Re: Marksman jobs for a Civi?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bigwheels</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hi, all. I'm looking for info on any potential jobs as a precicion marksman in Iraq/ Afganistan. As a civillian, is there anything I could do? Who would I contact? Thanks. </div></div>
Bigwheels -
Hey Brother, the facts regarding being a Contractor for a PMC are pretty stark. The government is really cracking down on who gets to go overseas working armed security. Are there exceptions to the rule? Yes. But overall the contracting world has really tightened up.
The <span style="font-weight: bold">major players</span> in contracting world make most their money doing government contracts. Many, if not all, of these contracts require the individual contractor to have a <span style="font-weight: bold">minimum</span> of some sort of Special Operations experience.
<span style="color: #3333FF"><span style="font-weight: bold">The real job security goes to those individual Contractors who come from Tier 1 Special Operations Units</span></span> such as the Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force/CAG, Special Forces Groups, the Ranger Regiment (3 Battalions plus Regimental HQ), the Air Force Para-Rescue, CAC and SITT teams and the Marine Corps MSOR units.
Members of very active SWAT teams (big city SWAT teams) are also recruited as they are exposed to urban type warfare on a daily basis.
It is from these elite units that "Designated Marksman" / "Snipers" are picked. And all those picked worked as a DM or Sniper in their previous assignment and have years of experience doing so.
A guy "off the block" with no military or police experience has a small chance of getting in the door of a of the major PMC companies <span style="font-weight: bold">at any level</span>. Has it happened? Of course. But don't bet on it.
Some guys go to the extreme of signing on with small, fly-by-night PMC companies which have horrible records. In these companies you'll find a lot of untrained and undisciplined hooligans on board that aren't professional and really have no idea of what they're doing. "Running and Gunning" isn't the way that a professional PMC operates. That sort of mentality leads to a very short life expectancy, especially in Iraq. There are numerous American bodies in the deserts of Iraq that have not even been recovered. This is symptomatic of such shoddy companies.
My advice to anyone wanting to be a Private Military Contractor is as follows.
Pre-employment Prep: Get a divorce, lose your wife, your family, your belongings and all the money you'll make for the next 10+ years. (No, really. This is the "easy" part!)
Step 1: Join the Marine Corps as a Grunt (Infantry). If you haven't completed the Pre-employment prep by now, it'll take care of itself pretty quickly.
Step 2: Bust your balls and get into some sort of Sniper unit whether at Battalion or higher level.
Step 3: Go to Sniper school, pass and earn the USMC Sniper MOS (whatever that is these days).
Step 4: Deploy to high conflict war zone (Afghanistan seems to be the hottest now).
Step 5: See lots of action. Volunteer to stay in country for the rest of your enlistment.
Step 6: Send your resume out to the major players of the PMC world (Blackwater/Xe, Triple Canopy, Dynacorps, MVM, etc.) at least 6 months prior to the end of your enlistment.
Step 7: If you don't get a positive response, re-up, stay in combat zone and keep trying.
Good luck!