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A '''private military company''' ('''PMC''') or ''' private military and security company''' ('''PMSC''') is a [[private company]] providing armed combat or security services for financial gain. PMCs refer to their personnel as "'''security contractors'''" or "'''private military contractors'''".
The services and expertise offered by PMCs are typically similar to those of governmental [[security]], [[military]], or [[police]] but most often on a smaller scale. PMCs often provide services to train or supplement official [[armed forces]] in service of governments, but they can also be employed by private companies to provide [[bodyguards]] for key staff or protection of company premises, especially in hostile territories. However, contractors that use armed force in a [[war]] zone may be considered [[unlawful combatant]]s in reference to a concept that is outlined in the [[Geneva Conventions]] and explicitly stated by the 2006 American [[Military Commissions Act of 2006|Military Commissions Act]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnes |first=Julian E. |date=2007-10-15 |title=America's own unlawful combatants? |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-blackwater15oct15,1,6804674,full.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage&ctrack=2&cset=true |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20081220162617/http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-blackwater15oct15,1,6804674,full.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage&ctrack=2&cset=true |archive-date=2008-12-20}}</ref>
▲Apart from securing companies, they secure officials and government affiliates. Private military companies carry out many missions and jobs. Some examples have included [[close protection]] for Afghan President [[Hamid Karzai]] and piloting reconnaissance airplanes and helicopters as a part of [[Plan Colombia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vieira |first=Constanza |date=2007-07-17 |title=COLOMBIA-ECUADOR: Coca Spraying Makes for Toxic Relations |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38576 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118035255/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38576 |archive-date=2008-01-18 |publisher=IPS}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">''[http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1253 Private Security Transnational Enterprises in Colombia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417203427/http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1253|date=2008-04-17}}'' [[José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective]] February, 2008.</ref> According to a 2003 study, the industry was then earning over $100 billion a year.<ref name="Soldiers of Good Fortune">{{Cite magazine |last=Yeoman |first=Barry |date=2003-06-01 |title=Soldiers of Good Fortune |url=https://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/05/ma_365_01.html |url-status=live |magazine=Mother Jones |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520151719/https://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/05/ma_365_01.html |archive-date=2007-05-20 |access-date=2007-05-08}}</ref>
According to a 2008 study by the [[Office of the Director of National Intelligence]], private contractors make up 29% of the workforce in the [[United States Intelligence Community]] and cost the equivalent of 49% of their personnel budgets.<ref name="TopSecretAmerica">{{Cite book |last=Priest |first=Dana |title=Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-316-18221-8 |page=320}}</ref>
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Modern PMCs trace their origins back to a group of ex-[[Special Air Service|SAS]] veterans in 1965 who, under the leadership of the founder of the SAS, [[David Stirling]] and [[John Woodhouse (British Army officer)|John Woodhouse]], founded '''WatchGuard International''' (formerly with offices in [[Sloane Street]] before moving to South Audley Street in [[Mayfair]]) as a private company that could be contracted out for security and military purposes.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Crowell, William P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4h_c4TqZM4C |title=Physical and Logical Security Convergence: Powered By Enterprise Security Management: Powered By Enterprise Security Management |last2=Contos, Brian T |last3=DeRodeff, Colby |last4=Dunkel, Dan |publisher=Syngress |year=2011 |isbn=9780080558783 |access-date=2013-02-07}}</ref>
The company's first assignment was to go to [[Yemen]] to report on the state of the royalist forces when a
Stirling also founded KAS International (aka KAS Enterprises) and was involved in a collaboration with the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] to forcibly reduce the illegal poaching and smuggling of [[elephant tusk]]s in various countries of [[Southern Africa]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 January 1996 |title=Pretoria inquiry confirms secret battle for the rhino |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/pretoria-inquiry-confirms-secret-battle-for-the-rhino-1324553.html |url-status=live |access-date=13 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810095652/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/pretoria-inquiry-confirms-secret-battle-for-the-rhino-1324553.html |archive-date=10 August 2009}}</ref> Other groups formed by ex-SAS servicemen were established in the 1970s and '80s, including [[Control Risks Group]] and Defence Systems, providing military consultation and training.
