The modern definition of an army as being controlled by a Nation state is a fairly new phenomenon, standing armies do not come about until the early 1800s, for that matter, neither did the modern idea of identifying with one's country or nation state as a source of pride.
Prior to this win wars needed to be fought militias were raised by individual warlords or chieftains that were loyal to a specific geographical area or cause, namely self-preservation :-) however, the vast majority of armies, prior to the early 1800s were made up of private individuals who are willing to fight for a specific king or warlord or a specific cause, simply because it was believed that a standing army was a rather dangerous proposition. As it might lead to the overthrow of a king or specific regime, particularly when our soldiers had no war to fight and did not have any other particular skill set to utilize.
Outside fighting forces have been utilized by every government and/or culture known to man the ancient Egyptians had a large pool of individuals on which they could draw from to form an army when necessary or filling the ranks when individuals were lost in combat the ancient Greeks had a significant number of mercenaries employed from all the various islands and territories under their control.
The ancient Romans had a considerable mercenary force within the Army as they would press all the conquered people into service. And because the vast majority of these people were not considered citizens of the Roman Republic, but were paid for their military service they can be considered mercenaries.
The modern concept of a mercenary and the bad connotations that go with it can be traced back to the Middle Ages with the incidences like the hundred years war, there were all these warriors. They were fighting for a specific cause, and/or governmental structure, but the hundred years war, experienced numerous cease-fires or treaties that could last for four or five years at a stretch. So in the meantime, these warriors would seek out some other war or conflict to take part in until their true cause was resumed. These individuals became known as English companies freelancers or freebooters and would roam the countryside looking for some sort of employment in which they could use their particular skill set. And if they couldn't find a legitimate source of employment they would often plunder and pillage local villages and extort what they could to survive.
The Italians became famous (so did Italy in general) for hiring mercenaries. In all the various regions of the country to fight all their skirmishes between the different thiefdoms that existed in any of the time. Often the individual soldiers or companies were not being a steady wage from an outside source such as became the warlord. But rather were told that they could take a percentage of whatever they came across weather with livestock. Precious metals, etc. in this way, the various companies manage to eke out a living and get by. But this is where the image of a mercenary as being a bloodthirsty killer, who is only in it for the profit and personal gain. That has attached itself to be collective consciousness of the universe comes from.
This negative image was also later reinforced in Africa during the 1960s with the conflict in the Congo by men like mad Mike Ward and others, who hired unscrupulous individuals that were willing to do just about anything for any side that could pay, these groups would work for the government of the day (the individual who happened to be in charge at a particular point). Most of the mercenaries during this period at least a noticeable ones were generally white South Africans, which again adds to the negative connotations of a mercenary.
The most famous modern mercenary force in operation today is most likely the French foreign Legion, although it should be noted that the members of the French foreign Legion are not mercenaries in the strictest sense of the word simply because they are fighting under the auspices of a completely legitimate and recognized government. As part of the regular armed forces of France. The only significant difference being that this particular military unit is made up entirely of foreign personnel. But once enlisted their purview and missions are under the direct control of the French government and/or military force. There are about 800 million in the French foreign Legion. At any one time thousands of men tried to enlist every year but failed simply because they cannot make the grade and meet the physical standards and/or do not pass the background check. Contrary to popular belief, the French foreign Legion will not take someone that is a convicted felon or has an extensive criminal record (anymore) and individual wishing to apply to the French foreign Legion, must pass a rigorous screening process. However, once accepted, they are then allowed to sign their five-year contract of service in the Legion on the condition that they pass all the physical conditioning required, and a decent level of academic training standards. The only holdover that is still alive from the original Legion guidelines is the ability of individuals to change their name while under service to the Legion, as well as being able to apply for French citizenship. Under that name/or their real name. Once their term of service is over.
There are also organizations like the wild geese, which have been around for a considerable amount of time as an active private military company. Organizations like these have been used as the basis for a countless number of novels and movies. However it is very rare that organizations such as these overthrow governments entirely or that an individual mercenary will go out into the field on a solo mission and dispatch 50 men. Plus the primary target, which often happens to be an evil dictator is simply does not happen.
More often than not, private military contractors are used in a defense of capacity. Rather than offenses such as guarding oil fields or valuable personnel or other property. They do not operate on the front lines of a given war, but rather operate any strategic capacity in a hostile environment. That being said, however, there are individuals that do operate in an offense capacity with a specific objective such as to weed out a rebel leader or a terrorist cell. Generally when this happens, a specific company is contracted by a government that does not have the resources to combat a particular threads with their own internal forces (Africa and executive outcomes for instance).
