Zero Footprint

Since 2001, the U.S. has hired hundreds of thousands of private military contractors (PMCs) and subcontractors in war zones, spending at least $200 billion in the process. Who are these people, and what drives them to take on some of the riskiest work in the world? In his new book, longtime PMC and former Royal Marine Commando Simon Chase (an alias) writes that he and most of his peers are not “mercenaries and war profiteers”–as they’re often portrayed in pop culture–but former military personnel working to protect and uphold the same values they did as soldiers. In Chase’s case, that meant hunting Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora, securing evidence of chemical warfare in Aleppo and searching for American ambassador Chris Stevens in the smoke of Benghazi; Chase also cites colleagues who sacrificed their lives in order to protect top U.S. military officials. PMCs do “the dirty and dangerous jobs the military and intelligence services can’t or won’t do,” he writes. By now, he adds, “we know not to expect parades and medals. But, in my opinion, all wounded and fallen PMCs … are unsung heroes in the war on terrorism.”

–SARAH BEGLEY