Today we will talk a little about private military companies, the idea of creating which belongs to David Stirling (about him was described in the last article: "David Stirling, Special Air Service and PMC Watchguard International").
This idea of the founder of SAS turned out to be very successful, now private military companies operate in hot spots around the world, their annual turnover has long exceeded $ 100 billion. And private military companies these days are no longer dubious offices for the hiring of adventurers ready to go anywhere, who only know how to handle weapons well, but reputable companies that completely legally conclude multimillion-dollar contracts with the governments of different countries. And many specialists from these companies now have a university education and can work not only with machine guns and explosives. Another thing is that not all the nuances of these transactions become public knowledge, and some of these contracts are completely secret and not subject to disclosure.
Private military companies can now help protect merchant and cargo ships in risky shipping areas, transport valuables and large sums of cash, accompany businessmen or politicians in dangerous places, train security personnel of large corporations, repair and maintain military equipment. But they can also provide more "delicate" services: planning special operations, collecting intelligence information and even conducting military actions.
In addition, it turned out that it is more convenient to use the services of "private traders" (since there is no need to seek the consent of the US Congress or Parliament, if we are talking about European countries) and it is cheaper than using official structures and divisions. A separate "bonus" is the fact that the government is not directly responsible for the actions of PMC mercenaries, and their death does not cause a public outcry.
It is not surprising that the market for services provided by various PMCs was developing rapidly, and, according to the British magazine The Economist, already in 2012 its turnover was estimated at $ 100 billion.
Let's say right away that the activities of modern PMCs are so multifaceted, and the number of these "firms" is so great that in this article we will give only a brief overview and talk only about some of them.
The first private military company of Stirling (Watchguard International), as we remember, was closed in 1972, but already in 1973, with the assistance of the former commander of the Allied forces in Northern Europe Walter Walker, the UNISON PMC was created.
In 1974, PMC Vinnell Corp. was founded in the United States, which was lucky to conclude a lucrative contract in Saudi Arabia: its employees trained the National Guard of this country and took oil fields under protection.
In the same year, the famous PMC Kroll Security International was created in the United States, whose task at first was a private investigation, and then technical intelligence (the term "industrial espionage" will probably be more familiar) and the protection of various objects.
KSI was so successful that already in 2004 the number of its employees reached 3200, at that time it had 60 representations in 20 countries of the world. Kroll Security International has been seeking funds from former Philippine dictator Marcos, who fled Haiti Duvalier and even the executed Saddam Hussein. And in Russia she became widely known after her employees were involved in the search for the notorious "party gold" in early 1992 (the Russian treasury cost her services one and a half million dollars). The report, provided by Kroll Security International, was lost in the offices of E. Gaidar's government, its content is unknown. According to rumors, some money, indeed, was found, but ended up on the accounts of the wrong persons that were "ordered".
Later, one of the KSI employees stated that "the Russian government gave the impression of people who did not need the ordered information."
In 1975, two more PMCs appeared: Control Risks Group and Security Advisory Services. From the article "Bob Denard, Jean Schramme, Roger Folk and Mike Hoare: The Fate of the Condottieri", you should remember that the founders of Security Advisory Services named it so that the abbreviations of their brainchild and the famous British Special Air Service unit sound identical. And that several former employees of this PMC were in Mike Hoare's detachment when he tried to carry out a coup d'etat in the Seychelles in 1981.
In 1976, this pseudo-SAS gained worldwide fame after, during the trial in Luanda, 96 European mercenaries were proven to be involved in hostilities in Angola, 36 of whom were killed, 5 were missing, 1 was captured and was shot.
In 1977, Major David Walker founded the PMC Keenie Meenie Services and the subsidiary "firm" Saladin Security Ltd, which, as we remember, in the last years of his life was headed by David Stirling himself. Keenie Meenie Services later trained Sri Lankan special forces units that were used to fight the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Nicaraguan contras fighters. In his work against Nicaragua, Walker worked closely with the deputy chief of the National Security Council, Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North. It all ended with the scandalous Operation Democracy, better known as the Iran-Contra affair: financing the counter-revolutionaries of Nicaragua at the expense of profits from illegal (bypassing the UN embargo) arms sales to Iran. It was David Walker who was accused of the terrorist attack in Managua, when the headquarters and barracks of the Sandinista army and weapons depots were blown up on March 5, 1985. Walker did not confirm his participation, but he did not categorically deny it either.
KMS was also suspected of training Afghan mujahideen in camps located in Pakistan.
In the early 90s, after a series of high-profile scandals that had a great negative impact on the reputation of this PMC, it was disbanded.
In 1981, former SAS officer Alistair Morrison created PMC Defense Systems Limited, whose employees at various times worked as instructors for special forces in the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Mozambique, Uganda, Botswana, Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Singapore … In 1982, DFS provided security for the Angolan enterprises of De Beers, in 1986 - participated in the creation of a plantation security system for the Lonhro Corporation (Mozambique). And in the 90s, this PMC signed contracts for the protection of oil pipelines by Shell, Chevron and Texaco.