====UN Mercenary Convention====
{{main|United Nations Mercenary Convention}}
In 1989, the [[United Nations Mercenary Convention]] banning the use of [[mercenaries]] was initiated and
===
Dramatic growth in the number and size of PMCs occurred at the end of the [[Cold War]]. The exodus of over 6 million military personnel from Western militaries in the 1990s expanded the recruiting pool for PMCs. Some of the larger corporations
Some commentators have argued that there was an exodus from many [[special operations forces]] across the globe towards these private military corporations. Units that were allegedly severely affected included the [[British Armed Forces|British]] [[Special Air Service]],<ref name="dtcrisis">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/14/nsas14.xml
The [[Center for Public Integrity]] reported that since 1994, the [[United States Department of Defense|Defense Department]] entered into 3,601 contracts worth $300 billion with twelve
Domestic operations are generally under the auspice of state or federal agencies such as the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]] or the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]] rather than the Department of Defense. Driven by increasing 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. The [[United States State Department]] also employs several companies to provide support in danger zones that would be difficult for conventional
The October 2000 [[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'' bombing]] proved a pivotal moment for private military companies at sea and directly led to the first contract between [[Blackwater (company)|Blackwater]] and the
==== Seaborne PMCs ====
[[File:Armed guard escort on a merchant ship.jpg|thumb|Armed contractors aboard a [[merchant ship]] to deter piracy.]]
Since the late 2000s, PMCs have become increasingly involved in [[anti-piracy measures in Somalia]] and other regions. PMCs remain active in this region, mainly providing security for private shipping through the [[Gulf of Aden]] and at times contracting to aid [[African Union Mission to Somalia|UN efforts]]. PMCs were hired to deter pirates from attacking vessels and taking the shipping crew and their transport hostage. While a large variety of international naval missions with the same goals such as the EU's [[Operation Atalanta|Atalanta]], NATO's [[Operation Ocean Shield|Ocean Shield]], and [[Combined Task Force 150]] are and were active in this region, it is still necessary for the shipping companies to have security personnel on deck. Due to their decentralized nature, it can be difficult for the UN or other international organizations to provide effective oversight over what happens on the seas. Whereas the UN showed that, between 2010 and 2015, there were over fifty encounters between the national sovereign navies that participated in the missions, resulting in over 1,200 detained pirates, only one PMC published information over this period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jarle Hansen |first=Stig |date=July 2012 |title=International Interventions, State-Building and Democratization: Justifying the Role of the Private Security Companies in Somalia? |journal=African Security |language=en |volume=5 |issue=3–4 |pages=255–266 |doi=10.1080/19392206.2012.732897 |issn=1939-2206 |s2cid=218645866}}</ref> Since the PMCs are so much more active in this area, covering a larger part of it through activities on board trading ships, this could be a low estimate.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Affi |first1=Ladan |last2=Elmi |first2=Afyare A. |last3=Knight |first3=W. Andy |last4=Mohamed |first4=Said |date=2016-05-03 |title=Countering piracy through private security in the Horn of Africa: prospects and pitfalls |journal=Third World Quarterly |language=en |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=934–950 |doi=10.1080/01436597.2015.1114882 |issn=0143-6597 |s2cid=155886392}}</ref> PMC presence in Somalia is an example of two [[violent non-state actors at sea]] engaged in combat with each other.
====Airborne PMCs (2005)====
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 aircraft|rotary]] and [[fixed-wing aircraft|fixed-wing]] transportation, [[cargo plane|heavy-lift cargo]], armed escort, and executive air travel to "any location on earth." That marked an expansion of services to rival the capabilities of some countries'
====2007 Uniform Code of Military Justice amendment====
In 2007, the American [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]] was amended to allow for prosecution of [[military contractor]]s deployed in a "[[Declaration of war|declared war]] or a [[contingency operation]]."
