Force for Hire

In this final episode of Force for Hire, we examine some key issues about the private military contracting world that we uncovered. The cost effectiveness of contracting kept coming up as one of the major questions during the season, and experts had widely differing answers. We found that the broad use of third-country and host-country nationals in security contracting often goes overlooked, particularly when it comes to their casualty rates. We examine the use of private contractors by...

Thanks to high-profile cybersecurity operations — the recent U.S. cyberattack against Iran and Russia’s 2016 attack on Ukraine’s power grid, for example — the public is much more aware of the digital threats that the U.S. faces. While the public lags behind in understanding these threats, the U.S. has for years been taking steps to keep U.S. assets safe from foreign and domestic hackers. The National Security Agency has long been responsible for cybersecurity operations, and the military...

Maritime security operations are complex. The mesh of international politics, private company procedures and the uncaring nature of the open seas make for a security situation best handled by professionals. More often than some may think, those professionals are private military contractors. It’s those security professionals often tasked with keeping vital shipping lanes open, fighting off threats and keeping the goods people worldwide depend on, safe. On this week’s episode of Force for...

The day Russell Frost and two former American soldiers were kidnapped was an unusual one, even by the standards of 2016 Baghdad. On Jan. 15, as the battle against Islamic State raged across the country, Frost and his two fellow contractors — former U.S. Army soldiers Amr Mohamed and Waiel el-Maadawy — found an interpreter to assist in their government mission of training coalition forces. The interpreter was a strange one, Mohamed said, offering the men liquor and women in an area where...

Michael Thomas Hoare has lived a life that, were it not endlessly documented, would seem a pastiche of barroom brags, urban legends and anecdotes lifted from mid-21st century military pulp fiction. Hoare, better known as “Mad Mike,” is a soldier of fortune. A mercenary. He has seen combat in multiple battles during World War II with the British army, and in numerous conflicts across the Congo and elsewhere. He recently celebrated his 100th birthday — apparently, living hard is no predictor...

When the United Kingdom sent soldiers to join the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the force was marked with veterans of a decades-long conflict between England and Northern Ireland, which came to be known as “The Troubles.” Among those soldiers was a Tim Collins, a British colonel in charge of the Royal Irish Regiment’s 1st Battalion. Collins, 59, had grown up in Belfast and came of age while serving in the British army as his hometown was rocked almost daily by violence. He was no stranger to...

This week on Force for Hire, we bring aboard a pair of experts to examine an aspect of military contracting that ties into issues of human rights abuses and modern-day slavery. Third-country nationals, workers not employed by a company headquartered in their home country and operating in a country outside of their native lands, are often part of the contracted workforce supporting the Department of Defense. A 2019 U.S. Central Command report counts 24,000 third-country nationals among its...

The idea of leaving active duty for a contracting gig is a dream that many servicemembers share. And why not? Heading back to college at an older age or going from leading a fire team to working in retail can sound less than exciting. Taking hard-earned military skills and applying them to a lucrative new career is appealing to many veterans. But is contracting all it’s cracked up to be? In the last episode of Force for Hire, we heard how servicemembers and veterans can get started in...

Over the past few episodes of Force for Hire, hosts Michelle Harven and Desmon Farris have broached a number of topics pertaining to private military contracting. Throughout, they’ve briefly touched on the issue of money, from guest Adam Gonzales talking about his salary as a private security operator to author Sean McFate talking about the profit of doing business downrange. Now, it’s time to dive headfirst into the topic that has bubbled beneath the surface of nearly every conversation...

Even though the name is relegated to history, Blackwater remains the first thought that springs to mind when most think of private military contractors. In this episode, we delve into its history and how its success and failures changed American foreign policy forever.

This week on Force for Hire we’re taking a step back from the politics and controversy surrounding private military contracting and talking to a man who knows what it’s like to be both a soldier and a private operator. Adam Gonzales was an Army infantryman who served in a long-range surveillance detachment for a brief time in 2003 before deciding to look at other opportunities. One arose in the form of a security job with the then-relatively unknown contracting firm Blackwater. His...

Welcome to Force for Hire, where we will take you on a deep dive into the shadowy world of private military contracting. Join hosts Michelle Harven and Desmon Farris as they talk to military contractors, defense experts and servicemembers to help clear up the myths surrounding private military contracting and find out the truth behind the legends. In this first episode Michelle and Desmon talk to Sean McFate, former self-proclaimed mercenary and author of "New Rules of War" and David...

We'd like to welcome you to Force for Hire, a podcast dedicated to private military contracting, the myths that surround it and the reality that has made contracting a vital part of modern American warfare. The first episode will launch March 7, 2019.