For the most part however private military contractors operate in situations as previously discussed guarding a specific area or person or protecting goods in transport. Also, most notably, private military organizations operate in an educational capacity, meaning that they provide training to indigenous forces such as Iraq, the police etc. as the military does not have the resources and/or time to devote a regular soldier. To this endeavor because it is simply not cost-effective. So in these instances, private contractors are used.
The thing that makes the modern private contractors so unique and so interesting is that this period of history has seen an absolute explosion in the use of privatized military force in the war against anti-terrorism in the modern world. Perhaps this is because most of the first world nations military forces have seen significant downsizing in recent years. And they simply do not have the resources to meet all of the needs that this new type of warfare places on the armed services in many countries.
Either way, the number of contractors in the modern theater of warfare that the world is currently engaged in seems to be about one in 10 contractors as compared to the statistics with the first Gulf War which seemingly was one hundred governmental soldiers for every private contractor.
Some individuals feel that such an extensive use of private contracting organizations undermines the legitimacy of governmental military operations simply because these private military contractors have little or no regulation in a given theater of operation and there is also the simple fact that one cannot force a civilian contractor to do anything at any point. If they wish, they may cancel their contract and go home, which means that they can be considered to be somewhat unreliable. Unlike a government also under the last taken an oath to defend their country. Even at the expense of their life. This means that they will follow all reasonable orders given to them without question. The fact that a private contractor can pull out at any time has some people wondering about the stability of military operations. When they are relying on so heavily for most of the infrastructure duties in various theaters of operation.
Again, the fear of a private military contractor, switching sides or walking away from a battlefield comes from the Middle Ages and the free companies in Italy that often switch sides. If the pay was better, most modern-day mercenaries were private contractors do not have the luxury of switching sides on the fly as it is their reputation and integrity that they are utilizing in a new profession as a military contractor. No one is going to hire an individual to protect something of value. If they believe there is even the slightest possibility of the company or individuals that they have hired switching sides. At the moment of greatest need.
Most private military contractors get a bad rap. The vast majority of these men and women are highly dedicated and highly motivated individuals that take great pride in their work. And although they may be receiving a higher standard of pay than they did when they were in the governmental forces. This does not mean that they have any less integrity. They just simply want to apply a specific skill set and I'm a living in a way that best suits them and their personality.
As a matter of fact, the vast majority of individuals are not aware that during the American Revolution. The vast majority of troops on the ground were not British, but were German mercenaries hired from all the various German kings and regions of the German domains, because Britain was busy fighting a war with Napoleon and did not have the resources to fight a prolonged war on two continents as it was originally believed that the American Revolution would be over in a matter of weeks may be months. At the outside, but not something that would drag on for eight years. So the British government outsourced in these duties to German mercenaries known as Haitians that were in German units and under the command of German-speaking officers working for the British government after the war of Independence was over a considerable number of the German soldiers stayed behind as they remarked on how similar the topography of the New World and the old actually were, this is also why certain areas of the United States. Historically have had a heavier German population. In other areas. The original German immigrants to the United States, where the remnants of the German freelancers/mercenaries that were hired on behalf of the British. And since they were not getting any extra pay, other than standard military wages at the time, because the fee for their services had been paid directly to their king or prince of their realm. These soldiers felt no particular allegiance to the British or their homeland once the conflict had ended
There were also a considerable number of mercenaries/private contracting individuals that far on behalf of the Continental Army from German to French and even Dutch. As these armies were some of the best trained in the world at the time, next to the British of course. And the help of these private military individuals was an absolute necessity to the Continental Army simply because they call them he did not have any legitimate combat experience with a standing army of a first world nation. So it is funny to speculate on whether or not, without the help of mercenaries. If there would be a United States at all :-).
So the next time you hear someone commenting on private military contractors/mercenaries in a negative way. Stop and think for a moment that these men and women are performing a valuable service that most individuals are not willing to do, such as go into hostile territory and protect a supply train or make sure that a very important person gets from point a to point B. safely. It takes a very special kind of individual to do this work and perform a service that without which would place even more strain on an already stressed out governmental force.
Now, I'm not saying that every company has a stellar reputation and that every individual working as a contractor/mercenary is representing the profession in the light that they should, because as with any other business. There are bound to be somewhat unscrupulous individuals. However just because the less scrupulous individuals are the ones that get all the media attention. One should not assume that every private contractor/mercenary is a cowboy is just looking to carry a gun and get paid to shoot at people.
Freedom of any kind, is it really free, and the reason that people can enjoy a the concept of freedom anywhere in the world as they know it is because hard men stand ready to do whatever is necessary so that they may enjoy that freedom.
Head down powder dry and Semper Fi!!
