OP-ED Help Wanted: Mercenary

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Hummm......

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://havokjournal.com/world/help-wanted-mercenary/


Help Wanted: Mercenary

November 29, 2015 by Leonard Benton ~ Leave A Comment


After the recent terrorist attack in Paris, fellow writer Pablo James told you how to join the French Foreign Legion if you really wanted to get into the fight. But there are some difficulties with that. You have to learn French for one thing. And it is a sincere commitment: The Legion doesn’t play.

However, if you don’t want to partake of the rigors in the French Foreign Legion, you can still participate. According to the New York Times, the United Arab Emirates is building a nice little force out of South American personnel, mainly Colombian but with a smattering of others, to fight for them in Yemen.

Studio shot of private military contractor PMC with assault rifle
Private contractors are on the ground in Yemen.

The idea is that these mercenaries will be more reliable toward the regime. Perhaps, and perhaps not, certainly there are going to be fun times had by all. The Fog of War works both ways and while many of these Columbians were from the military at home, a mercenary force is a bit different when the only true loyalty is to the check.

The U.S. military has been called a mercenary force by unkind and clueless folks. The difference is when the chips are down; Soldiers will still fight for their Nation and pay a price no check can cover. Mercenaries usually cannot, or perhaps it is better to say, will not, fight to the death unless they are trapped.

There are any numbers of mercenary companies, or as the politically correct say, private military companies. You can sign up today. Some caveats before you do though:
1.The Law of War leaves a mercenaries status up for grabs. You are not afforded the rights under the Geneva Convention unless they are freely offered. Given that very few if any rules of war are being followed in Yemen, this might be a moot point. Most of the places in the Middle East where a mercenary might get capture encourage you to scream before you die, and they will help if you feel underwhelmed.
2.The nation that hired you might decide they are done with you. You are there by their rules, their sufferance and if you displease them, you become a liability. Know what you are signing up for. Uncle Sugar isn’t coming for you if you get into a bind.
3.The pay is good, provided you live to spend it.

It is hard enough being in the military with all the rules of engagement that you are required to follow. But in the military you have staff, lawyers, and commanders who are there to keep you in line and keep the heat off you provided you are doing what you are told. It’s not fool proof but it helps.

In a mercenary outfit, the descent into chaos could be a matter of minutes once the feces hits the rotary impeller. How do you intend to get home? What happens if you get permanently injured? Being a mercenary sounds like a dream until that happens.

But if you need an outlet or you want to get stuck in with some like minded brothers of mayhem, feel free. The Columbians are working for the United Arab Emirates and getting paid anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 a month with bonuses for in theater deployments. That is more than a private makes in the US Army. It is also about 5 times or more what the average Colombian soldier was getting paid.

It isn’t new. This idea is older than the Bible. Take the poor from one place and use them to kill the poor from another place. The Romans had many mercenary armies. They have participated in virtually every war we can find in recorded history. The United States has even offered and supported mercenary forces. The Flying Tigers, American Volunteer Group, fought against the Japanese.

While there is controversy about them, the fact remains was that they were equipped by the United States but paid by the Chinese. When the U.S. joined WWII after Pearl Harbor, many of the pilots came back to the fold and brought what they learned with them.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, “contractors” were there doing the jobs that service men and women were doing. It cost three times what it should have but the folks back home did not count contractors. Deployed servicemen and women were counted. Congress knew the numbers and every step was as poignant and political at the same time.

The loss of a member of the military was tracked and reported. No one gave two shits about a contractor killed unless it was in a (trigger warning) gruesome fashion. The military could “focus” on the war and leave the rest to contractors. There were nearly as many contract personnel in Iraq as there were soldiers. I cannot tell you how peacefully I slept at night knowing that Ugandan Warriors were guarding my perimeter.

My introduction to those guys was literally on my first day; one of them shot four others in the guard tower because he pulled the trigger on his AK-47 to see if it was loaded. It was. Or the time that they called in a work order because a generator light stand stopped working. Somehow their alert behavior failed to detect Iraqis cutting the fence, turning off the light stand, and driving away with it. But I digress.

Some of the folks I dealt with were okay; some not so much. Others were so full of testosterone bald men could grow hair and women beards just by standing next to them. There were professionals, individuals who in word and deed understood they were part of the team perhaps in a different uniform but part of the whole. Others were glory hounds pure and simple and I distrusted being around them.

This is the problem. They have no one to depend upon but themselves and their team ethic reflects it. They know they are outside the expected bounds of war unless called into account. That is not to say that there have not been soldiers who crossed the line in a bad way. But the path for the mercenary is a bit less cut and dry.

