet. Discussing the topic of
effectiveness in the battle space with co-owner of a private consultant group, Private military

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effectiveness [Personal interview]. (2015, November 7). The researcher understands more that
the role of a contractor can range all the way from cooking in a mess hall, to intelligence for the
government, all the way up to close protection and field duties performing security work. In
addition the discussion of cost effectiveness and how hiring an outside source for training and
duties is cheaper intrigued the question of cost saving in the military. ( Douthat, R. (2007,
September 28). Reihan ) reinforce the ideas brought forth from the interview with the idea of
cost effectiveness and efficiency with the military being spread so thin constantly. Always with a
quick rebuttal however is David Isenberg who has authored many studies and articles arguing
that the cost effectiveness of these resources is diminished at the cost of the operator, with less
claim benefits and so forth. In addition the idea of the growth of the industry and military
restructuring (Michael D. Kornburger, Jeremy R. Dobos, 2007) is also a large reason for the
growth of the industry, beforehand it was known that post gulf-war the industry had grown,
however it was new that the military restructuring and grand strategy of the U.S. Defense
Department to have a smaller more precise force in fact was the main factor in growth.

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Body

Dating back to the dark ages, and perhaps even before then, the idea of paying for an
army of your own to fight your wars or even doing something as simple as guard your valuables
was a common idea. Even during the revolutionary war the Hessians (German Mercenaries)
fought for the British as a supplement to their forces on the battlefield and as an additional
network of fighters to be ready on a moments notice. Unfortunately, for a modern PMC looking
back on the past is perhaps a scary reminder of what history has brought their predecessors. In
the past the idea of a payed force of men to do anything was very risky, even a machiavellian
rule of ruling a kingdom was solely about mercenaries and how they indeed could not be trusted,
regardless of the loot they received, because of one simple idea; there is no loyalty among these
men and who they are fighting for had no meaning in their world. The next individual coming
along offering more for the services gained the loyalty of the men and even then when the
bullets or arrows started to fly there is no reason for these men not to surrender or flee in the
onslaught of battle. Fast forward a few hundred years and the story seemed to be the same with
the Hessians. Despite being a generally excellent military unit the hessians were known for
being drunk and consistently looting civilian resources( Head D., Hessians) , but also being a
light enemy, even to the patriots who were themselves only farmers and common men with little
battlefield experience, who could easily overwhelm this quasi military foe. This further proved
the point of history and seemingly what the future of this business should also logically entail; a
distrustful and fairly lucrative practice. Strangely enough, However looking at the evidence and
the development of the post geneva convention Private Military and intelligence world, one

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would perhaps not venture to make such harsh conclusions, but instead maybe even praise what
has come of them.
A/RES/44/34 passed on 4th of December 1989, the resolution was passed banning the
recruitment, financing, and training of mercenaries (A/RES/44/34. International Convention
against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries). It was perhaps at the peak
of use of mercenaries for use in large conflicts where the U.S. government wasn't supposed to be.
Contractors hired by the CIA and other intelligence agencies often were believed to engage in
direct action operations or intelligence gathering missions around the world to really crush any of
the remaining communist regimes. Whether these people were U.S. nationals or not was also
questionable, which violated a portion of the new resolution as well as far as the recruitment of
foreigners and payment for their services. Many international lawmakers were feeling the heat
to stop this seemingly wild west approach to waging war (Capdevila, 2008). The U.N. soon
started to put the breaks on the use of these mercenaries participating in war zones but soon the
corporations also started to work around the new rule book, which was the birth of the modern
PMC. With all of the Contracting companies chasing around for contracts these days many are
left to wonder what role they actually play on our battlefields or even in our backyards, which is
understanding at the current rate of growth. Why do these companies seem to be growing at
such a fast rate, even though in theory they really shouldn't exist? However, more importantly
what really makes these companies better than they were before, and why should the public in
large trust to have them on the front lines with their troops and protecting their politicians.
Like the ever changing dynamic of the world in conflict and in business the PMC
industry has adapted and changed accordingly to match what is demanded from them. Following
the attacks of 9/11 and entering into a new era of war for the United states known as the Global

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war on terror or GWOT, gave the private contracting industry its first large scale chance to prove
its worth to clients. With so many troops beginning to be deployed to the middle east and in
support units to Germany as well as government officials and policy makers being spread around
the world there was an inherent need for outside help. Also private clients that still conducted
business in the region were more vulnerable to terrorist activities and in response required the
manpower of PMCs. The CIA also hired paramilitary operators in this first rush to supplement
the plethora of intelligence operations that were ongoing, and in most cases actually took
precedence over conventional forces for intel and HVTs (high value targets).
However, no longer in large do governments, and developed ones in particular, need a
force to completely wage their wars and fight off their enemies. Large scale conflicts have
become more a thing of the past and increasingly more risky for both parties due to the
international system of alliances and councils generally keeping peace. The future in small
regional conflicts, contradicting american interests and the global cat and mouse game of
terrorism will be the focus of the United States more and more. Particularly in the case of the
United States, with one of the largest militaries in the world and spending in GDP percentage,
and the top military spender in the world at 571 billion dollars ( McCarthy, 2015) one would
infer that there is plenty manpower to go around. However, quite the contrary is true, Post cold
war American Military was seemingly designed to be outsourced and cut down ( Isenberg, 2009
Private Military Contractors and U.S. Grand Strategy). The majority of this spending recently
is on developing and putting into use new technologies and battle systems to modernize the
defense force. This coupled with recent drawdowns concluding the end of the Iraq war and
almost end of the Afghan war means less and less people in the military. Looking for cost
savings in training the government has started to look towards private companies to train

