Hired Guns

[Slim]

This is a very interesting story I saw over at SOCNET.

Never before in a war zone has the United States relied so much on private citizens to perform military functions. Security firms such as DynCorp and Kroll, retained on State Department and Pentagon contracts worth billions of dollars, have sent thousands of civilian contractors to do the work that the undermanned U. S. military can‘t. Here, for the first time, the inside story of the private armies of Operation Iraqi Freedom

https://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?item_id=366991

 

[Thompson_JM]

Wow... certainly illustrates the pros and cons of being a merc.

the money is good, as long as you dont mind sacrificing your sanity and possibly your life...

I‘ll stick with the CF for now...
and probabbly for a long time to come.

 

[Slim]

I may be opening myself up to criticism when I say this but, techniquely speaking, they wouldn‘t really be mercenaries. More like private bodyguards.

NOTE: These individuals are also rather sensitive to the difference.

Slim

 

[Engineer Corporal]

Excellent story thanks for posting.

 

[Slim]

More on the "Hired Guns"

*Blackwater Hooyah!
(In the spirit of the Texas Rangers ( not the baseball team) Who‘s
motto is.... "One Riot, One Ranger". Chris) "An attack by hundreds
of Iraqi militia members on the U.S. government‘s headquarters in
Najaf on Sunday was repulsed not by the U.S. military, but by eight
commandos from a private security firm, according to sources familiar
with the incident. Before U.S. reinforcements could arrive, the
firm, Blackwater Security Consulting, sent in its own helicopters
amid an intense firefight to resupply its commandos with ammunition
and to ferry out a wounded Marine, the sources said. The role of
Blackwater‘s commandos in Sunday‘s fighting in Najaf illuminates the
gray zone between their formal role as bodyguards and the realities
of operating in an active war zone. Thousands of armed private
security contractors are operating in Iraq in a wide variety of
missions and exchanging fire with Iraqis every day, according to
informal after-action reports from several companies. In Sunday‘s
fighting, Shiite militia forces barraged the Blackwater commandos,
four MPs and a Marine gunner with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47
fire for hours before U.S. Special Forces troops arrived. A sniper on
a nearby roof apparently wounded three men. U.S. troops faced heavy
fighting in several Iraqi cities that day. The Blackwater
commandos, most of whom are former Special Forces troops, are on
contract to provide security for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional
Authority (CPA) in Najaf. With their ammunition nearly gone, a
wounded and badly bleeding Marine on the rooftop, and no
reinforcement by the U.S. military in the immediate offing, the
company sent in helicopters to drop ammunition and pick up the
Marine." (I‘m guess that certain Iraqi factions have no idea as to
the level of "payback" possible....)

 

[Infanteer]

Blackwater employees defending US compound at Najaf.

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

The weapon of the gentleman with the helmet can someone identify that for me?

 

[xFusilier]

It‘s a Minimi or M249 I believe is the US designation for it.

 

[axeman]

M-249 is correct or in canadian C-9

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

The foreguards and buttstock threw me off.

 

[ArmyBrat]

The Minimi and M249 are different weapons, no?

 

[axeman]

Yes they are the same weapons with Minor changes.foreguards and buttstock