==== International Code of Conduct (2008) ====
{{main|International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers}}
In 2008, the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]], the [[Swiss government]], and contributors from private security companies and the civil society/[[NGO]] sector developed and proposed the [[Montreux Document on Private Military and Security Companies]], detailing international legal obligations and specific recommendations related to PSC services procurement practices and operational oversight, as well as clarifying the obligations of
====NGO use of PMCs====
As revealed in 2009 by Stoddard ''et al.'', the use of private security contractors by [[NGO]]s in dangerous regions is a highly sensitive subject.<ref name="ODI">Abby Stoddard, Adele Harmer and Victoria DiDomenico (2009) [http://www.odi.org/publications/2816-private-security-contractors-humanitarian-operations Private security providers and services in humanitarian operations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215165231/http://www.odi.org/publications/2816-private-security-contractors-humanitarian-operations |date=2016-02-15 }} [[Overseas Development Institute]]</ref> Quite often, the contractors hired are local companies and mostly are unarmed personnel guarding facilities; only rarely are international contractors or mobile armed security personnel used.<ref name=ODI/> Many NGOs have sought the services of private security contractors in dangerous areas of operation, such as [[Afghanistan]], [[Somalia]] and [[Sudan]], due to lack of knowledge, skills, and time to adequately meet the challenges of deteriorating security environments; and administrative costs of managing security in-house and potential to outsource the liability.
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"
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However, it has been argued that outsourcing security leaves NGOs reliant on contractors and unable to develop their own security thinking and make their own decisions. Perceived association of PSPs with state security, police or military services in turn compromises the ability of NGOs to claim neutrality, leading to increased risk. Moreover, outsourcing may not necessarily lead to lower costs, and the cost of middlemen may result in more poorly paid and poorly trained personnel, who turn over frequently and cannot adequately perform the job. Finally, NGOs have obligations beyond strictly legal liability that include political, ethical and reputational implications: If the organisation's responsibility to prevent and mitigate any possible negative outcomes is better achieved through in-house security, it is argued, this should be their choice.<ref name=ODI/>
The result is that many NGOs are not open about their use of PSPs and researchers at the [[Overseas Development Institute]] have found that sometimes statements at NGOs central headquarters contradict those given by local staff.<ref name=ODI/> This prevents informative knowledge sharing and debate on the subject needed to improve NGO decisions regarding this issue, though there have been some notable exceptions; namely, the Afghanistan NGO Security Office and the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq
The private security contractor fulfills many different needs in the private and public sectors. While some nations rely heavily on the input of governments of such nations as the United States, other countries do not trust the
====ISO for PMSC (2012)====
In 2012, were published the [[ISO/PAS 28007:2012]] Guidelines for [[Private Maritime Security Companies]].<ref name="Siebels">{{Cite news |last=Siebels |first=Dirk |date=2014-02-23 |title=New ISO Standard for Private Maritime Security Companies |publisher=Piracy-law.com |url=https://www.academia.edu/7728567 |access-date=2015-04-17}}</ref>
==Activities elsewhere==
===Afghanistan===
* In December 2009, the [[Congressional Research Service]], which provides background information to members of the [[United States Congress]], announced that the deployment of 30,000 extra US troops into Afghanistan could be accompanied by a surge of "26,000 to 56,000" contractors. This would expand the presence of personnel from the US private sector in Afghanistan "to anywhere from 130,000 to 160,000." The CRS study said that contractors made up 69 percent of the Pentagon's personnel in Afghanistan in December 2008, a proportion that "apparently represented the highest recorded percentage of contractors used by the Defense Department in any conflict in the history of the United States." In September 2008, their presence had dropped to 62 percent, and the US military troop strength increased modestly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ELISE