Private military companies

**morky** · 23rd August 2006, 10:05

There are a growing number of private military companies operating around the world now doing the job that the Legion has always done (take military action without public opinion being affected by numbers of casualties) many soldiers, noteably from special forces units, are being tempted to go private and earn a lot more money. Now that companies like Blackwater and Aegis offer the adventure and combat situations people have always joined the Legion in search of, how much will it affect recruitment of new legionnaires?
The ministry of Defence in the UK are raising the pay of special forces by 40%. Maybe legionnaires will see a pay rise to stay as attractive to high calibre soldiers?
Also in the news, 244,000 polish immigrants have moved to the UK since Poland joined the EU and another 300,000 are expected to come when Bulgaria and Romania join. Will the ability of new EU members citizens to move to other parts of the EU to work damage the influx of recruits? I believe there are strong Romanian and Polish contingents already.

**crazysix0231** · 23rd August 2006, 14:29

It probably will not hurt recruitment, to get the marketable skills you just cant read about it or go to college for, hands on training and the legion is one of may organizations that develope and hone the skills needed.

**kbx** · 23rd August 2006, 15:24

I don't think those companies have anything to do with the Legion, they are not competitors.

They are mercenaries in every sense of the word, Legionnaires are not. They require citizenship or some form of legalization, the legion does not. They require that you speak the language, the legion does not. They are not a real military, the legion is. They don't have any benefits other than big pay, the legion grants you citizenship. They do a lot of questionable things, the legion has left that in the past. They are much more dangerous and combat-active than the legion, etc etc.

**coyote16** · 23rd August 2006, 20:12

Private military contractors, such as Blackwater and AEGIS, are also very selective. They don't take any old soldier off the street. They look for a very specific combination of experience, success on the battlefield, and subordination.

As KBX says, their missions are indeed much more dangerous. In Iraq, they receive very little assistance from the US military. Limited intelligence, helicopter support, and as far as I know no armor support.

But they're very elite and have all the latest high-speed toys. And for ~$150,000 USD tax-free for 6 months of work.....

**son_of_scotland** · 23rd August 2006, 20:19

The thing is: if these guys are getting $150,000 for 6 months... just imagine what the guys they're protecting are getting !!!!

**serge** · 24th August 2006, 03:55

Originally Posted by coyote16

Private military contractors, such as Blackwater and AEGIS, are also very selective. They don't take any old soldier off the street. They look for a very specific combination of experience, success on the battlefield, and subordination.

As KBX says, their missions are indeed much more dangerous. In Iraq, they receive very little assistance from the US military. Limited intelligence, helicopter support, and as far as I know no armor support.

But they're very elite and have all the latest high-speed toys. And for ~$150,000 USD tax-free for 6 months of work.....

Blackwater work very closely with the US Military on some DoD projects up to and including the availability of armoured and air support, they even have their own little bird air support in Iraq and in Afghan they run their own aviation unit supporting USTRANSCOM.

One of the tasks undertaken by Aegis is to co-ordinate information (we don't use the term intelligence in the civilian world) and disseminate it through to the various agencies, including military agencies. It is often the case that civilian contractors have better sources of human info than their military counterparts through their dealings with nationals and due to a lower level of suspicion when dealing with civilians.

There are operatives earning $300,000 per anum although the pay rates have started dropping due to the number of companies competing and the manpower available. These earnings reflect that guys are available 168 hours per week while in theatre and equates in UK terms to approx 12.5 GBP per hour, not an extortionate recompense if you are a family man.

**kbx** · 24th August 2006, 04:36

Originally Posted by serge

$300,000 per anum --- not an extortionate recompense if you are a family man.

WHAT?! 300k per year? Holy ****!

How high up in the chain of command do you have to be to earn that in the military? General?

300k is 300k no matter where you live. Lots of money.

**serge** · 24th August 2006, 05:00

Originally Posted by kbx

WHAT?! 300k per year? Holy ****!

How high up in the chain of command do you have to be to earn that in the military? General?

300k is 300k no matter where you live. Lots of money.

Don't be confused by the public and private sectors. Former military personel who choose to enter the private security industry can earn good salaries commensurate with their experience and ability, whilst a former enlisted man can earn $100,000 to $300,000 per anum at the sharp end a former General would at least double this as a CEO, Board Member of Advisor to the equivalent organisation.

Also a General in the military earns quite alot more than a Corporal.

**Mark-Dane** · 24th August 2006, 09:32

How many private military companies are there, that are legal?

**serge** · 24th August 2006, 10:36

None if you are a South African, but thats because of your own legislation.

The term Private Military Company is a recent media lead sound bite. Most of these companies are security companies, some of the assignments that they undertake can overlap with force protection or security elements of the military but the bottom line is that they are contracted to undertake either personal or asset protection and operate in a purely defensive role.

The primary role as laid down in the US forces mission statement is "To capture or kill the enemy". I am not aware of any private companies operating in an offensive role.

It is true that a couple of years ago there were some dubious companies operating but with the increasing jurisdiction of the host governments organisations are being much more closely scrutinised.

Short answer, they are all legal and if they are not they can't operate for long.

**Deserter** · 24th August 2006, 14:09

I bet that most of these bigger companies that do operations are somehow tied with goverment agencies. CIA can fund these companies to do the work so they can't be traced if somethings go wrong.