Blackwater training GroundsFrom Strategy Page:
September 26, 2008: The use of civilian contractors to support combat troops is becoming increasingly popular. Current forecasts see a market $400 billion market for these services over the next ten years. It was not just the U.S. that was using contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, but many other nations around the world have been doing the same thing. It's particularly popular in Europe, but even Russia and China are picking up on this.
This trend is actually a return to the past, when many of the "non-combat" troops were civilians. Way back in the day, these people were called "camp followers," and they took care of supply, support, medical care, maintenance and "entertainment" (that's where the term "camp follower" got a bad name). The majority of these people were men, and some of them were armed, mainly for defending the camp if the combat troops got beat real bad and needed somewhere to retreat to. The military is using a lot more civilians now. In an age when most troops are highly paid volunteers, it's cheaper to hire additional civilians, on short term contracts, than it is to recruit and train more troops.
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My Comment: Throughout history mercenaries were always used. We now call them "contractors", but the work is the same. The main difference from the past is that "contractors" are now used more efficiently.