CASTELLI |date=2009-12-16 |title=Projected contractor surge in Afghanistan: Up to 56,000 |url=http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20091216/DEPARTMENTS01/912160309/1009/ACQUISITION |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729192611/http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20091216/DEPARTMENTS01/912160309/1009/ACQUISITION |archive-date=2012-07-29 |access-date=2011-12-22 |publisher=Federaltimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Pincus |first=Walter |date=2009-12-16 |title=Up to 56,000 more contractors likely for Afghanistan, congressional agency says |work=Washingtonpost.com |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/15/AR2009121504850.html?hpid=topnews |url-status=live |access-date=2011-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030161847/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/15/AR2009121504850.html?hpid=topnews |archive-date=2010-10-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ELISE CASTELLI |date=2009-12-16 |title=Projected contractor surge in Afghanistan: Up to 56,000 |url=http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20091216/DEPARTMENTS01/912160309/-1/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130122185643/http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20091216/DEPARTMENTS01/912160309/-1/ |archive-date=2013-01-22 |access-date=2011-12-22 |publisher=Federaltimes.com}}</ref>
* Also in December 2009, a [[US House of Representatives]] oversight subcommittee stated that it had begun a wide-ranging investigation into allegations that American [[private security companies]] that were hired to protect Defense Department convoys in Afghanistan would be paying off warlords and the [[Taliban]] to ensure safe passage. That would mean that the United States unintentionally and indirectly engaged in a protection racket and might be indirectly funding the very insurgents it is trying to fight. A preliminary inquiry determined that the allegations warranted a deeper inquiry and focused initially on eight trucking companies that share a $2.2 billion Defense Department contract to carry goods and material from main supply points inside Afghanistan (primarily [[Bagram air base]]) to more than 100 [[Forward operating base|forward operating bases]] and other military facilities in the country.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pincus |first=Walter |date=2009-12-17 |title=Congress investigating charges of 'protection racket' by Afghanistan contractors |work=Washingtonpost.com |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/16/AR2009121604126.html |url-status=live |access-date=2011-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820132112/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/16/AR2009121604126.html |archive-date=2011-08-20}}</ref>
===Africa===
[[File:RussiansecurityBangui.png|thumb|[[Wagner Group]] contractors providing security for [[President of the Central African Republic]] [[Faustin-Archange Touadéra]]]]
* In 1994 and 1995, the South African-based PMC [[Executive Outcomes]] was involved in two military actions in Africa. In the first conflict, Executive Outcomes fought on behalf of the Angolan government against [[UNITA]] after a UN-brokered peace settlement broke down. In the second action, Executive Outcomes was tasked with containing a guerrilla movement in [[Sierra Leone]], the [[Revolutionary United Front]]. Both missions involved personnel from the firm training four to five thousand combat personnel for the Angolan government and retaking control of the diamond fields and forming a negotiated peace in Sierra Leone.
* In 2000, [[ABC Television (Australian TV network)|ABC Television]]'s international affairs program
* In mid-May 2006, police in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] arrested 32 alleged mercenaries of different nationalities
* Due to strain of [[United States Armed Forces]], the [[United States Department of State|
* In 2015, [[STTEP International]], ('''S'''pecialised '''T'''asks, '''T'''raining, '''E'''quipment & '''P'''rotection) was credited with providing support to the [[Nigerian military]] that has proved decisive in containing [[Boko Haram]] activities in Nigeria. The [[chairman]] of STTEP, Eeben Barlow, is the former [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] and founder of [[Executive Outcomes]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Freeman |first=Colin |date=15 May 2015 |title=Nigeria hired South African mercenaries to wage a secret war on Africa's deadliest jihadist group |work=The Telegraph |agency=Online |issue=Business Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/south-african-mercenaries-waged-secret-war-on-boko-haram-2015-5 |url-status=live |access-date=30 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806014345/http://www.businessinsider.com/south-african-mercenaries-waged-secret-war-on-boko-haram-2015-5 |archive-date=6 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Freeman |first=Colin |date=30 May 2015 |title=How to defeat a caliphate: Private military contractors have a bad name, but a great record against the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria |url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9541942/mercenaries-could-transform-the-fight-against-isis-if-we-let-them/ |url-status=live |magazine=The Spectator |issue=Online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729171857/http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9541942/mercenaries-could-transform-the-fight-against-isis-if-we-let-them/ |archive-date=29 July 2015 |access-date=30 July 2015 |agency=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Jack |date=1 April 2015 |title=Eeben Barlow Speaks Out (Pt. 1): PMC and Nigerian Strike Force Devastates Boko Haram |publisher=Force12 Media |agency=Special Operations Forces Situation Report |issue=Online |url=http://sofrep.com/40608/eeben-barlow-south-african-pmc-devestates-boko-haram-pt1/ |url-status=live |access-date=30 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725104451/http://sofrep.com/40608/eeben-barlow-south-african-pmc-devestates-boko-haram-pt1/ |archive-date=25 July 2015}}</ref>
* The Central African-based park
* According to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), since 2017, the Russian-based PMC, Wagner Group, has been operating continuously in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, as well as in other African countries. Under the guise of helping
* According to the ''[[The Washington Post|Washington Post]]'', the South African PMC, Executive Outcomes (Founded in 1989), was committing atrocities in Sierra Leone up until the early 2000s, when they left the country and refocused their business on providing domestic security services in their native South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 3, 2020 |title=Africa awaits: Mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes is reborn |url=https://www.upstreamonline.com/people/africa-awaits-mercenary-outfit-executive-outcomes-is-reborn/2-1-921836}}</ref><ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/oct99/sierra16.htm {{bare URL inline|date=May 2023}}</ref>
* In the mid-2000s, a group of self-proclaimed former ANC [[Resistance movement#Freedom fighter|freedom
===Balkans===
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In December 2006, there were estimated to be at least 100,000 contractors working directly for the [[United States Department of Defense]] in [[Iraq]] which was a tenfold increase in the use of private contractors for military operations since the [[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]], just over a decade earlier.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Merle |first=Renae |date=2006-12-05 |title=Census Counts 100,000 Contractors in Iraq |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401311.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206025051/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401311.html |archive-date=2006-12-06}}</ref> The prevalence of PMCs led to the foundation of [[trade group]] the [[Private Security Company Association of Iraq]]. In Iraq, the issue of [[accountability]], especially in the case of contractors carrying weapons, was a sensitive one. Iraqi laws do not hold over contractors.
On 5 December 2005,
Two days before he left Iraq, [[L. Paul Bremer]] signed "[[CPA Order 17|Order 17]]" giving all Americans associated with the [[Coalition Provisional Authority|CPA]] and the American government immunity from Iraqi law.<ref name='Newsweek 2007-09-20'>{{Cite news |last=Hirch |first=Michael |date=2007-09-20 |title=Blackwater and the Bush Legacy |page=2 |work=Newsweek |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20892483/site/newsweek/ |url-status=dead |access-date=2007-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001161845/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20892483/site/newsweek/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=2007-10-01}}</ref> A July 2007 report from the American [[Congressional Research Service]] indicates that the Iraqi government still had no authority over private security firms contracted by the
In 2007, the [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]] was amended to allow for prosecution of [[military contractor]]s who are deployed in a "[[Declaration of war|declared war]] or a contingency operation."
