"Backgrounds for Private Military Contractors" Topic

Where do these guys usually come from? I'm considering a project using Spectre and Empress miniatures for lite-RPG and skirmish gaming.

I'm hoping to put together a game using HERO system and I'd like to know what sorts of skills these guys usually have.

A lot of my Marines went to PMC's after Iraq while waiting for their Law enforcement jobs to kick in. I know of some that are former police officers but most come from the military. I don't know of any civilians getting hired for any PMC because they don't have any prior training nor experience.

In Iraq in the mid 2000s, I met lots of Army and a few Sailors with Blackwater (both spec-ops and regular backgrounds), we had Ugandans mercs that stood sentry duty around the Baghdad airport (BIAP), the US DOS folks I worked with had private body-guards retired from British security and paramilitary forces, I met folks that came from central America working for Triple Canopy, and we had folks from various Arab countries for our interpreters and BBAs. On top of that, the folks that worked for the support companies (like KBR) came from all over the world. The net was folks from everywhere and every background you could imagine. Plus all the military folks from the US, UK, Australia, Estonia, Italy, Poland, etc. that all talked about coming back as a contractor (and many did).

I'm with IM and LostPict, vast majority are prior military. From my perspective, early on (right after the war started) it was almost exclusively Americans, and there was a lot of prior military, but there were also a number of former cops. Also, you should take into account that not all PMCs are just shooters, there are also comm guys, interrogators, intel guys, etc…

In any case, after the war was on for a few years is when a lot of foreigners began showing up, and suddenly there were so many former military guys the former cops pretty much dried up.

V/R,
Jack

Here are some good figures for Contractors.

link

link

I worked in Iraq 2009 – 2011, everyone I worked with was either ex-military or former police with swat background.

Folks I worked with were mostly American, South Africans with a few Brits thrown into the mix.

Our company support staff were from all over the world. Most of them from Romania and Nepal that I knew.

Most of our interpreters (terps) were Kurdish.

Thing you have to remember, less than 10% of all contractors in Iraq were armed. Majority of contractors working on FOB's did support work.

Grrrrr!

Must bite my tongue.

Rod Robertson.

Rod,

No you don't man: if you have something to add to this WARGAMING discussion, please do. What kind of caustic comments could you possibly have regarding a fellow gamer looking for background info for RPG-lite/skirmish gaming?

The Ultramodern Warfare boards are *that* way; it's bad enough we have politics on a toy soldier website, let's at least keep it segregated there, please.

V/R,
Jack

Just Jack:

Oh yes I do! That's why I will say nothing here on the UM Gaming board but if this was on UM Warfare board I'd be very vocal indeed! Must shut myself up here however, so don't tempt me to the Dawghouse, Jack. I am not mad at any posters but rather with the use of euphemisms for mercenaries which are so popular these days. Nuff said or I'm DH bound.

An almost stifled cheers.
Rod Robertson.

We're talking about gaming, man, like "I'm starting a campaign and want to know if the characters in my wargame campaign should be from the USA and UK, or from various countries."

Key word is 'wargame,' and it has nothing to do with anyone's thoughts or feelings on the efficacy of using private individuals to fight wars. It seems like every thread on TMP is now only a step away from political controversy, as opposed to "wow, that's a cool/fun idea for a wargame, I should try that."

V/R,
Jack

Well I just filed down and based about twenty mercenaries to augment my Peshmerga militia as either SOF types or soldiers of fortune. Next will be a small number of Chechens as more soldiers of fortune. I blame you lot for drawing me down this road to perdition.

Cheers.
Rod Robertson.

Based on when I was looking for work and just about giving up on a job that didn't demand proficiency with a weapon, most PMCs are going to be advanced ground-pounders.

Airborne, Special Forces, Rangers, Commandoes. At the very least, probably 5-8 years as a door-kicking grunt, 3+ years in combat deployments. But the higher-reputation PMCs all wanted Special Forces training or other-nations equivalent.

Nobody wanted a paperwork professional with lots of firearms experience and guard-force training.

Rod,

Still 15mm? What troops are you using? I've got the Khurasan PMCs, they're fantastic. Chechens from Eureka?

V/R,
Jack

Jack:

Yup, you're two for two. The Khurasan minis I ordered myself and the Eureka ones were a trade from a gaming buddy here in Montreal. All are in 15mm and all look really good. The Peshmerga are also Khurasan minis and they are also being cleaned up and based like the mercenary contractors. At the same time Cold War era Soviet Airborne troops and early WWII Brits and Germans are on the painting table as are Ancient Hittite hordes, Skythian foot auxilia and foot archers and some more Canaanite chariots. But progress is slow due to flooding distractions and real life.

Cheers and good gaming.
Rod Robertson.

Do a search on "deployed sigint jobs"

I have an Iraqi friend that was an interpreter for the US. He's been asked to come back. He said the problem is if you get into a tight situation or WIA you may be on your own and paying your own medical bills.

Wolfhag

Wolfhag:

I know you all will love this way too much but I must admit that I'm ignorant and confused about the phrase, "deployed sight jobs", which I did Google. Why the word 'sight'? Does it mean to sight a weapon on a target? Does it mean to observe, surveil and recce an area? Or is it a misuse of the word 'site' and thus refers to a location where the contracted mercenary will work? There is an urban dictionary term,"You sight?", meaning, "Do you know what I mean?". Is that the root of the word sight here meaning on the down-low? I found no clear definition for the phrase. Help! The jobs listed were very interesting as was the predominance of Virginia based employers on most sites I searched. If you don't help me I'll have to contact Jeremy Scahill and I know you don't want me to do that! Who knows what he might tell me about this shadowy world of which you speak! OK, he's more likely to completely ignore me but I can hope, can't I?

A befuddled and benighted Rod Robertson.

A little post necro, Rod, but you should be searching for Sig Int, not sight. Of course, you might have been being facetious, in which case, nevermind.