Private Security Companies (PSC) offer military- and security-related services around the world in austere, undeveloped, and failed nations, as well as in fragile, developing, and democratizing nations. Comprised of highly-skilled individuals, PSCs have an arsenal of unique and coveted capabilities available to them, which their clients consider essential for their specific needs. With services ranging from dangerous, adrenaline-filled, armed combat missions to honorable hearts-and-minds humanitarian aid missions, PSCs offer the ability for their clients to bridge workforce and security gaps in military- and security-related activities around the globe. For all the good they do, PSCs have had their issues over the years with …show more content…
SASO is comprised of an array of skills, including peace operations and peacekeeping support, counterinsurgency, emergency evacuation, law enforcement and military training, weapons control, and counterterrorism. Taw infers that SASO calls for “full spectrum operations” and expresses a timeline of “long-term, manpower-intensive operations” (p 388). To substantiate her narrative, Taw shows the actions of PSCs in the Angolan conflict claiming that United States civilians provided weapons, training, and support to Central Americans in the conflict. Even though this support would normally fall under the U.S. military, it was after the Cold War, at a time when the U.S. was scaling back military forces, resulting in a short supply of labor. To achieve goals, they brought in PSCs to file the roles and assist with the Angolan conflict (p 392). In fact, Taw tells of a shortage in U.S. special operations forces (SOF) and explains how important their skills are to peacekeeping and counterinsurgency. Indeed, PSCs hire SOF for their exemplary skills, which makes it hard for the military to supply SOF in the numbers that are necessary for international military and security operations (p