After the [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011)|withdrawal of
PMCs supplied support to
In 2010, several [[Blackwater PMC]] employees "were indicted on unlawful killing charges in connection with their work as US government contractors during the [[Iraq War]]"; founder [[Erik Prince]] sold the company and departed soon thereafter.<ref name=aljdrc/>
====List of defective occurrences====
# Employees of private military company [[CACI]] and [[Titan Corp.]] were involved in the Iraq [[Abu Ghraib prison scandal]] in 2003, and 2004. The
# On March 31, 2004, four American private contractors belonging to the company [[Blackwater USA]] were killed by [[Insurgency|insurgents]] in [[Fallujah]] as they drove through the town. They were dragged from their car in one of the most violent attacks on
# 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|
# On June 5, 2005, Colonel [[Theodore S. Westhusing]] committed suicide, after writing a report exonerating [[USIS (company)|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 Presley]] music, appearing to show private military contractors in Baghdad shooting Iraqi civilians sparked two investigations after it was posted on the Internet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A movieclip containing the behavior of alleged Aegis Defence Services driving in Iraq |url=http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Aegis-PSD.mov |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930224611/http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Aegis-PSD.mov |archive-date=2007-09-30 |access-date=2011-12-22}}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/27/wirq27.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/11/27/ixworld.html 'Trophy' video exposes private security contractors shooting up Iraqi drivers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408170643/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F11%2F27%2Fwirq27.xml&sSheet=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F11%2F27%2Fixworld.html |date=2008-04-08 }}, [[Daily Telegraph]] article from 26/11/2005.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Discussion on a blog about Aegis trophy video |url=http://thedanreport.blogspot.com/2005/11/clearing-up-supposed-aegis-video.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306181631/http://thedanreport.blogspot.com/2005/11/clearing-up-supposed-aegis-video.html |archive-date=2008-03-06 |access-date=2011-12-22 |publisher=Thedanreport.blogspot.com}}</ref> 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. Aegis, the
# 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 seventeen Iraqis in a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 September 2007 |title=U.S. suspends diplomatic convoys throughout Iraq |url=http://www.ibil.ru/index.php?area=2&p=news&newsid=217 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018131956/http://www.ibil.ru/index.php?area=2&p=news&newsid=217 |archive-date=18 October 2014 |access-date=18 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=RISEN |first1=JAMES |last2=WILLIAMS |first2=TIMOTHY |date=29 January 2009 |title=U.S. Looks for Blackwater Replacement in Iraq |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/world/middleeast/30blackwater.html?_r=1& |url-status=live |access-date=18 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923035113/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/world/middleeast/30blackwater.html?_r=1& |archive-date=23 September 2018 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The company was allowed to continue to operate in Iraq until January 2009 when the [[U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement|US–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement]] took effect. Blackwater was 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. In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried and convicted in
# On March 12, 2017, [[Sallyport Global]] fired two investigators who alleged sex trafficking, alcohol smuggling, and security lapses by Sallyport employees at [[Balad Air Base]] in Iraq.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Desmond Butler and Lori Hinnant |date=May 4, 2017 |title=US company turned blind eye to wild behavior on Iraq base |url=https://apnews.com/article/ebe9f147ebcd44589749a6359dc2e462 |access-date=17 Nov 2020 |website=apnews.com}}</ref>
===Middle East===
* On March 27, 2006, [[J. Cofer Black]], the 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 conflict|low-intensity conflict]]s. According to Black, "There is clear potential to conduct security operations at a fraction of the cost of NATO operations." Those comments were later denied.<ref>[http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2453824.0319444444.html U.S. firm offers 'private armies' for low-intensity conflicts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412014245/http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2453824.0319444444.html |date=2006-04-12 }}, WorldTribune article from March 29, 2006</ref> In March 2024, ''Intelligence Online'' reported that an ad was being circulated by former French special forces soldiers for around 3000–4000 foreign recruits. The ad was backed by Abu Dhabi-based Manar Military Company (MMC), which is run by a former French special forces officer, and is financially linked to a politically influential and wealthy Abu Dhabi family. The ad suggested that the UAE aimed to establish an elite foreign legion. Despite MMC claiming that the project was canceled and the ad was disinformation, experts said an Emirati foreign legion could be real. Since 2009, the UAE had been utilizing PMSCs, initially with [[Erik Prince]]. Investigations also revealed the UAE's involvement in hiring mercenaries for assassinations in Yemen and for supporting the Wagner Group.<ref>{{cite news|last=Schaer |first=Cathrin |title=Why is a 'French Foreign Legion' for the UAE problematic? |date=9 April 2024 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/why-is-a-french-foreign-legion-for-the-uae-problematic/a-68779047 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523195234/https://www.dw.com/en/why-is-a-french-foreign-legion-for-the-uae-problematic/a-68779047 |archive-date=23 May 2024 |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>
