Private Military Companies

userfriendly2

Just wondering if there is anyone on here who has experience in any of these firms either at home or abroad and has any advice for people looking to get a foot into this line of work. And what lifes like working for some of these companies.

Sappa

userfriendly2 wrote: »

Just wondering if there is anyone on here who has experience in any of these firms either at home or abroad and has any advice for people looking to get a foot into this line of work. And what lifes like working for some of these companies.

I've a cousin working in this area for about 6 yrs.
He was in the paras for around 7 yr and started out in Iraq contracting,other countries in the middle east and he is now on the ships working a couple of months on and a few off.
I met him in Jan and he said the high of it is well over,contracts are harder to get and the money isn't as good.
From what I gather you would find it difficult to get in right now without a few connections,on the other hand it is handy work for the most part with great rewards for a single lad,he spends his time off in Asia enjoying himself.

userfriendly2

Yea I've noticed on a few websites(american ones) that the money isn't what it used to be.hard to find connections as i've only ever heard rumours of people working on the oil rigs and ships etc but sure i'll have to keep eyes and ears open as even if only temporary a few months could make a dent in the mortgage:D

Thanks sappa

Sappa

userfriendly2 wrote: »

Yea I've noticed on a few websites(american ones) that the money isn't what it used to be.hard to find connections as i've only ever heard rumours of people working on the oil rigs and ships etc but sure i'll have to keep eyes and ears open as even if only temporary a few months could make a dent in the mortgage:D

Thanks sappa

Rigs is what I'm presently training up for at the moment,it's costing me a lot and most of the courses are in Aberdeen.
I have one or two connections in the industry but I am under no illusion about the money at first it's not all high dollars and it will take a few yrs plus a little luck to land a decent gigg.
Security contracting they are reall going to becoming at your background,if you haven't a military or police background you won't have much chance.

userfriendly2

Sappa wrote: »

Rigs is what I'm presently training up for at the moment,it's costing me a lot and most of the courses are in Aberdeen.
I have one or two connections in the industry but I am under no illusion about the money at first it's not all high dollars and it will take a few yrs plus a little luck to land a decent gigg.
Security contracting they are reall going to becoming at your background,if you haven't a military or police background you won't have much chance.

Nice, What kind of courses do you do to train up for rigs and who runs them? I was having a look at various sites like easter hill and global risk managment(both the same i think), I'm ok on the military front but not a lot of experience(growing all the time though), i'm heading overseas shortly so that'll be something to add to the CV but the Leb will hardly stand up to the likes of Afghan or Iraq:(

cyrusdvirus

Investment will no doubt be along to impart his vast knowledge and experience for you lads...

OS119

userfriendly2 wrote: »

...to add to the CV but the Leb will hardly stand up to the likes of Afghan or Iraq:(

being brutally honest with you, there are so many blokes out there with bags of 'high-intensity' experience i'd be very wary of a PMC that would employ a bloke who's 'only' operational experience was UNFIL in the current recruiting climate.

thats not slagging down you, or your training or your experience - merely saying that that because of an accident of history there are great swaithes of people out there with much more experience than you competing for the same jobs. i know people who've got a couple of Afghan/Iraq tours in Coy Comd roles as well as a careers worth of PK/PE tours who've been told by reputable companies that they don't have enough/recent enough experience.

there are cowboys out there, you need to be very, very careful as being with PMC can go very, very wrong if its the wrong company - its not enough to ask random people on the net about this or that company: personally, the only PMC i'd work for is one where people i know personally work there and can give it a good review - ideally one born of experience of something going wrong.

if thats not open to you i suggest you look for another career - the risks of you making a mistake with a company are very severe, possibly fatal - or worse - and certainly fatally expensive.

