private army
Hired military force
A private army is an armed military force owned or controlled by an individual, corporation, or non-state entity rather than a government.
The term ranges from historical feudal retinues to modern private military contractors: The warlord maintained a private army of several thousand fighters.
It often carries connotations of illegitimacy or extralegal power: Tech billionaires building private armies should concern us all.
Hired construction professional
- soldierArmed forces member
- hired gunPaid outside specialist
- commandoSpecial operations soldier
- operativeCovert field agent
fighter · warrior · legionnaire · veteran · infantry · trooper · enforcer · gunman
Unpaid willing workers
- irregularsUnofficial combatants or anomalies
- partisansStaunch factional supporters
- guerrillasIrregular combatants, unconventional warfare
- insurgentsThose fighting established authority
rebels · fighters · reservists · levies · mobilization · enlistment · battalion · regiment
Powerful lifter or despot
- factionGroup within group
- fiefdomFeudal territory under lord
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
- chieftainLeader of a tribe
commander · lieutenant · loyalty · patronage · tribal · clan · cartel · drug lord
Unacknowledged covert activities
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
- intelligenceMental ability, cognitive capacity
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
- infiltrationCovert entry into organization
surveillance · sabotage · counterintelligence · secret operations · plausible deniability · wetwork · dark money · untraceable
Hired civilian combat personnel
- asset protectionSecuring owned resources legally
- risk managementIdentifying and minimizing threats
- extraction teamGroup retrieving personnel from danger
- executive protectionSecurity for prominent figures
corporate espionage · PMC · defense contractor · oil fields · mining operations · hostile environment · site security
contractor
Hired construction professional
operative · fighter · warrior · legionnaire · veteran · infantry · trooper · enforcer · gunman · sharpshooter
volunteers
Unpaid willing workers
- irregularsUnofficial combatants or anomalies
- partisansStaunch factional supporters
- guerrillasIrregular combatants, unconventional warfare
insurgents · rebels · fighters · reservists · levies · mobilization · enlistment · battalion · regiment · brigade
strongman
Powerful lifter or despot
chieftain · commander · lieutenant · loyalty · patronage · tribal · clan · cartel · drug lord · power broker
black ops
Unacknowledged covert activities
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
- intelligenceMental ability, cognitive capacity
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
infiltration · surveillance · sabotage · counterintelligence · secret operations · plausible deniability · wetwork · dark money · untraceable
security contractor
Hired civilian combat personnel
- asset protectionSecuring owned resources legally
- risk managementIdentifying and minimizing threats
- extraction teamGroup retrieving personnel from danger
executive protection · corporate espionage · PMC · defense contractor · oil fields · mining operations · hostile environment · site security
- armed forcessoldiers, troops, marines, navy, air force
- hired fightersmercenary, soldier of fortune, gun for hire, hired gun, sellsword
- nonstate actorsmilitia, insurgent, rebel group, guerrilla, mercenary
- Company RajBritish East India Company, East India Company, sepoy, sepoys, factory
- armed groupsmilitia, guerrillas, insurgents, militias, guerrilla group
- Militiascitizen militia, colonial militia, colonial militias, territorial defense, home guard
private armygovernment forces
Military under state control
regular army · armed forces · standing army · federal troops · state troops
private armycivil defense
Government emergency civilian protection
peacekeeping force · territorial defense · home guard · citizen militia · people's army
army, private, privacy, military, privately, armies, privation, deprivation, privateer