===Latin America===
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===Yemen===
* Since 2015, the [[United Arab Emirates]] hired an estimated 1,800 [[Latin Americans|Latin American]] contractors and 400 Eritrean troops for training and combat to support the [[Yemeni government]]'s efforts against the [[Houthi insurgency in Yemen|Houthi rebels]] during the [[Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)|Yemeni Civil War]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hager |first1=Emily B. |last2=Mazzetti |first2=Mark |date=2015-11-25 |title=Emirates Secretly Sends Colombian Mercenaries to Yemen Fight |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/world/middleeast/emirates-secretly-sends-colombian-mercenaries-to-fight-in-yemen.html |access-date=2019-08-24 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
===China===
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[[Eeben Barlow]] apparently brought the idea of PMCs to Russia in 2010; there he gave an invited talk to the [[St. Petersburg International Economic Forum]], as well as presented the PMC concept to representatives of the General Staff of the [[AFRF]]. At the time he proposed forming PMCs from retired military personnel and contractors.<ref name="pu1122">{{Cite news |date=2022-11-26 |title=Their Business Is Death |publisher=Promote Ukraine |url=https://www.promoteukraine.org/their-business-is-death/}}</ref>
The existence of Russian PMCs seems to go as far back as 2011, when the [[Syrian Civil War]] kicked off and violent unrest was felt in [[Libya]] before [[Muammar Gaddafi]] was eliminated in October. Russians had big investments in both of these countries.<ref name=rond19/> State-owned enterprise [[Rostec]] and its subsidiaries [[Rosboronexport]] and [[Technopromexport]], as well as privately
In 2012, [[Vladimir Putin]] suggested to the [[State Duma]] to consider the legalization of PMCs,<ref name="ae14">{{Cite news |last=Eremenko |first=Alexey |date=28 October 2014 |title=2 Jailed in Russia's First-Ever Mercenary Conviction |publisher=The Moscow Times |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/10/28/2-jailed-in-russias-first-ever-mercenary-conviction-a40840}}</ref> although owners of Russian PMCs have claimed that because Russia inherited its legal system from the [[Byzantine Empire]], anything that is not explicitly prohibited is allowed.<ref name="wilson16">{{Cite news |last=WILSON |first=GREGORY |date=5 April 2016 |title=PROXY Capabilities – The History and Future of Russian Private Military Companies |publisher=King’s College London Department of War Studies |url=https://www.strifeblog.org/2016/04/05/the-history-and-future-of-russian-private-military-companies/}}</ref><ref name="fr24">{{Cite news |last1=Lovett |first1=Patrick |last2=Toble |first2=Elom Marcel |last3=CRAGG |first3=Gulliver |last4=BOLCHAKOVA |first4=Ksenia |date=28 July 2015 |title=Russia's private military firms operate in legal grey area |publisher=France24 |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20150728-video-russia-pmc-private-military-companies-mercenaries-slavonic-corps-ukraine-syria}}</ref>
The Syrian gains of [[ISIS]] in 2012 caused the Russian contingent to hire PMCs from the [[Moran Security Group]] (MSG) headed by [[Alexey Badikov]],<ref name=pu1122/> [[Slavonic Corps]], [[Patriot PMC]] and [[Vega PMC]].<ref name=rond19/> The MSG crew aboard the ''Myre Seadiver'' was arrested in October 2012 while in Nigeria.<ref name=pu1122/><ref name=fp13/>
[[Oleg Krinitsyn]] heads the [[RSB-Group]],<ref name=fr24/> reportedly in 2013 Russia's largest PMC.<ref name=fp13/> The Moscovite MSG was the focus of attention in 2013 for its failed and bloody [[Syrian]] involvement. It contracted employees through the Slavonic Corps shell company owned by [[Vadim Gusev]] and based in [[Hong Kong]]
Two recruiters for the Slavonic Corps were ultimately jailed in October 2014 for their violation of Article 359. They faced up to eight years imprisonment but were convicted for three. Regular squad members were reportedly unpaid and faced no prosecution in Russia.<ref name="ae14" />
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Wagner and Moran both contributed in 2014 to the Russian [[War in Donbass]];<ref name=rond19/> Wagner is known to have fought in Syria since late 2015. One manner of payment to the group is from 25% of the proceeds from captured and secured oil and gas infrastructure in Syria.<ref name=toima/>
In January 2018, Foreign Minister [[Sergei Lavrov]] said of PMC employees that legislation was needed to "protect these people",<ref name=toima/> while Duma member [[Mikhail Yemelyanov]] authored a bill to do just that "because private military companies are legal in many countries";
In February 2023, it was reported that [[Gazprom]] would form a PMC of its own called [[Fakel (company)|Fakel]]. The law "On the Security of Fuel and Energy Facilities" appears now to state that companies in this field "may be granted the right to establish a private security organisation".<ref name="uptl">{{Cite news |last=LOZOVENKO |first=TETIANA |date=7 February 2023 |title=Russian Gazprom creates its own private military company |publisher=Ukrainska Pravda |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/02/7/7388311/}}</ref>
The organisation Molfar has investigated 37 private military companies in Russia, and found that all of them are or have been connected to Kremlin. Most of them are also funded by Kremlin.
