PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANIES (PSC) & PROTECTIVE SECURITY DETAILS (PSD)

Since 1999 Operational Studies has had a professional interest peacekeeping and the expanding role of private military companies (PMC) and private security companies (PSC) in post conflict environments. Operational Studies initial focus was on Bosnia, Kosovo and Sierra Leone, but in 2002 moved to Afghanistan, then in 2004 to Iraq. Current areas of interest include:

OS staff has lectured on several of these topics to the US military, on Capital Hill, and at various trade shows in Washington, DC.  The OS Director has also had several discussions with World Monitors, Amnesty International, and International Peace Operations Association (IPOA) on these subjects.

ARMED CONTRACTORS IN THE BATTLE SPACE

As evidenced by the types of contracts being funded and awarded by DOD and DOS in Iraq and Afghanistan, many mission critical services are being outsourced to civilian contractors. These essential security, stabilization, reconstruction (S&R), and security sector reform (SSR) services were traditionally handled by the military or State Department but with the current lean force structure of the US military, and its primary focus on those tasks directly related to war-fighting, the civilian contractor has become an essential component of Phase IV operations.

Private security companies (PSC) are being tasked as convoy escort teams (CET), protective security details (PSD), close protection (CP) for key commanders and political figures, static security for military and governmental installations including the US Embassy, mine and ordnance clearance, police and military mentoring and training, interrogation, and intelligence collection, collation and distribution as it pertains to the above operations.

Historically it was envisioned that these functions would be handled in a post-conflict permissive environment, but the ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have necessitated that security contractors up-armor and up-gun to be able to operate alongside the military in the battle-space.

This has created a situation where combatant commanders and US troops are required to interface with armed contractors on a daily basis. Unfortunately there are very few mechanisms in place that facilitate this relationship. Ground commanders are confronted with such issues as:

  1. Where do these contractors fall into the chain of command?
  2. How do they communicate with them?
  3. How do they track their movements?
    1. Contractors do not show up on the Blue Force Tracker system
    2. TOCs are not always notified of CET and PSD movements
    3. Commanders are not notified when a CET or PSD is operating in their AO so have problems mounting QRFs or CASEVACs
  4. What are the SOPs and ROE for contractors?
  5. Are the weapons they are carrying authorized?
  6. How are they to be identified with no standardized uniforms, vehicles, or visual recognition signals?
  7. How are injured international contractors to be handled? Particularly third country nationals (TCNs) and local nationals (LN)
  8. When should they have access to an FOB, DFAC or MWR facilities?

PSCs also have their share of problems and have complained of:

  1. Being fired upon by US military convoys (Blue on White incidents)
  2. Being fired upon by soldiers manning vehicle check points (VCP)
  3. Lack of recognition of their visual signals (US flags; Union Jack; VS-17 panels)
  4. Lack of recognition of their identification cards – particularly non-DOD ID cards such as MNF-I cards.
  5. Being detained for hours at check points where junior enlisted personnel had not been briefed on the presence of armed contractors in the AO.
  6. Being unable to contact the TOCs for the AOs they move through on a daily basis
  7. Lack of access to military bases for security personnel injured by IEDs or SAF, etc

Many of these problems can be traced back to the shortfalls in DOD’s formal plans for the execution of Phase IV operations. The role of PSCs and armed contractors operating in the battle space has not been written into doctrine, training or plans so it is no surprise that combatant commanders and ground troops are unclear as to the handling of these contractors. 

This paper can be downloaded in Acrobat Reader (pdf) format

 pdf file  Armed Contractors in the Battle Space     

OPERATIONAL STUDIES CONTRACT SERVICES

Operational Studies staff has been actively involved in a broad range of domestic and international security operations so is well placed to consult to reconstruction companies, security contractors, the US government, Department of Defense, Department of State, or coalition partners on issues related to PSC standards and interoperability. Contract services include:  

 

The attached papers on PSD Operations in Iraq were written in June 2004 and give some perspective to the need for security contractors to adapt to an emerging insurgency. Companies that had deployed on low to medium risk security contracts found themselves running high risk operations in an active war zone and taking heavy casualties. This required a reassessment of weapons, equipment, vehicles, operating procedures, and rules of engagement.

Download the following papers in Acrobat Reader (pdf) format

pdf file  Security Operations in a Semi-permissive War Zone Part 1     

pdf file  Security Operations in a Semi-permissive War Zone Part 2     

pdf file  Security Operations in a Semi-permissive War Zone Part 3