The Evolving Contingency Contracting Market PKSOI Papers | Page 11

nel protection, logistical support, and security sector
reform, among other critical complex environment
services.
Historically, firms operating in these environments
and in the broader peace and stability operations industry were referred to as Private Military Companies
(PMCs). According to Doug Brooks, private consultant and President Emeritus of the International Stability Operations Association (ISOA), the term PMC
has been “largely discarded these days as not being
exacting enough,” because the “military” designation,
“implies that [firm employees] are combatants under
international law, and civilians—even armed security
personnel—do not have the rights and privileges of
combatants.”8 Broader industry consensus seems to
agree that private firms are held to a narrower set of
Rules for the Use of Force (RFUOF) than the Rules
of Engagement (ROE), which military actors are expected to adhere to.9 Brooks elaborates, “For example,
[contractors] can use deadly force only in self-defense
or in protection of something or someone which they
have specific permissions to protect, whereas soldiers
can use force proactively.” 10
While there is ongoing debate over exact definitions, the term Private Military Security Company
(PMSC) has emerged as the current catch-all term
favored by the international community, though it
actually refers to private firms working in conflict
and post-conflict environments rather than those undertaking military-type missions. Other terms, such
as Peter Singer’s Privatized Military Firm (PMF) or
Brooks’ Military Support Provider (MSP), have attempted to capture the true function of small niches
of the broader industry; but in reality one term cannot
accurately encapsulate the wide array of industry ser-

4