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Not Mercenaries

America isn’t a signatory to that treaty, even though the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries prohibits its signatories from using mercenaries, or from raising mercenary troops. A Department of Defense mandate enables PMCs working under the auspices of a U.S. government contract to protect themselves, their customer, and their customer’s assets, but a military commander must ensure the PMC doesn’t participate in military operations, such as raids or pre-emptive strikes against opposing forces.

Experience Needed

The biggest U.S. PMC, Constellis, supplies security staff to the authorities. Constellis requires its security staff to get at least two years of expertise in physical security, DoD anti-terrorism and force protection, and investigation and interview techniques. An appropriate background includes service with the U.S. Army military police, U.S. Air Force Security Service, or military intelligence service. A high school diploma or its equivalent is mandatory; however, an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in a security or political science-related discipline is preferred. U.S. citizenship and security clearance, or the skill to get a security clearance, are needed for many duties.

Physical conditions

Security staff should have the strength to wear proper personal protective gear, like Kevlar vests and helmets, during prolonged high-risk conditions. They need to survive prolonged intervals of combat and not be concerned about poor living conditions in distant places. International or national travel, often on short notice, is needed as well as multi-lingual skills.

Prognosis and Pay

Details on pay and job satisfaction for foreign military contractors are sketchy and anecdotal. However, the private citizen with military expertise will benefit so long as authorities will willingly pay for private security contractors, and they typically receive a 6-figure salary.

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Trustworthiness depends on a person’s allegiance to the United States, character and health issues. For example, what a person spends money on, timeliness of payments, relationships, etc. are identified in credit reports. The credit check goes a long way in addressing all three issues. Therefore the NACI is not thorough enough to make a security clearance determination.

An example of a position that requires a NACI is for those performing information technology roles. These professionals are privy to sensitive but unclassified government and contractor information that reside on computer systems and networks. This information includes technical data, personnel records, contract data, programmatic details and etc. Because of the sensitivity, a background investigation is required.

The NACI is good for 5 years and the elements include a completed National Agency Check where federal agency databases are queried and a law enforcement check. Written correspondence is required to verify education, employment, and character references.