Private military company

Private Military Companies or PMCs are "Guns-For-Hire", consisting of soldiers employed to take part in military action and often belonging to a state which is not directly involved in the conflict. Usually hired warriors, wanting pay for their duties, mercenaries are often known by the government but rejected. Although rejected, if the time comes when a nation needs extra troops or "dirty work" to be done, they would probably hire these mercenaries. Most mercenary groups often break off of former government or military, like with Gurlukovich's group of Pro-Communist soldiers.

Origins
The modern PMC market developed with the end of the Cold War era, when a number of factors coincided to facilitate its rapid growth. With the end of the fifty-year standoff between the US and the USSR, conflict became more diffuse and disordered. Many of the economic and social tensions that were exploited to fuel Cold War competition in parts of the Third World remained acute. Many postcolonial client states of the two superpowers collapsed into internal conflict with the absence of their former backers, especially in Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The breakdown of state control in a number of areas produced new civil and ethnic conflicts.

The collapse of state institutions weakened their powers relative to non-state actors, "pav[ing] the way for ethnic mobilization, transnational criminal activity, warlords, rebels, and paramilitaries". Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multinational corporations (MNCs) who sought to operate in these areas could not rely on the weakened state apparatus to protect their operations, encouraging them to look to other sources for localized protection and order.

The large-scale decommissioning of forces at the end of the Cold War, as was the case in past conflicts, produced a global pool of newly unemployed individuals whose careers during the Cold War left them with a predominantly military-oriented skillset. One estimate puts this worldwide number at approximately seven million soldiers; in the former Soviet bloc and South Africa, entire units were dismissed from duty, including elite special forces, and the US military shrank by a third from its wartime peak. This new pool of military human capital was complemented by the large-scale post-Cold War sale of surplus arms and materials, particularly in Russia and Eastern Europe. The growth in the global arms trade drove down prices on small arms — and even heavy weaponry — and made the instruments of warfare readily accessible to non-state actors.

PMCs predominantly operate in three battlespace zones: front-line command and combat operations; training and advisory programs; and logistical support services. It is considered more cost effective to contract PMCs than to increase national military budgets, since it doesn't require spending on logistics, maintenance or buying state of the art weapons. Another advantage is that the PMC personnel that die in combat is not considered KIA.

War Economy
In tune with the War Economy, numerous smaller and local scaled PMCs are also prevalent, such as in the Middle East, where private operators are hired as battlefield commanders and trainers for the militia. Most of the militiamen in the Middle East actually belonged to a nameless PMC, where most of the local men turned to for employment out of desperation. The rebel army Solid Snake fought with in South America also managed to hire their own PMC for assistance.

In 2014, the five largest group of PMCs were all are working under a single mother-company named Outer Heaven, which is in turn ultimately headed by Liquid Ocelot. Logistically, technologically, and tactically advantaged, they are deployed all over the globe with the use of high-tech, high-end technology on the battlefield, and can come in and out of any conflict with minimal casualties.

The fate of the PMC forces is uncertain following the destruction of the Patriots and the collapse of the war economy; but it is likely that they are eventually disbanded.

List of PMCs
Praying Mantis "A sense of duty when the risks run high"

- Praying Mantis slogan

Pieuvre Armement "Arms of the octopus, arms for your war"
 * Based in the UK.
 * Deployed in the Middle East, to fight the Militia.
 * Vehicles used include Strykers, Humvees, Attack UAVs and Sliders.

- Pieuvre Armement slogan

Raven Sword "Never a shot in the dark"
 * Based in France.
 * Deployed in South America, fighting with the South American state army against the Rebel Guerrilla Soldiers.
 * lit. "Octopus Armaments"
 * Vehicles used include Strykers and Sliders.

- Raven Sword slogan

Werewolf "Evolution reinvented"
 * Based in the US.
 * Deployed in Eastern Europe, in efforts to take out the Paradise Lost Army, led by Big Mama.
 * Also deploy Humvees, Attack UAVs, and Sliders.

- Werewolf Slogan

Otselotovaya Khvatka "Нет мира без войны (Rus. No peace without war)"
 * Based in the US.
 * Deployed unmanned units to Shadow Moses Island to stop the progress of Solid Snake.

- Otselotovaya Khvatka Slogan


 * Based in Russia.
 * Оцелотовая Хватка lit. "Ocelot Grip"