In 1989, the former head of the Western European division of the sabotage service of the South African Ministry of Defense, Eben Barlow, created the Executive Outcomes (EO) PMC, which in 1993 was hired by the Angolan government to train army units and operations against parts of the UNITA opposition movement.
After in Angola, in 1995, Executive Outcomes signed a similar contract in Sierra Leone, with 4 Russian-made helicopters initially operated by Russian and Belarusian crews (later replaced by South African ones).
On December 31, 1998, EO became part of the Strategic Resource Corporation, a private military company.
In addition to EO, other PMCs were created in South Africa: OSSI, Gray Security Services, Omega Risk Solutions, Panasec, Bridge Resources, Corporate Trading International, Strategie Concepts.
Defense Conseil Intemational, Le Graupe Barril Securite, Atlantic Intellegence, Eric SA worked in France.
In Britain, Sandline International was created, which, by the way, was the first in official documents to be called a "private military company" (in 1997). Other British PMCs were Tim Spicer's Trident Maritime and Aegis Defense Services. And Northbridge Services Group is a British-American PMC.
The most famous German private military company is currently Asgaard. On its emblem you can see a Viking ship and the words: "Loyalty, loyalty, discipline, honor, courage, duty."
Asgaard PMC employees:
The sphere of activity of "Asgard" officially declared the protection of diplomatic workers, personal protection of individuals, protection of various objects, "cleaning" of mined objects, information security, delivery of goods to dangerous points, or escort of the customer's transport.
A very reputable American PMC was Military Professional Resources Inc., headed by the former commander of the US Army James Minds, as well as the former commanders of American troops in Europe, John Galvin and Richard Rifitis.
It is believed that this PMC was very successful in the Balkans in the 90s. It is believed that it was her instructors and analysts (these specialists were engaged in the collection and processing of information) who played an important role in the victories over the Serbs in Western Slavonia (May 1–2, 1995), in Kninska Krajina (August 4–8, 1995) and in Bosnian Krajine (July-October 1995). And in 2008, its employees worked as instructors in Saakashvili's Georgian army. The successor to Military Professional Resources was the PMC Engility.
By the way, after the end of hostilities in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, it was private military companies that carried out mine clearance, earning about a billion dollars.
Another well-known American PMC, DynCorp International, was involved in the protection of Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide in the 1990s and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the 2000s, air transportation and security of US diplomatic missions in Iraq, and even work to eliminate the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina »In New Orleans (in 2005). The annual budget of this PMC in the best years reached $ 3 billion.
PMC FDG Corp., founded in 1996 by former US Marine Corps officer Andre Rodriguez, actively acted against pirates off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden region, assisted the Somali government in clearing various objects and territories. Its employees have also reported in Afghanistan and in the Gaza Strip.
In 1997, former Navy SEALs officer of the US Navy's Special Operations Force, Eric Prince, created one of the most famous (if not the most famous) private military companies in the United States - Blackwater. Later, he also created another PMC - SCG International Risk, and then Reflex Responses Company, which in 2011 signed a contract with the UAE to train units of the local foreign legion.
Jamie Smith, formerly of the CIA, became Vice President of Blackwater. Initially, the company provided instructor services, but in 2002 a division of Blackwater Security Consulting was opened, which recruited mercenaries.
This PMC was engaged in the protection of CIA officers in Afghanistan and State Department employees in Iraq, including the American "governor in Baghdad" Paul Bremer (head of the American administration in Iraq in 2003-2004). Blackwater Worldwide trained police officers from the states of Virginia (Virginia) and North Carolina. In 2005, during the floods caused by Hurricane Katrina, Blackwater employees participated in patrolling the streets of New Orleans and protecting various objects from looters.
During the work of Blackwater in Iraq, up to 10 thousand employees of this PMC participated in the implementation of various missions in this country, 780 of them died.
Blackwater became famous all over the world after on March 31, 2004 in Fallujah, a car with four of its employees was shot at and then blown up, whose bodies the Iraqis dragged along the streets for a long time, posing for numerous journalists, and then burned. Since Blackwater employees were dressed in modern camouflage uniforms, many (including journalists) initially mistook them for soldiers of the American army, and this caused a big scandal in the United States. The situation later cleared up, but "the sediment remained", and therefore the Pentagon later conducted a demonstration operation of retaliation in Fallujah (Phanthom Fury): during the assault on the city, 107 coalition soldiers were killed and 631 were wounded, and more than a thousand Iraqis were killed.
And on April 4, 2004, in Najaf, there was another high-profile incident involving Blackwater employees: the headquarters building, which was guarded by 8 PMC employees, 2 marines and several Salvadoran soldiers, was attacked by numerous Shiites (according to various estimates, from 700 to 2000 people) … The battle lasted almost a day and ended with the retreat of the attackers.