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conventional forces instead of the traditional form of training. The cost savings of using private
companies is a large upside and in many cases is also cheaper in the long run than having to pay
for the benefits of a retiree working for the government. Training of some military personnel is
extremely specialized and can cost millions of dollars just to train and feed these personnel,
along with the people that train them, usually being senior personnel. Facilities such as the one
in Moyock, NC operated by the company Academi, with one of the largest military training
facilities in the world, trains not only military personnel, but also Law Enforcement and civilian
clients in advanced and specialized courses A look at the worlds most powerful mercenary
Armies . Also, private instructors with previous military experience and clearance levels use
military training facilities to train on base and merely replace the senior officials that would
otherwise be teaching them.
Private military corporations commonly are misunderstood for the full scope of services
provided to their clients and theaters of operations. No longer are PMCs the dogs of war for
hateful regimes but, instead legitimate members of the business world providing a very
specialized service that is growing in demand. The armed security services that the companies
have always provided are still in place and in fact are the best in the world. Clients in VIP
protection range from business men, to heads of state, politicians, and in many cases even
protection for conventional forces in supply convoys and other vulnerable targets. Beyond the
traditional asset protection however is a whole other set of services that these companies provide.
Contracts can range from guys working as cooks, to providing intel, to close protection says
Ray Borja, who himself is a co- owner of a communications company and ex- Navy EOD. He
has seen both sides of the line and now works on the private side. The company he owns works
on intelligence and collecting data for the U.S. military in supplement to the government

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organizations. As said, services such as janitorial work, foodservice, logistics experts, and even
domestic support like in the Post Katrina landscape of New Orleans for business owners and
Law Enforcement. These are just some of the other things provided by these companies besides
close protection. Even advisory roles where no actual operators are deployed to country are
common and provide tactical advise or threat assessment services simply advising on how to
employ existing forces.
The growth of this industry however was not without consequence and many learning
experiences on the behalf of the contractors, that was not in all cases positive. Post 9/11, the rush
of people heading to the middle east and competing for contracts along with the rush of soldiers
heading off to war was a business prospect nobody could pass up. many government and private
contracts begin to spring up and the companies needed people to fill those billets. Usually the
people selected for these billets are of a qualified background and have in-depth tactical
experience, however during this time often times many of these individuals being picked had
neither. In other cases there were reports of unjustified shootings of innocent civilians,
dramatically decreasing support of these contractors use among the local populace. One of the
most infamous cases being the Nisour square incident in Iraq on September 16, 2007, where after
everything had settled down there were 14 Iraqi civilians dead. The contractors had seemingly
no reason for this action, however reported shots being fired at them so they returned fire. Four
men were convicted and sentenced to very long terms, and the american public slowly began to
distrust and see contractors in a negative light (Risen & Rosenberg, 2015). Following these
events the rules of engagement became much more clear and working with Iraq, they realized
that there could not be more events like this for political and public approval reasons.

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Despite these negative aspects of PMC history there is no by no doubt a bright and
continued future for PMCs. These companies have helped support a growing and changing
military force and helped save the Department of defense millions of dollars. In addition to this
the services provided are high quality and today have been refined and lessons have been learned
from the past. Individuals with limited skill sets coming out of the military can be offered jobs
and make plenty of money to support themselves and a family for there skill set. While in many
cases these companies do not provide the same retirement and death benefits as being in the
military anymore does ( Isenberg, 2013) the increase in pay is more than enough to pay for these
things sometimes being 6 figure incomes Superpower For Hire: Private Military for hire. In
addition using these contractors is a political benefit in some cases because the death of these
operators doesn't register as much with the public as does the death of a service member, a cold
but harsh reality. This is an unfortunate reality however, in the lens of media attention,
everything can matter. As much as these companies will grow and continue to improve, the idea
of using these contractors should not be misconstrued. America will always need a military
fighting force that is ready to stand and fight at the order of the congress or president. Specific
training courses and qualifications also must always be conducted by fellow soldiers whether
officer or senior enlisted, such as basic training, basic level MOS training and special forces
qualification and training courses. So while many of the laws and regulation seem to be out of
date and perhaps designed to fail, the mistakes of the past and the public and governmental
pressure keep PMCs in a safe and competitive arena.

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Conclusion

PMCs have come a long way from the mercenaries that history has known before them
and the Machiavellian playbook. Today the industry is booming and after many learning curves
and a long history of questionable reliability, today they have legitimately proved themselves a
reliable option for protection, logistics, or any other wartime task that must be filled. In an era of
cutting costs and somehow simultaneous modernization they mange to convey a viable option
for achieving this goal. Whether it is training services, security, intelligence, or rather mundane
tasks they provide the cost savings required for this type of change. At the rate at which this
industry is growing it is understandable for there to be a concern at the implications of having
such an unregulated field. While in the beginning there was very little regulation and this was
taken advantage of by bending rules and perhaps treating the middle east as a wild west. Over
time they have tailored there services and learned from past mistakes to make an increasingly
better business model for both private and Federal clients. Even as PMCs become increasingly
better there will never be a substitute for real soldiers sent to war by congress or our president to
do work on behalf of our government with the American flag flying behind them and that is what
will always keep america safe when we need it the most. In these next few years it is predicted
that the amount of contractors will rise again due to involvement in the middle east again, so
with the knowledge of what these companies stand for, perhaps the American public can be more
at ease with this industry.

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