Maybe this is what we need. We don’t need standing armies. We just hire mercenaries. If you are a fan of science fiction, Hammer’s Slammers is perhaps the best or at least most interesting take. The money is paid to a bonding authority that monitors. The mercenaries fight within the established rules. Surrender is acceptable if defeated because you live to fight another day. And no one violates the contract because it is bad for business.

Of course the richer you are the better mercenaries you can hire. Unless you want to use your riches to hire cannon fodder to fight cannon fodder so that you don’t get your own hands dirty.




http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/w...mbian-mercenaries-to-fight-in-yemen.html?_r=2

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/world/middleeast/15prince.html

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/ne...y-united-arab-emirates-to-fight-proxy-war-in/

http://www.mercenaryjobs.org/how-to-become-a-mercenary.html

http://www.triplecanopy.com/trusted-partner/ethical-approach/

https://academi.hua.hrsmart.com/hr/ats/JobSearch/viewAll


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Oilpatch Hand

3-Bomb General, TB2K Army
The Article said:
The loss of a member of the military was tracked and reported. No one gave two shits about a contractor killed unless it was in a (trigger warning) gruesome fashion. The military could “focus” on the war and leave the rest to contractors. There were nearly as many contract personnel in Iraq as there were soldiers. I cannot tell you how peacefully I slept at night knowing that Ugandan Warriors were guarding my perimeter.

My introduction to those guys was literally on my first day; one of them shot four others in the guard tower because he pulled the trigger on his AK-47 to see if it was loaded. It was. Or the time that they called in a work order because a generator light stand stopped working. Somehow their alert behavior failed to detect Iraqis cutting the fence, turning off the light stand, and driving away with it. But I digress.

You know...it's so hard to find good help these days. :lol:
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
You know...it's so hard to find good help these days. :lol:

Yeah. If you want "quality" it is going to cost you on all sorts of levels.

Worked with a guy years ago that went over during Gulf 2 as an IT tech for a "contractor". Gets there and the contract gets canceled. He ended up working with an "eastern European" PMC doing overwatch in a tower armed with an iron sighted Mosin. Was given a bunch of jiving by them until due "to events" he demonstrated he could actually shoot under stress. After that they basically adopted him as one of the guys.
 

Oilpatch Hand

3-Bomb General, TB2K Army
I can well understand the allure the life of a "soldier of fortune" may have for some, although I don't really share that affinity myself. While in junior college in the late 70s, I met a former serviceman who had been a "tunnel rat" in Vietnam. This guy made it sound like crawling around hand-dug tunnels chasing Viet Cong who were ready to kill him on sight was loads of fun. He loved it...said he had a blast doing it, so much so that at the end of his first enlistment, he re-upped for a second tour of tunnel rat duty. Half an hour of that gig would be more than enough for me, but this guy not only did it for two years to begin with, but he re-enlisted to do it for *another* two years.

After he completed that second tour, he came home and enrolled in school, which he apparently found to be pretty dull by comparison. Now this guy was a GI, not a mercenary, but I gather he had the requisite mindset for that sort of work. He made it sound like he couldn't wait for the next war so he could crawl around in some more tunnels, chasing down bad guys.

There are some guys who like the job, I guess. They go to work in the morning, and their workday activities include shooting at people as well as getting shot at, and maybe blowing some stuff up. Then, at the end of the day, they can rest under a tree, fire up a smoke, and tell themselves, "It was a good day today. I didn't get my butt shot off. A fine day at the office."

It's not really for me...but some people like that kind of job. Not your usual 9 to 5. ;)
 

JohnGaltfla

#NeverTrump
I don't know about some of the assumptions. Some the baddest asses I've ever met went merc and fought in Rhodesia and the RSA before the US Government went soft.

They got gold, kicked ass, and didn't leave anyone behind. There is a lot of bad information about how mercs operate and what they do in combat thanks to Hollywood.

(If you do need a good merc movie however, I advise one watches the star packed "The Wild Geese")
 

Dozdoats

On TB every waking moment
Dogs Of War is still my favorite merc movie.

Man On Fire was the best novel, and a reasonably good movie too.
 

mrrk1562

Veteran Member
birds of a feather flock together ..and we always find our kind..some become police officer's para medic's fire men .some of us just back to the forge that honed these traits and skills ..and if you can get paid for it why not ..
 

China Connection

TB Fanatic
I had a friend that used to be a mercenary and had worked for the French Foreign Legion in Vietnam. It was a two year contract and only 15% lived through to pay day.
 
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