Private military company
A private military company or private military and security company is a private company that provides armed combat and/or security services. 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 combatants in reference to a concept that is outlined in the Geneva Conventions and explicitly stated by the 2006 American Military Commissions Act.
Private military companies carry out many missions and jobs. Some examples have included military aviation repair in East Africa, close protection for Afghan President Hamid Karzai and piloting reconnaissance airplanes and helicopters as a part of Plan Colombia. According to a 2003 study, the industry was then earning over $100 billion a year.
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.
History
Cold War
Modern PMCs trace their origins back to a group of ex-SAS veterans in 1965 who, under the leadership of the founder of the SAS, David Stirling and John Woodhouse, founded WatchGuard International as a private company that could be contracted out for security and military purposes.The company's first assignment was to go to Yemen to report on the state of the royalist forces when a ceasefire was declared. At the same time, Stirling was cultivating his contacts in the Iranian government and exploring the chances of obtaining work in Africa. The company eventually operated in Zambia and in Sierra Leone, providing training teams and advising on security matters. Stirling also organised deals to sell weapons and military personnel to other countries for various privatised foreign policy operations. Contracts were mainly with the Gulf States and involved weapons supply and training. The company was also linked with a failed attempt to overthrow Colonel Muammar Gaddafi from power in Libya in 1971. Woodhouse resigned as Director of Operations after a series of disagreements and Stirling himself ceased to take an active part in 1972.
Stirling also founded KAS International and was involved in a collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature to forcibly reduce the illegal poaching and smuggling of elephant tusks in various countries of Southern Africa. 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
In 1989, the United Nations Mercenary Convention banning the use of mercenaries was initiated and entered into force on 20 October 2001. As of August 2021, the convention had been ratified by 37 states, and signed but not ratified by 9 states.Post–Cold War
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 included Vinnell and Military Professional Resources Inc. in the United States; G4S and Keeni-Meeny Services in the United Kingdom; and Lordan-Levdan in Israel and Executive Outcomes in South Africa.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 Special Air Service, the US Special Operations Forces and the Canadian Joint Task Force 2.
The Center for Public Integrity reported that since 1994, the Defense Department entered into 3,601 contracts worth $300 billion with twelve US-based PMCs, specifically during the initial response after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
Domestic operations are generally under the auspice of state or federal agencies such as the Department of Energy or the 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 US forces.
The October 2000 USS Cole bombing proved a pivotal moment for private military companies at sea and directly led to the first contract between Blackwater and the US military. Blackwater, and private military contractors in general, became notorious in the 21st century after their usage by the United States government in the American occupation of Iraq.
Seaborne PMCs
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 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 Atalanta, NATO's 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. 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. 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, rotary and fixed-wing transportation, 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' armies and air forces.2007 Uniform Code of Military Justice amendment
In 2007, the American Uniform Code of Military Justice was amended to allow for prosecution of military contractors deployed in a "declared war or a contingency operation."International Code of Conduct (2008)
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 states pertaining to the hiring of such entities during armed conflicts. As of December 2018, fifty-four states had signed the Montreux Document.NGO use of PMCs
As revealed in 2009 by Stoddard et al., the use of private security contractors by NGOs in dangerous regions is a highly sensitive subject. 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. 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.| Contracted for | international | local |
| Unarmed guards for facilities/residences/project sites | 29% | 77% |
| Physical security for premises | 31% | 55% |
| Security management consulting | 37% | 9% |
| Security training for staff | 41% | 4% |
| Risk assessment/threat analysis | 36% | 7% |
| Information services | 26% | 12% |
| Armed guards for facilities/residences/project sites | 17% | 14% |
| Standby security | 13% | 16% |
| Mobile escorts | 9% | 13% |
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.
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. 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 US, so they tend to look for private contractors who will have a fiduciary obligation to them.