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| Home Front: Tech |
| Private Armies |
| 2005-09-23 |
| More and more, force projection has become an expensive proposition. And yet the clients in need of soldiers capable of deploying where needed around the world continues to grow. No longer only in the realm of nations; corporations and other organizations who could not possibly afford to create or maintain a mercenary army, can now afford to rent one. There has long been a stigma associated with mercenaries, often with much justification. But in the future, mercenaries may be seen as performing roles for which military personnel are ill-suited. Nations are often willing to commit soldiers to protect their citizens living in other countries, but only if those citizens have no other organization to look to for support and are in grave danger. Corporations in such cases, are becoming more and more willing to look after their employees, and long before they are at imminent risk. Other organizations, even humanitarian organizations, are caught in the dilemma of personnel who are only trained to operate in safe situations. Much of the criticisms leveled against them are based on the fact that they are utterly defenseless, even against modest aggression. Hiring a security detachment could allow them in to far more areas than they can now go. And some humanitarian missions could even operate if they had to "go in shooting" as combatants, to deliver humanitarian supplies to non-combatants, past an army hostile to the despised civilians. Last but not least, the US is engaging in an experiment with having what are in essence mercenaries provide services and support to its soldiers in the field. Such assignments are, of course, non-combatant, excepting those who operate in parallel missions to combat soldiers. With the conclusion of the Iraq-Afghanistan campaign, there will be an enormous number of skilled ex-military personnel whose talents could prove to be of great value to the US in particular and the world in general. Such personnel could perform peacekeeping functions for the United Nations, perhaps even as a permanent UN force, deliver supplies for the Red Cross, provide rescue services in disaster areas, security services for corporations and friendly governments, logistics support for deployed armies, and most of all act as skilled "surge" or "temp" personnel in time of great need. Their price would be high, but far lower than keeping a standing army to do the same. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |