Contract Warriors

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TYPO Central

Good History Lesson for those Looking to work for a PMC

Contract Warriors

Thin in info and thin in thought

Could have been better

Contract Warriors
Fred Rosen
Manufacturer: Alpha
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Corporate Warriors (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)

A Bloody Business: America's War Zone Contractors and the Occupation of Iraq

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ASIN: 1592573029

Book Description

The complete history of soldiers for hire.

From Biblical times and the Crusades through the American Revolution up to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, mercenariesÂ—professional soldiers who contract themselves out to the highest bidderÂ—have played a vital role in most, if not all, military and paramilitary campaigns, helping to determine the victors and the vanquished. Contract Warriors reveals their compelling story for the first time.

Â• Why they fight (and for how much)
Â• How they fight
Â• The unique lifestyle of mercenaries both on and off the battlefield
Â• The spoils and business of war
Â• The current role of mercenaries in the worldÂ's arms trade
Â• The significance of the mercenary in popular culture and film
Featuring a special afterword by W. Thomas Smith Jr. and his interview with Richard Marcinko, military consultant and author of the bestselling book Rogue Warrior

Customer Reviews:

TYPO Central.......2007-02-23

So far this book has good info, but when there are so many typos that it is almost hard to understand, thats ridiculous. What did this guy pay his publishing company for. it hurts how many typos there are.

Good History Lesson for those Looking to work for a PMC.......2006-03-23

I enjoyed Contract Warriors and its in depth journey into the history of the "Merc". Having worked with many of them, I feel it was an honest and straight forward portrayal of the men who thirst for the work. It is not for everyone, with the pace at which companys are signing them up, I feel this would be a very good read for anyone interested in getting into the field of the "PMC Merc" business. Just remember it's a long way to the top if you want to "ROCK & Roll"......

Contract Warriors.......2006-01-07

Sex sells. And so does the word: mercenary. When I saw CONTRACT WARRIORS in a Washington, DC bookstore it caught my eye. Little credible information has been written about modern security contractors (aka. merc) and private security companies (PSC) who employ them. I am one of those professionals and decided to give Fred Rosen's book a read.

The book cover got my mind turning. It is a close up of a camouflaged face with a pair of eyes fixed on yours. Does it represent the people Rosen will write about? I think not.

The author opens the first chapter with the name, Tim Spicer, who used to head a British PSC called Sandline, and now heads a far bigger one, Aegis Defense, working in Iraq. Spicer's name is familiar to many in this specialized world. Opening with a well known and controversial figure sets the author's tone. But it also limits the scope for the informed reader. The world of today's security contractor is much larger than one person or company.

Rosen's recounting of the `mercenary through time' is his strongest suit. Beginning with Libyan mercenaries during the XXI to XXV Egyptian dynasties (ca. 1100-664 B.C.E.), through Hannibal's march across the Alps, we are lead to the present day mercenary in Chapter 6. A book like this should offer new historical information and I found the 1846 America's "mantle of Manifest Destiny" period, of particular interest. Rosen describes how the Mexican government convinced some US Irish Catholic immigrants to turn on their new country and fight Americans in the name of their religion. The most noted of these was John Riley, who served in a special unit called Saint Patrick Brigade (or San Patricios).

Where the book begins to weaken is in Chapter 8. The chapter offers a jagged presentation of a few companies currently providing services. But it lacks depth which might be sought after by readers. What criterion was used to select these PSCs and not others? For example, it includes a portion of Custer Battles in-house brochures, which makes their marketing pitch for services. The author writes in response, "The brilliant analysis of the situation in Iraq explains what a modern PMC should be doing: identifying and quantifying the risk, offering a solution to a client, implementing it with a clear goal in mind." What he doesn't mention is that Custer Battles was prosecuted for over billing the U.S. government.

Reporting of other companies in this chapter would have been more useful if a business template, or similar device, was used to measure a company against some professional standard. One example would be the code of conduct being promoted through the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA). Focusing in on Iraq, the conflict has been a `comes as you are business opportunity'. The results have been a mixed bag of successes and failures for PSCs. A fresh look through new eyes would have been more practical. Examination of company structures, business plans and due diligence would benefit the reader when separating the good, bad and ugly.

The Special Afterword by W. Thomas Smith Jr. inserts out of context statements and inaccuracies. He says,"In Iraq, for instance, mercs on patrol or conducting other combat operations routinely work 13-hour days, 6 days per week." While he states the work hours correctly, he is misleading in his reference of combat operations vs. defensive security activities.

He states, "Critics continue to voice displeasure over the employment of contract warriors..." and proceeds to quote David Isenberg, a then senior analyst with the Center for Defense Information, in a 1997 monograph titled "Soldiers of Fortune, Ltd.-A Profile of Today's Private Sector Corporate Mercenary Firms." Since I know Isenberg I asked him about the quote. It appears Smith reported what he found useful but changed the context.

Isenberg sent the following in response to our conversation:

"I would note that Smith is selective in what he took from me. For example, he quoted the first part of a graf, but not the second."

Smith concludes this section with an interview conducted with Richard Marcinko, a former US Navy SEAL author of Rogue Warrior and numerous other books. I have personally heard Marchinko speak and think someone else would have been more qualified for the purpose of this interview. When asked one question by Smith, "Why would a merc hopeful contact you for mercenary training, if they are going to be trained by the company contracting them?" Marcinko replied, in part, the applicant can say, "Hey, I'm Dick Marcinko-trained." Then the company will say, "Well, if you are Rogue-Warrior-trained, you must be okay." As a statement illustrating the hype and hucksterism one often finds in the industry it is priceless, but as a serious response to a serious question it is pathetic.

CONTACT WARRIORS is worth the read but holds only limited value for the serious reader seeking to further define and understand the role of modern day security contractors.

About the reviewer: Lyle Hendrick is a former US Special Forcers officer who has worked in Iraq as a security contractor with the Captured Enemy Ammunition (CEA) program, regional security manager for reconstruction projects and is returning as a country security manager.

Thin in info and thin in thought .......2005-07-31

Contractors in war is certainly the topic of today, especially when you tie the war on terrorism into it, which is probably why a book with such little insight, information, and thought was published. Despite the title, the book does not address how mercenaries have changed history and the war on terrorism.

Rosen starts off making the claim that Tim Spicer changed the way "mercenaries" are perceived by creating a business corporation that could function in the legal realm. An interesting thought but, unfortunately, a conclusion he does not support. Instead he presents 96 pages (out of 202) of anecdotal and poorly written history that superficially traces the historical use of mercenaries from ancient times into the 1990s. None of the 96 pages (Chapters 4-7) supports his argument and generally it is a history of the conventional concept of bad-boy mercenaries. He follows with one chapter (8) that's nothing more that a who's-who of today's government contractors, or Professional Military Corporations (PMC). The last chapter (9) is just a description of stereotypical bad-boy mercenaries who were allegedly involved in a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guiana, yet were not working for a PMC. It's almost as if he can make his argument with a, "guilt by association approach;" if he mentions PMCs in the same book and chapter as evil mercenaries then we'll agree with him.

Another problem is sloppy writing. The book suffers from poor transitions, poor editing, and a lack of precise writing. For example, the nation of Colombia is misspelled as Columbia, a common error made by those not familiar with Latin America. Another example is when he states that Franco led the Loyalists during the Spanish Civil War, then says the Abraham Lincoln Brigade fought, "for the Loyalist cause." He then has the Abraham Lincoln Brigade attacking the Nationalists (with whom Franco was associated) - all within the space of a few paragraphs. As if this were not enough, he makes the statement that "killing technology," as exemplified by the atomic bomb, created less opportunity for mercenaries, which, "partially accounted for all the ill-trained men who fought for the Republicans during the Spanish civil war." Although one can figure out kinda' what Rosen is really saying, the fact that the atom bomb wasn't used until 1945, and the Spanish Civil War occurred in the late 1930s creates a bit of discomfort.

A crucial problem with the book is that Rosen never defines the term mercenary in a book in which he tries to link PMCs with mercenaries. In fact, throughout the book he uses the term mercenary so loosely that he even applies it to immigrants who joined their adopted country's militaries. When he applies the term mercenaries to the Rough Riders of the Spanish American War, the only proof he offers is that there were soldiers with "foreign" names on the roles. He also says that Americans working for the American CIA in Vietnam were mercenaries as were Irishmen who served in the British army during those centuries when Ireland was part of the United Kingdom.

It's hard to believe that Rosen is both a journalist and a adjunct professor of criminal justice. The writing, poorly thought out concepts, and a basic lack of the ability to support his thesis with information related to his argument belongs to an undergraduate's research paper - and a bad one at that.

Could have been better.......2005-07-18

This was an interesting book. The writing (and editing) weren't really that great, but I was expecting a bit more substance.

The author gave an overview of mercenary operations over an extended period of history and then gave relatively short shrift to current operations, particulalry in Iraq, where PMC's (Private Military Companies) are making sinful amounts of money out of the ongoing debacle in Iraq.

The author doesn't appear to have an agenda with this book, other than to get published and make money the sad thing is that with a little more homework and fact checking, he could have done something special.

CSC continues support of Army's land warrior system.: An article from: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor

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CSC continues support of Army's land warrior system.: An article from: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor

Manufacturer: Millin Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on March 31, 2003. The length of the article is 437 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: CSC continues support of Army's land warrior system.
Publication: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 31, 2003
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 44 Issue: 13 Page: 8

Distributed by Thomson Gale

CSC continues support of Army's Land Warrior system.: An article from: Federal Computer Market Report

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CSC continues support of Army's Land Warrior system.: An article from: Federal Computer Market Report

Manufacturer: Millin Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Security | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Federal Computer Market Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on March 31, 2003. The length of the article is 437 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: CSC continues support of Army's Land Warrior system.
Publication: Federal Computer Market Report (Newsletter)
Date: March 31, 2003
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 27 Issue: 6 Page: 1

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Road warrior: rivals gear up to build new tactical trucks.(tactical vehicles) : An article from: National Defense

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Road warrior: rivals gear up to build new tactical trucks.(tactical vehicles) : An article from: National Defense
Stew Magnuson
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Industry | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000EWAZ4U
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Book Description

This digital document is an article from National Defense, published by Thomson Gale on February 1, 2006. The length of the article is 3231 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Road warrior: rivals gear up to build new tactical trucks.(tactical vehicles)
Author: Stew Magnuson
Publication: National Defense (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 90 Issue: 627 Page: 38(5)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

We are warriors!: an Air Force Finance Iraq deployment experience-Part 2.: An article from: Air Force Comptroller

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We are warriors!: an Air Force Finance Iraq deployment experience-Part 2.: An article from: Air Force Comptroller
Robert Davis
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B000J3OF8Q
Release Date: 2006-09-27

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Air Force Comptroller, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2005. The length of the article is 2106 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: We are warriors!: an Air Force Finance Iraq deployment experience-Part 2.
Author: Robert Davis
Publication: Air Force Comptroller (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 39 Issue: 2 Page: 10(4)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Tom Hayden, antiwar activist of the 1960s, has lately been spending much time exploring his ancestors' lives in the Ireland of the famine years. Enlisting contributors on both sides of the water, among them Eavan Boland, Jimmy Breslin, Seamus Heaney, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, and Tim Pat Coogan, Hayden here offers a collection of personal responses to that historic catastrophe--which, more than one essayist notes, not only killed and displaced millions of Irish but also undid much of traditional Irish culture, for, as Ní Dhomhnaill notes, 90 percent of the Famine's victims were monolingual Irish speakers, and with them perished a huge store of knowledge and memory. She also remarks that the Irish have done much to come to terms with the catastrophe in recent years; "it is a sign of our recovery from the collective trauma of the Famine that we can finally objectify it, and put it outside our psyche, the better to study it objectively."

Some of the pieces are less successful, but most have a fine air of both scholarly solidity and political engagement. Hayden brackets the collection with sensitive essays on his explorations of the past, noting that American Indians from a soon-to-be-displaced eastern tribe sent $170 in relief funds to Ireland, recognizing, as he suggests, that they had much in common with their fellow sufferers at the hands of empire. --Gregory McNamee

Customer Reviews:

Excellent!!!.......2005-03-02

Being Irish, I have long been interested in the Great Famine which destroyed a third of Ireland's population. This book is unlike anything I have ever come across: these essays insist that the famine cannot be studied as an isolated historical event, such as the Great Depression, or a war. Rather, the famine is seen as the end of a civilization, of an entire culture. A better anaology would be to compare it to the destruction of the Aztecs; what once existed was gone forever and to be replaced by a new order. Pre-famine Irish were gaelic speaking peasants who enjoyed an oral culture. There is almost nothing left of these people - the Irish museums have no artifacts, no written accounts. Nothing survived of these people, and what we do know about the famine comes largely from the observations of dispassionate English politicians.

This books examines how the famine has become deeply woven into the Irish psyche; how it has become a part of the Irish collective consciousness and has shaped all that has transpired since. This is truly a novel approach, and one that I found to be very compelling. This is a book to be owned.

Beginner's Guide to the Famine.......2000-01-04

Here is a collection of essays by Irish men and women (as well as Irish-Americans) edited by Tom Hayden that accomplish a number of tasks:

* Giving historical information about the famine * Describing how it affected their families * And saying how they will move on knowingly

It includes people such as Gabriel Byrne, Jimmy Breslin to Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney. It isn't the definitive historical work on either Irish history (in general) or the Famine (in particular). It is, though, a good starting place.

Book Description

Beautifully packaged, pocket-sized references to feeling good inside and out, these guides focus on nutrition and exercise with advice, tips, and methods for achieving maximum physical and mental health.

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Comiendo Bien (Yellow Umbrella Books (Spanish))

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Comiendo Bien (Yellow Umbrella Books (Spanish))
Lisa Trumbauer
Manufacturer: Yellow Umbrella Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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Alim?ntelos bien para que vayan a la escuela: comida saludable: como padre es importante que se interese por la nutrici?n de sus hijos, ya que de una buena ... Comiendo bien.: An article from: Semana

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Alim?ntelos bien para que vayan a la escuela: comida saludable: como padre es importante que se interese por la nutrici?n de sus hijos, ya que de una buena ... Comiendo bien.: An article from: Semana
Sindy M. Ortega
Manufacturer: Spanish Publications, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Spanish Publications, Inc. on August 10, 2003. The length of the article is 873 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Alim?ntelos bien para que vayan a la escuela: comida saludable: como padre es importante que se interese por la nutrici?n de sus hijos, ya que de una buena alimentaci?n depende su rendimiento acad?mico en la escuela. Pero ?qu? tan responsables son las escuelas para mejorar la alimentaci?n del ni?o? Comiendo bien.
Author: Sindy M. Ortega
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 10, 2003
Publisher: Spanish Publications, Inc.
Volume: 9 Issue: 545 Page: S6(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Using a carefully selected set of countries in South and Central America, this collection illustrates the distinctive political paths of each country, while clarifying the extent to which the region's populist tradition as a whole has adapted to new economic realities. The contributors explore how the triumph of neoliberal-inspired economic restructuring in the 1980s and 90s failed to cause the political demise of populist movements. They also look at how Latin American populist parties have survived the transition to the much-harsher era of free markets, while keeping their party popularity.

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