# Are there still active mercenary companies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620 "2009-02-19T22:10:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/1 "2009-02-19T22:10:05Z")
I know about “the company formerly known as Blackwater” and that they might be characterized as a merc company, but what I’m wondering about are mercenary companies that take part in the fighting like in the days of yore. I’m guessing most (if they exist) would take part in smaller regional wars that the big powers don’t take part in; like in the DRC, but do they exist? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/2 "2009-02-19T22:17:52Z")
Pretty much all serious conflict these days is guerilla warfare or a mixture between guerilla warfare and more traditional war. In that situation, it doesn’t make sense to use mercenaries to take part of large-scale battles, since there really aren’t many large-scale battles anymore. It’s my view that Blackwater is just a mercenary company updated to current reality. I might be wrong, though - I’m very ignorant of warfare. Please fight my ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/3 "2009-02-19T22:21:41Z")
Depending on how you define mercenary, you could include: [ul] [li][French Foreign Legion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Foreign_Legion)[/li][li][Gurkhas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigade_of_Gurkhas)[/li][li][Swiss Guards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard')[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/4 "2009-02-19T22:27:11Z")
Whatever happened to those nefarious South African outfits? I think one of them was called Sandline. They were often involved in regional skirmishes in the surrounding countries. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/5 "2009-02-19T22:30:08Z")
**Terminus Est** : Yeah, I know about those (but how do you qualify the FFL?). **Superfluous Parentheses** : Guerillas could still hire mercs though, especially for regional conflicts, when smaller regiments might be of more importance? I seem to remember there were some South African merc companies going after Apartheid, and Thatcher Jr tried to hire some of those a couple of years ago, right? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/6 "2009-02-19T22:38:24Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > **Terminus Est** : Yeah, I know about those (but how do you qualify the FFL?). The French Foreign Legion consists of mostly non-French nationals fighting for France. Seems pretty mercenary to me. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/7 "2009-02-19T22:40:18Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > **Superfluous Parentheses** : Guerillas could still hire mercs though, especially for regional conflicts, when smaller regiments might be of more importance? I suppose so, and I would think they still do. But an advantage of guerilla warfare is that you don’t need large organized troops in one place. If you can get a substantial section of the population behind you, that may be enough without raising any kind of traditional army at all. That said, I’d be **very** surprised if mercenaries weren’t pretty common even today, especially in the smaller conflicts. What you probably won’t see today is large mercenary legions playing parts in large battles. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/8 "2009-02-19T22:44:09Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > The French Foreign Legion consists of mostly non-French nationals fighting for France. Seems pretty mercenary to me. True, but they don’t offer their services to anyone but the French. > [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > That said, I’d be **very** surprised if mercenaries weren’t pretty common even today, especially in the smaller conflicts. What you probably won’t see today is large mercenary legions playing parts in large battles. Exactly. Anyone know anything about these companies, like the ones \*\*friedo \*\*posted about. And I’ll have to look up info on Sandline. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/9 "2009-02-19T22:44:41Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > The French Foreign Legion consists of mostly non-French nationals fighting for France. Seems pretty mercenary to me. The FFL is a pretty strange deal. AFAIK a full tour in the FFL will give you French citizenship with full anonymity wrt your background if you so wish. It at least means they probably won’t fight for anybody other than France. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/10 "2009-02-19T22:50:17Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > True, but they don’t offer their services to anyone but the French. Neither do the Ghurkas and the Swiss Guard offer their services to anyone but the British (and India) and the Vatican, respectively, hence my qualification on the definition of “mercenary”. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/11 "2009-02-19T22:59:43Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Neither do the Ghurkas and the Swiss Guard offer their services to anyone but the British (and India) and the Vatican, respectively, hence my qualification on the definition of “mercenary”. India has some Gurkha regiments ([wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorkha_regiments_(India))), but otherwise you’re right. And Sandline doesn’t seem to be [in business](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandline) anymore ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/12 "2009-02-19T23:15:50Z")
There’s a currently running on [the History Channel](http://www.history.com/genericContent.do?id=60702) about a group of mercenaries. Nothing nefarious really, just selling their expertise, contacts, training, and procurement abilities to national governments in poor countries to help them out. I saw an ep where they trained an African military in guarding against rebel patrols by showing them GPS coordination stuff, and another where they worked on fighting piracy off the coast. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/13 "2009-02-19T23:18:10Z")
list of private military companies on wikipedia: > **[Private military company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_military_company#List_of_PMCs)** > > A private military company (PMC) or private military and security company (PMSC) is a private company providing armed combat or security services for financial gain. PMCs refer to their personnel as "security contractors" or "private military contractors". > The services and expertise offered by PMCs are typically similar to those of governmental security, military, or police but most often on a smaller scale. PMCs often provide services to train or supplement official armed forces in service ... According the the wikipedia listing on Mercenaries DynCorp is still active. > **[DynCorp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DynCorp_International)** > > DynCorp (/ˈdaɪnkɔːrp/), formally DynCorp International, was an American private military contractor. Started as an aviation company, the company also provided flight operations support, training and mentoring, international development, intelligence training and support, contingency operations, security, and operations and maintenance of land vehicles. DynCorp received more than 96% of its more than $3 billion in annual revenue from the U.S. federal government. The corporate headqu In 2020, Dynco... ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/14 "2009-02-19T23:33:46Z")
**Darth Sensitive** and **coremelt** : thank you both! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/15 "2009-02-20T04:55:30Z")
I think I should form a mercenary company marketing the skills I’ve picked up in the Air Force out to foreign countries. For a reasonable fee, I could supply them with a group of experienced military men who can sweep sidewalks, pick up cigarette butts, answer phones, and generally avoid doing anything overly work-y. This way, they can free up their OWN deadbeats to go do important stuff like raiding enemy camps. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/16 "2009-02-20T07:55:02Z")
This [article](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-wonga-coup--james-brabazon-tells-of-his-part-in-the-downfall-of-mann-and-thatcher-861990.html) might be of interest. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/17 "2009-02-20T13:06:45Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > This [article](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-wonga-coup--james-brabazon-tells-of-his-part-in-the-downfall-of-mann-and-thatcher-861990.html) might be of interest. Looks like an interesting read, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/18 "2009-02-20T14:19:37Z")
There is also a Spanish Foreign Legion, not quite as well-known as the FFL. They fall, along with the FFL and the UK Gurkhas, into the mercenary-by-legal-description category, rather than a free company of soldiers trading skills for pay to the highest bidder. There’s not really a question as to whether someone else can hire them as long as their individual states exist as sovereign entities. There are also merc companies of Gurkhas working for Singapore and Brunei. I’d make phone calls to Nepal and look for former UK Gurkhas who have gone freelance, if I were looking for “active” mercs & mercenary companies willing to deploy for cash on the table. Also, given the huge glut of Eastern Euros serving in the FFL, I’d be surprised if there weren’t a few groups of Russian/Ukrainian mercs out there for hire, but I wouldn’t know where to begin looking, other than the obvious. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/19 "2009-02-20T15:27:10Z")
> [@Grossbottom](#): > > , but I wouldn’t know where to begin looking, other than the obvious. You mean besides talking to “Mr. Lee”, the owner of a certain Chinese laundromat in downtown L.A.? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620/20 "2009-02-20T15:30:25Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > You mean besides talking to “Mr. Lee”, the owner of a certain Chinese laundromat in downtown L.A.? Huh. I thought he was talking about the Yellow Pages. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-active-mercenary-companies/486620.md?page=2)