About Mercenaries

Mercenaries are common in history and popular fiction; they are specific types of soldiers that have developed a very bad reputation throughout history and to this day. For those who use them, mercenaries are often seen as a necessary evil. But the excessive force often used by modern mercenaries has brought these fighters under even greater scrutiny.

Identification

A mercenary is a soldier who does not fight for a nation in conflict or for a patriotic reason, but for personal benefit. The most common reason is for money. There are many mercenary groups such as Blackwater that have developed a reputation for being unreliable.

Function

Mercenaries can be used to fight wars, engage in bounty hunting, conduct assassinations, guard important individuals or locations, provide logistics support, engage in intelligence gathering and intimidate. Mercenaries can be hired by private individuals or groups as well as governments. They were used by the United States in the second Gulf War for security purposes.

History

Scholars believe that mercenaries have existed as long as war itself. Many governments in the past, such as the ancient Greeks, have hired soldiers from other nations. There have been many mercenary groups throughout history, such as the Saika, a small mercenary group in feudal Japan.

Benefits

Often, mercenaries to not have to be raised or trained. Mercenaries can often be hired quickly. Since mercenaries are paid soldiers, governments do not have to justify to the mercenaries why they are fighting. Mercenaries are also often more experienced in warfare than the typical recruit. But mercenaries are unreliable, since they can desert at anytime.

Types

Mercenaries are usually small groups of soldiers who are hired to fight for a temporary span of time. But there are other variations of hired soldiers that can be used for other purposes. Private military companies often serve the role of training other soldiers and can organize military offensives and defenses. Assassins can be hired to murder specific individuals. Bounty hunters can be hired to track down criminals and take them into custody.