Sappa

OS119 wrote: »

userfriendly2 wrote: »

...to add to the CV but the Leb will hardly stand up to the likes of Afghan or Iraq:(

being brutally honest with you, there are so many blokes out there with bags of 'high-intensity' experience i'd be very wary of a PMC that would employ a bloke who's 'only' operational experience was UNFIL in the current recruiting climate.

thats not slagging down you, or your training or your experience - merely saying that that because of an accident of history there are great swaithes of people out there with much more experience than you competing for the same jobs. i know people who've got a couple of Afghan/Iraq tours in Coy Comd roles as well as a careers worth of PK/PE tours who've been told by reputable companies that they don't have enough/recent enough experience.

there are cowboys out there, you need to be very, very careful as being with PMC can go very, very wrong if its the wrong company - its not enough to ask random people on the net about this or that company: personally, the only PMC i'd work for is one where people i know personally work there and can give it a good review - ideally one born of experience of something going wrong.

if thats not open to you i suggest you look for another career - the risks of you making a mistake with a company are very severe, possibly fatal - or worse - and certainly fatally expensive.

+1
From what my relative told me the majority of guys working with him were south African ex special forces or a mix of guys from Brit and American special forces.
He did some rough contracts for a while and the only reason he got the security contract on the tanker ships was directly as a result of these hardship posts.
Now he has an easy enough role on the boats basically providing security in the Indian ocean and once or twice in South America,ge said the guys on the boats stick around a lot longer as the danger is lower.

userfriendly2

Sappa wrote: »

being brutally honest with you, there are so many blokes out there with bags of 'high-intensity' experience i'd be very wary of a PMC that would employ a bloke who's 'only' operational experience was UNFIL in the current recruiting climate.

thats not slagging down you, or your training or your experience - merely saying that that because of an accident of history there are great swaithes of people out there with much more experience than you competing for the same jobs. i know people who've got a couple of Afghan/Iraq tours in Coy Comd roles as well as a careers worth of PK/PE tours who've been told by reputable companies that they don't have enough/recent enough experience.

there are cowboys out there, you need to be very, very careful as being with PMC can go very, very wrong if its the wrong company - its not enough to ask random people on the net about this or that company: personally, the only PMC i'd work for is one where people i know personally work there and can give it a good review - ideally one born of experience of something going wrong.

if thats not open to you i suggest you look for another career - the risks of you making a mistake with a company are very severe, possibly fatal - or worse - and certainly fatally expensive.

+1
From what my relative told me the majority of guys working with him were south African ex special forces or a mix of guys from Brit and American special forces.
He did some rough contracts for a while and the only reason he got the security contract on the tanker ships was directly as a result of these hardship posts.
Now he has an easy enough role on the boats basically providing security in the Indian ocean and once or twice in South America,ge said the guys on the boats stick around a lot longer as the danger is lower.[/Quote]

Yea i figured as much well all i can do is try to build up my experience as much as possible and try to get as many courses as possible and see where that takes me. Im not sure if id plan on making a career out of it but defo worth taking a year out when i have the right experience/connections.

That Investment fella is a wind up merchant, i was talking to his so called 2i/c roger and he didnt have a clue about any of what investment was harping on about. I had to play along with him for a while to satisfy my curiosity but yea based on what he and roger told me it all seems to be a practical joke/prank.

Anyway thanks so far lads appreciate the advice, more welcome:)

cyrusdvirus

userfriendly2 wrote: »

That Investment fella is a wind up merchant,

We were all well aware of that

userfriendly2 wrote: »

i was talking to his so called 2i/c roger and he didnt have a clue about any of what investment was harping on about.

Roger is real?? hmmmmm

userfriendly2 wrote: »

I had to play along with him for a while to satisfy my curiosity but yea based on what he and roger told me it all seems to be a practical joke/prank.

Wait, what??
... you were talking to roger and based on what he and roger told you it's a prank??? So Roger and Roger told you?

BigDuffman

Userfriendly, at the risk of hijacking this thread. Do you have an inside scoop on investment..Do tell!!!

userfriendly2

Will post in his original thread, to keep this one on topic. Hope thats ok:)