Blackwater: American Mercenary Army

For those of you who aren't aware, only 2/3 of the American military forces in Iraq are employed by the American Government. The rest? Mercenaries. Private military contractors. Whatever you want to call them. Better trained than Navy SEALS, and higher paid too, these guys are the Men in Blacks and the Rambos of military forces... for the right amount. Although most of their contracts are with the U.S. Government, there are private firms that hire Blackwater (one of the best known private military companies) employees.

There are certainly perks to being a part of Blackwater as opposed to being in the U.S. Army, Navy, or Air Force. At Blackwater you'll get better training for starters. Think the kind of stuff you see in movies. These guys are the best of the best, and probably have tricks up their sleeves that we wouldn't even think of. In addition to that, they get to choose their assignments. Rather than getting shipped of to some other country without any say in the matter, they can play it safe and go with the simple jobs if they want. Of course, there is more money to be earned doing more dangerous work.

They are the strongest, the smartest, and the most determined (it costs $20,000 just to get their training). They do a lot of bodyguard and military escort, kind of work, but if there is a need for front line stuff they can handle that too. They are starting to rent out their services to international customers in need of 'peace keeping forces.' It seems like it is only a few short steps before it is a full-fledged mercenary army; highly trained soldiers and good guns, about $1,000 per day per man, they have what it takes to demolish just about any force they go up against. Military superiority to the highest bidder.

There is a very good and quite extensive article on Blackwater here: http://hamptonroads.com/node/66331