“Contractors offer a wide range of services, from transportation, construction and basic support to intelligence analysis and private security,” CRS notes. “The benefits of using contractors include the release of uniformed personnel to conduct combat operations; provide expertise in specialized areas such as linguistics or weapon system maintenance; and provide a surge capability that rapidly provides critical support capabilities tailored to specific military requirements. Not only are there caps on the number of government employees, but there are also caps on government salaries that ignore market realities – and that, too, has stimulated the trend towards outsourcing. It may be politically popular in a country with a median household income of $51,000 to require that no federal employee receive more than the $174,000 earned by a congressman, but it is quite difficult for the government to recruit and retain the lawyers, economists, biochemists, and software engineers it needs. if they can earn two or three times as much in the private sector. It is therefore not surprising that the only way for government managers to accomplish their mission is to outsource their brains and offload high-level work to private companies that have the flexibility to pay market prices to their workers. The bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000 proved to be a pivotal moment for private military contractors at sea and led directly to the first contract between Blackwater and the US military.[14] [15] Following the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, the US State Department reportedly planned to more than double the number of its private security forces. up to 7,000. Defending five fortified installations across the country, security companies would use radars to warn of enemy missile attacks, search for roadside bombs, fly reconnaissance drones and even staff rapid reaction forces to help civilians in need. The helicopter fleet, piloted by contractors, will increase from 17 to 29. [52] With the partial government shutdown in its fourth week, hundreds of thousands of federal employees were furloughed or forced to work without pay. The company`s first mission was to travel to Yemen to report on the state of royalist forces when a ceasefire was declared. At the same time, Stirling maintained contacts with the Iranian government and explored opportunities to find work in Africa.

The company eventually operated in Zambia and Sierra Leone, providing training teams and advice on security issues. Stirling also arranged deals to sell British arms and military personnel to other countries for various privatized foreign policy operations. The contracts were concluded mainly with the Gulf States and concerned the supply of weapons and training. The company has also been linked to a failed attempt to oust 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 be actively involved in 1972. [8] According to a 2008 study by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, private contractors make up 29% of the U.S. intelligence community workforce and cost the equivalent of 49% of their human resources budget. [6] Light, one of the leading federal labour agencies, has long been concerned about the rapid growth of contractors` “shadow government.” In the report, Light wrote that contract employees “work in a hidden bureaucratic pyramid.” While presidential candidates often campaign on promises to reduce the size of the federal government, Light noted that these promises often don`t take into account the size of entrepreneurs. By the end of 2012, the number of entrepreneurs who died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait had reached 3,000. The scientists investigated whether the deaths of contractors have an impact on the public`s “casualty sensitivity” when replaced by military victims. [31] Casualty sensitivity refers to the inverse relationship between military deaths and public support for sustained military engagement. Contractor deaths could account for nearly 30 percent of total U.S.

battlefield casualties since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [32] As a result, many NGOs are not open about their use of PSPs, and studies by researchers at the Overseas Development Institute have shown that statements at NGO headquarters sometimes contradict those of local staff. [51] This prevents the informative exchange of knowledge and debate on the issue necessary to improve NGO decisions on this issue, although there have been some notable exceptions (Afghan NGO Security Office (ANSO) and NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI)). [51] The private security provider meets many different requirements in the private and public sectors. While some countries rely heavily on the input of governments like the U.S., other countries don`t trust the U.S., so they tend to look for private contractors who have a fiduciary duty. According to Joel Vargas, Director of Operations for Contingent Security Services, Ltd and Deputy Director for InterPort Police, it will be impossible to build democracies without the support of the private sector conducting business for customers. [ref. As militarized conflict continues in the Middle East, particularly in Afghanistan, world powers in the region are exploring alternative methods of deploying domestic armies abroad.

While stationing troops abroad to wage interstate wars is the norm, intra-state or civil warfare may require different strategies to deal with insurgent guerrilla tactics in politically unstable countries. To this end, countries are increasingly using private military security companies (PMSCs). These soldiers are not directly employed by a state government, but are part of a private collective paid for security-related tasks in conflicting states. Blackwater, a notable PMSC, was widely used in Iraq from the early to mid-2000s. Since 2009, U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have increased the ratio of U.S. contractors to troops from 1:1 to 3:1. The use of PMSCs has declined significantly since then, but new proposals to the U.S. and Afghan governments aim to re-establish PMSCs in Afghanistan, raising serious concerns about the fair use of force in war and the treatment of civilians in countries in conflict. The increased use of private militias has obscured and weakened international law. Under the 1989 International Convention on the Recruitment, Deployment, Financing and Training of Mercenaries, the use and recruitment of mercenaries is prohibited by law.

However, the resolution has only been ratified by 35 countries. Major military powers such as the United States and Russia, which rely heavily on PMSCs, have unsurprisingly rejected the treaty. The State`s interest in mercenaries stems from a notoriously flawed international law; One of them was impunity and imbued with injustice. PSC.3 – MATURITY MODEL FOR THE PHASED INTRODUCTION OF A QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR PRIVATE SECURITY SERVICE PROVIDERS[55] The development of PSC.3 was completed and approved in January 2013. PSC.3 will benefit private security service providers by improving the quality of their services in accordance with respect for human rights and legal and contractual obligations. It provides a foundation for risk management while reducing costs, demonstrating regulatory compliance, improving stakeholder relationships and meeting customer expectations. The model standard describes six phases, ranging from no quality assurance management process to the requirements of the standard. Criteria based on the core elements of ANSI/ASIS PSC.1-2012 can be used to demonstrate continuous improvement and are compatible with reward and recognition programs. PSC.2 – CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT AND AUDIT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANIES[55] This standard provides requirements and guidelines for conducting conformity assessment of the Private Security Company (CSP) Operating Quality Standard. It includes requirements for entities that perform third-party audits and certification of the operations of private security companies – private security providers working for each client. It provides requirements and guidance for the management of audit programs, the conduct of internal or external audits of the PSC`s management system and operations, and the competence and evaluation of auditors.

A dramatic growth in the number and size of PMCs occurred at the end of the Cold War, when Western governments began to increasingly rely on their services to support declining conventional military budgets. Largest companies include Vinnell and Military Professional Resources Inc. in the United States; G4S and Keeni-Meeny Services in the UK; Lordan-Levdan in Israel and executive results in South Africa. We congratulate Paul Light for bringing sunshine to shadow government.