In September 2007, in Baghdad, Blackwater fighters came into conflict with Iraqis, whose car did not give way to them: in the ensuing shootout, 17 Iraqis were killed and 20 were injured (children were among the victims.). The scandal turned out to be very loud, the proceedings lasted for many years. As a result, three employees of this PMC received 15 years in prison, and the fourth received a life sentence. In 2015, Blackwater paid out $ 8 million to the families of Iraqi victims. She could afford it: only for the period from 1997 to 2010. PMC earned more than 2 billion dollars (with 1.6 billion of them - on the execution of the so-called "unclassified federal contracts", information about which is not subject to disclosure).
After this scandal, Blackwater PMC changed its name to Xe Services LLC, and in 2011 it became Academi.
In 2012, Academi fighters defeated Somali pirates operating in the Puntland area. When asked by a journalist how exactly his employees distinguish "pirates" from ordinary fishermen, Prince replied:
"When I see a few guys in a six-meter fishing boat in the center of the Gulf of Aden, and even with grenade launchers in their hands, I understand that they did not go out to sea to fish."
Other well-known and reputable American PMCs are currently considered Triple Canopy and Cubic corporation.
Not all of the operations of modern PMCs were successful, and the Blackwater scandals are not the worst failures of these "companies." One of the loudest and most resonant failures of private military companies was the participation of the British GSG in the civil war in Sierra Leone: the detachment sent there was defeated by the rebels, and the group leader was captured and eaten (not because the rebels were starving, but the British was very appetizing and tasty - for ritual purposes).
This, of course, is not a complete list of modern private military companies that were created at different times and in different countries of the world. Indeed, already in 2002, PMCs worked in 42 countries of the world, by this time their employees had taken part in 700 military conflicts. It is alleged that only in the American PMCs in 2008 worked up to 150 thousand people, carrying out various missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan. In Iraq for the period from 2000 to 2012. various PMCs earned over 350 billion dollars - they received them for organizing logistical support for the contingents of the United States and Great Britain: arranging bases, delivering goods (up to 10 thousand tons per day), protecting government officials and diplomats. Various PMCs performed the same functions during military operations in Afghanistan, and 600 of their employees have been killed in this country since 2002.
And in 2015, many first heard about the mysterious Wagner PMC, created in 2013 by the Russian branch of the international company Moran Security Group (specializing in protecting merchant ships from pirates). Many media outlets call the commander of this PMC a certain Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Utkin, who previously served in the GRU special forces and is very fond of Wagner's music (hence the name). After a reception hosted in the Kremlin in honor of the Heroes of the Fatherland on December 9, 2016, numerous reports appeared on the network about the presence of the alleged "Wagner" at this event. They claim that the real control of this PMC is carried out from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The Wagner group is credited with participating in hostilities in the Donbass, on the territory of Syria (in particular, they talk about the great role of the fighters of this PMC in the liberation of Palmyra), Sudan and Libya. Information about this private military company is very controversial, and we will probably not find out the truth about its activities soon. V. Putin said at a press conference in December 2018:
“If this Wagner group violates something, then the Prosecutor General's Office must give a legal assessment. Now about their presence somewhere abroad. If, I repeat again, they do not violate Russian law, they have the right to work, to push their business interests anywhere in the world."
PMC Wagner is not the first and not the only Russian PMC. These include, for example, the "Slavic Corps" (or "regiment", "legion"), which in 2013 was supposed to guard various government facilities and oil pipelines in Syria, but immediately suffered heavy losses and was evacuated to Russia. Moreover, already at the airport, the returning "volunteers" were arrested on charges of mercenary activity, and the leaders were then even sentenced to three years in prison. Mercenary activity in Russia is still officially prohibited, and PMCs are usually registered as private security companies - PSCs. From an interview in November 2008 given to the correspondent of "Komsomolskaya Pravda" A. Boyko, the head of another Russian PMC ("RSB-group", it also has a naval department), Oleg Krinitsyn, it became known that his employees receive weapons outside Russia: it is stored in closed containers on secure platforms on the high seas.
Other Russian PMCs also include Antiterror-Orel, Redut-Antiterror, Cossacks, E. N. O. T Corp., MAR, Feraks, Sarmat and some others.
All of them, of course, are much less known than the above-mentioned "Wagner Group". There are two possible reasons here: either their activity is not so large-scale, or the already "exposed" and advertised "Wagner" now performs, among other things, the function of a "smoke screen", covering other PMCs. In addition to Syria and Libya, foreign media find traces of Russian PMCs in Yemen, Sudan and even Brunei.
In the following articles we will return to the history of the French Foreign Legion. It is estimated that since 1960, France has carried out more than 40 military operations abroad, many of them on the African continent, and most of them have been in the forefront of the legion.
The most famous was Operation Bonite (better known as Leopard), which the Second Parachute Regiment of the Foreign Legion conducted in 1978 in Congo. This and much more will be discussed in the following articles.
