Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mercenary

Help a soon-to-graduate PhD find work in Iraq or Afghanistan

jchaw — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:01:02 -0800

Hi! I will soon graduate from a top computer science program with a PhD. I am interested to work in Iraq and Afghanistan for a year or two. Clearly, I prefer to work in the "green zone", but am willing to work alongside troops in the combat zone. I am quite versatile and can do alot of stuff, e.g., teaching, designing software, engineering work, testing, maintaining complex systems, etc. Does anyone know how I can go about this? I tried looking at KBR's and FLOUR's job postings for contractors. But they primarily list jobs that are in food service, transportation, warehousing, etc. I like to get a job that is intellectually fulfilling. Oh. One more thing. I am a foreign national from a country that is friendly to the US and the NATO countries. Thanks! :)

Hired guns: wrong, but why?

ageispolis — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:16:28 -0800

What line of reasoning does the Geneva Convention and international law use to illegitimate the use of mercenaries in war? I understand that they are outright banned, and that they must be treated as unlawful combatants who are not to be treated as prisoners of war, but I am curious as to the arguments judging what precisely is ethically and legally wrong with their usage. I agree with the convention, but would like to read up on some good explanations as to why it is in place. Are the profit-driven motives of mercenaries in conflict with what should be a soldier's jus in bellum ethical judgment? What about PSCs?

My Father the Mercenary

BE ADEQUITE — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 08:20:49 -0800

What does my dad need to know about becoming a mercenary in Africa? My dad, a 52-year-old heavy drinker with degenerative arthritis, has just been offered a position driving a bullet-proof limousine in a country bordering Sudan by a business contact that he's "known for a while now". My father would be protecting pilots that are under the protection of the government of this country, and being paid very handsomely. He would alternate months working in Africa and months off in the States, but would get paid even on months off for being "on backup".

Dad is a semi-retired blue-collar worker with a gun-related side-business. He's a canny businessman and knows his way around dangerous situations. However, he has never traveled out of the US, dislikes black people, and requires lots of pain medicine to function normally. He informed my sister and I on Easter Sunday that he was interviewing for this position, and today he called us to say he got it and is leaving for Africa in 7 days, and that the people hiring him are paying for his expedited passport and his immunizations. They are letting him bring his own firearms, from which he has many to choose. He thinks the job will be relatively cushy, and that he is unlikely to see any danger. In his mind, the risks are offset by the huge paycheck and the every-other-month nature of the work.

My questions:

Can this job possibly be for real?

Are there any drawbacks to this situation (besides the obvious ones) that he needs to be aware of? I know next to nothing about the geopolitical scene or what a foreigner packing a gun and working for the government might encounter, or the ethical ramifications of the whole thing.

I'm not upset with him (like my sister is) and respect his choice to do what he wants, but I'd like to be able to point things out that he has overlooked that could save his life or keep him from being swindled somehow.

I want to take this flattened world and pour it into my skull

lalochezia — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 17:55:01 -0800

WeirdSkillsFilter: Where can I learn more exotic/unusual skills cheaply while traveling? You can learn SCUBA in Roatan, Spanish in Guatemala or cooking in Oaxaca. All of these courses are cheaper than their US counterparts.

What and where can you learn more unusual skills cheaply ?

Criteria: Instruction in english (or at a pinch, spanglish/poorly spoken english!) - topic and location away from the humdrum. I'm particularly interested in south/central america but anywhere in the world with a cheap plane ticket from NYC. The course must be cheap!

Example: Learn combat/shooting skills in nicuaragua/el salvador from ex-mercenaries. Ride a horse in Argentina - from gauchos? Learn to drive racecars in the far east? Martial arts in China? Wilderness survival somewhere in the jungle/desert? Sleight of hand? Other james-bond esque stuff?

Don't limit yourself to the Bond-ian: ANY UNUSUAL SKILLS : wild and wacky (but truthful!) answers appreciated.

The US is a great place to learn stuff: it's just too expensive. Globalisation should help me dammit!

How is the word "merc" pronounced and what does it mean?

mygothlaundry — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 11:21:28 -0800

Pronunciation/Definition Filter: The "word" merc. (+) When it's used in reference to cars, does it mean Mercedes, or Mercury, or both? And how is it pronounced, or is it just a written thing? If it refers to both, is it pronounced differently in each case, like to rhyme with hearse when referring to a German luxury car or to rhyme with clerk when referring to. . well, whatever a Mercury is, old American car, I think (do they still make them?)

And, just to totally confuse the issue, what if merc is being used to refer to mercenaries, as in some hardboiled books I've read, where they talk about a merc on a killing spree, or companies of mercs.

Which leads me to a whole other issue, how do you make it plural?