To become a private military contractor you need to have a certain military or law enforcement experience. It is not mandatory but it will increase your chance to find the right job you are after. The most direct route is to possess military experience, preferable special operations experience. Career law enforcement, federal, state, or local would be a close second.
Private Military Contractors
A private military contractor (PMC) is a business that signs one or more contracts to provide goods or services to one or more nations militaries. For example, private military companies rehire retired military personnel to do the exact jobs the military trained them to do, but for $400,000 a year. Their military billet is eliminated and replaced with a civilian one. The same guy sits in the same seat doing mostly the same job. Military contractor.
Private military contractors, in fact, are hired to help the military in war zones and combat situations mostly in a defensive manner. PMCs perform a wide variety of duties including repairing and maintaining infrastructure as well as pipelines. They are also employed to guard government buildings and corporate headquarters.
For more experienced private military contractors, there are also jobs where they are tasked with personal protection for dignitaries and politicians. In terms of roles, these private military contractors have strict rules of engagement (ROE) and it involves only defensive duties and thus should not engage in combat unless attacked. They are not used for offensive military actions, and therefore, they may not be considered mercenaries.
How to get the job?
First of all, you are not going to become a private military contractor and get a job by writing comments on social media. Period…end of story! You have to get off your ass and apply apply apply. In 2004 as a soldier, I wrote down every company name I came across while deployed. After I got home I immediately applied to all of them. I mean all of them.
Apply to all companies
Over 40 companies got an application from a fresh veteran. It took time and persistence. You are not going to land a job and deploy the next day. Those days are long gone unless you have the background and connections. If this is your first time trying to get on the contract you are not “in-the-know”. It is going to take you 6 months to a year to complete the process.
Look at the job description and include lines from it on your resume. Some companies have programs to search out keywords or phrases. This could mean the difference between an actual person looking at your resume or a program filing it in the bin. And it should be the first step to become a private military contractor.
Have a resume and DD214 clearance
If you do not have a resume filled out and ready to go you need to stop what you are doing and get it done. Nobody wants to hear from you if you don’t even have step one accomplished. Have all your DD214’s and verifiable documentation on hand. Not….oh let me find it or let me write my old unit and try and get it etc… You are applying for a professional job. Act like a professional!
Read requirements
Read the damn requirements for the position you want to apply for if you want to become a private military contractor. They are there for a reason. When you apply for a job you are not qualified for you to waste a recruiter’s time. They can get thousands of applications a day. They do not want to waste time on guys that don’t meet the “MINIMUM” requirements. It might just a black ball you from applying for a different job later on.
Keep track of communication
Keep track of every email and communication between you and the recruiter. They are going to lose half your shit. So plan ahead and be organized. Stay in constant communication with your recruiter. Email him at least every week and get an update on your application. If he asks for documents get them to him immediately.
Be ready to deploy
Be prepared to spend money on medical exams etc. Some companies need medical forms from doctors. Some pay for it some do not. Plan ahead and set some money aside to do this if required. Be ready to go to a training course at a moment’s notice. This might happen rather quickly or it might take 6 months to a year. Plan ahead and save some money.
Have a clean record
Have a valid driver’s license and a “CLEAN RECORD”. Why is this so damn difficult? Do not apply for a DOD or DOS contract if you have a DUI or a felony. This is going to get you denied. If you fucked up early in life now is when you kick yourself in the ass.
For non-US citizens
If you are not a US citizen stop trying to get DOD and DOS jobs. You do not meet the requirements. You have to have a secret clearance for almost every one of these jobs be a DOS secret or DOD secret. I am sorry my foreign brothers but they cannot allow people to do close protection work for diplomats without a clearance.
If you are a foreign brother looking for contracts get your SIA license. Put out some money and enroll in a course. Seems every job out there requires these days. Get ahead of other applicants and get the certificate. It will move you to the front of the line.
Take courses
If you are on the border between meeting requirements and not meeting the requirements spend some money and take some close protection courses. You are not going to gain experience sitting at home writing comments on social media. Get off your ass and DO SOMETHING!
If you cannot gain experience from working then gain experience training. Many of the courses will help you with employment afterward. Stop asking for leads when you have done nothing to find leads yourself. You are a nobody in the land of social media. Nobody is going to miracle a job for you. You have to get hungry and go find it. You have to grab it by the balls and make it happen.
Private Military Contractors Jobs
For US citizens here are a list of companies to check out:
- Triple Canopy
- IDS
- SOC
- Aegis/GardaWorld
Create a LinkedIn account and in the search block type in: Triple Canopy recruiter, Garda recruiter, and so on! Magically they will appear. Send them an invite or a message. The rest is on you!
Average salary
- Triple Canopy- dropped pay and needs lots of guys
- SOC- currently pretty solid with their numbers (needs SL’s)
- IDS- dropped pay and needs guys
- GardaWorld (Aegis) – new hire pay dropped but will increase after 1 year BOG. Need guys.
Hope all of this helps and keeps a few of you from embarrassing yourselves! Remember this, guys… everyone from Shift Leaders to recruiters read these posts on these pages. Contracting is a very small world and your reputation will follow you around!
This post was written by Eddie Mullins, an experienced security professional with a lot of real-life experience in those jobs.
what the sia license helps with ?
Becoming a private military contractor is difficult but not impossible. With the help of our detailed guide here on how to become a private military contractor, you can go ahead and sign with the military yourself. The essential steps are: have a high school diploma, GED, or college degree, gain or collect security experience, by serving in a police department, government agency, or the military, put together an impressive CV to showcase yourself, and create your bid and send it to the DoD as an application.
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