- Army of Two Private Military Corporations

http://www.fallensword.com/?ref=465389

Mercs are the ones that will do the job from the highest buyer no matter what side they will work for... Contractors are our Patriots people that will do the job ONLY for America and to do jobs that others wont includeing our own millitary for example, flying in a Hot zone cause our own millitary is afraid they mite lose another air craft.

since maturity and experience seems to be an important factor to most people on this forum to make any sense at all,im going to warn you that im only 17 and have no military experience and have not even heard of PMC's until Ao2.Now,what im about to present are complete facts,of course compiled from different sources of the internet but still being true.
PMC's can be classified as mercs,but some prefer not to be and as Rice said many do bring relief to foreign warring countries,but also serving as foreign leader escorts.
and the common soldier does not do the same job as a PMC although they can be compared.
While PMCs often provide services to train or supplement official armed forces in service of governments, they are also employed by private firms. However, contractors who use offensive force in a war zone could be considered unlawful combatants, thereby referring to the "concept" being implicitly mentioned in the Geneva Conventions and explicitly specified by the Military Commissions Act. -Wikipedia

You can see me as ameteur,but i am presenting facts as Bucketbot was raving about.
im trying,*trying,to clear the air about common misconceptions about PMC's.

they are also employed to combat the war on drugs as said in this also Wiki passage:
Private military companies supply bodyguards for the Afghan president and pilot armed reconnaissance planes and helicopter gunships to destroy Coca crops in Colombia.

it it also easy to see PMC's as greedy bastards because the PMC industry is worth over 100 billion a year.
i couldnt seem to find how much the "public" military is worth,but i did read about a couple that retired at 40 after serving many years in the military.
despite them living frugle lifestyles,that is still very impressive.

here is something else interesting from the Wiki page:

PMCs are also known as security contractors, although this term usually refers to individuals employed or contracted by PMCs. Services are mainly rendered for other business corporations, international and non-governmental organizations, and state forces.

Private military companies are sometimes grouped into the general category of defense contractors. However, most defense contractors supply specialized hardware and perhaps also personnel to support and service that hardware, whereas PMCs supply personnel with specialized operational and tactical skills, which often include combat experience.

The 1949 Third Geneva Convention (GCIII) does not recognize the difference between defense contractors and PMCs; it defines a category called supply contractors. If the supply contractor has been issued with a valid identity card from the armed forces which they accompany, they are entitled to be treated as prisoners of war upon capture (GCIII Article 4.1.4). If, however, the contractor engages in combat, he/she can be classified as a mercenary by the captors under the 1977 Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol I) Article 47.c, unless falling under an exemption to this clause in Article 47. If captured contractors are found to be mercenaries, they are unlawful combatants and lose the right to prisoner of war status. Protocol I was not ratified by the United States because, among other issues, it does not require "freedom fighters" to obey the convention in order to be granted its protections.

very compelling.
its interesting that being classified as a merc and being classified as a supply contractor defines your freedom upon capture.
my comp is starting to glitch out,so i cant add much more,but i hope i may have helped some people understand a couple things a little better.
again,i do not know these things im just merely presenting them.
if you find my findings to be false, slightly misguided,or completely illogical please tell me.
please,no unnecessary rudeness.
if you want the Wiki page address:http://www.answers.com/topic/private-military-company

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Army of Two: The 40th Day