==Other miscellany==
===Fatalities===▼
By the end of 2012, the number of contractors who had died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait had reached 3,000.
{|class="wikitable" style="float:right"
|+Contractor fatalities by employer (2001–2011)
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|}
▲===Fatalities===
▲By the end of 2012, the number of contractors who had died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait had reached 3,000. Scholars have studied whether contractor deaths have an effect on the public's "casualty sensitivity" when substituted for military fatalities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schooner |first1=Steven L |last2=Berteau |first2=David J |date=2013 |title=Emerging Policy and Practice Issues (2012) |url=https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=http://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/&httpsredir=1&article=1326&context=faculty_publications |url-status=live |pages=15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713015223/https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholarship.law.gwu.edu%2F&httpsredir=1&article=1326&context=faculty_publications |archive-date=2018-07-13 |access-date=2019-04-25}}</ref> Casualty sensitivity refers to the inverse relationship between military deaths and public support for a sustained military engagement. Contractor deaths may account for nearly 30% of total US battlefield losses since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.<ref name="schoonerswan">{{Cite journal |last1=Schooner |first1=Steven |last2=Swan |first2=Collin |date=2012-01-01 |title=Dead Contractors: The Un-Examined Effect of Surrogates on the Public's Casualty Sensitivity |journal=GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works}}</ref>
===UN mercenary report===
In October 2007, the [[United Nations]] released a two-year study that reported that, although hired as "security guards", private contractors performed military duties. A spokesman for the American mission to the
Demands for specific PSC services have grown to record levels in recent decades, and private
=== ASIS Commission on Standards ===
Founded in 1955, [[American Society for Industrial Security]] (ASIS) is a society of individual security professionals dedicated to increasing the effectiveness and productivity of security professionals by developing educational programs and materials. ASIS is an [[ANSI]]-accredited Standards Developing Organization, and within ASIS, the ASIS Commission on Standards and Guidelines works with national and international standards-setting organizations and industry representatives to develop voluntary standards and guidelines for security professionals. With funding from the
==See also==
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* [[Company police]]
* [[Private army]]
* [[Defense contractor]]
* [[LOGCAP]]
* [[Personal Security Detachment]]
* [[Private defense agency]]
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* Arnold, Guy. ''Mercenaries: The Scourge of the Third World.'' [[Palgrave Macmillan]], 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-312-22203-1}}
* Deborah D. Avant. ''The Market for Force: The Consequences of Privatizing Security''. George Washington University, August 2005. {{ISBN|0-521-61535-6}}
*[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002718824394 Deborah D. Avant and
*Brillstein, Arik: ''Antiterrorsystem.'' Engel Publishing 2005
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022105803/http://www.humansecurity.info/#/vol-63-brooks-rathgeber/4527827401 Brooks, Doug/ Rathgeber, Shawn Lee: The Industry Role in Regulating Private Security Companies, in: Canadian Consortium on Human Security - Security Privatization: Challenges and Opportunities, Vol. 6.3, University of British Columbia, March 2008.]
|