Defense Contractors vs Private Military Contractors

Defense contractors provide a huge variety of services to the military. Quite simply, a defense contractor is a company or individual that provides products or services to the defense department of a military. Products range from military aircraft to ships to “Meals Ready To Eat”, the beloved MREs that provide the bulk of the food in the field. Services include training, logistics, technical support, communications and even catering.

What defense contractors do not generally do is provide direct support to military operations in the field. Under the Geneva Conventions any company or individual that does provide direct support are themselves available for and vulnerable to military attack from the other side. In other words, if your business shows up for direct help on a battlefield, you too can be legally shot. Most defense contractors don’t really want to sign up for that sort of thing

Private military contractors, on the other hand, offer specialized military services and are occasionally classified as “mercenaries”. They’re also called private security contractors, private military corporations, private military firms, and military service providers. They generally offer the same sorts of services as the military or police force does, only on a smaller or more specific scale. They’re called private military contractors whether they work for a government or for a private corporation, which means that they can’t always be called a “defense contractor.” They don’t often provide offensive forces in a war zone, because they’d be considered unlawful combatants, but they do get into combat areas often as defensive forces such as bodyguards or rearguards. The biggest difference between strict defense contractors and private military contractors is that defense contractors most often supply a product and the specific people needed to support that product, while private military contractors supply people with tactical skills and combat experience.

Many private military contractors will not engage in offensive combat because if they do, they may be legally classified as mercenaries, which would deny them the protections of the Geneva Conventions in the event of being captured. In the past, private military contractors working with the American military have not fallen under the regulations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice except during a war legally declared by Congress. In light of the recent conflict in Iraq, which was never ratified by Congress as a “war”, the UCMJ has recently been changed to cover private military contractor behavior during a “contingency action” as well. Defense contractors, on the other hand, are completely civilian and usually not bound by the UCMJ at all. Instead, their behavior is regulated and supervised by the Department of Justice whenever in a foreign nation.

This distinction is important to anyone trying to become or get hired by a contractor. It’s important to know who exactly is hiring you, what your risks are, and what you’re signing up to provide. While most of the workforce doesn’t have to worry about these fine points, they become quite important to potential contractors. Education is, as always, your greatest asset.