Executive prospects
The men of EO were primarily ex-South African Defence Force (SADF), as well as ex-South African National Defence Force (after 1994), ex-South African Police (SAP) and ex-African National Congress (ANC) members. Due to the mass "down-sizing" of the Armed Forces of South Africa, EO is able to draw on a large, professional workforce and can call on over 2 000 men at very short notice. Race or religion played no role in the appointment of a prospective employee - the only consideration being "Can he or she do the job ?"
The criteria for prospective employees were that they must :
have had military or police training;
be South African citizens or have served in the SADF, SAP or ANC's Military Wing;
have been honourably discharged;
have no criminal record or criminal investigation pending;
be prepared to work outside of South Africa;
carry "no political baggage";
be prepared to work in high-risk environments;
remain loyal to the company and its clients;
A private military advisory and training company needs professional (well trained, skilled and experienced) personnel to provide a service of the highest quality. The people of the greatest use to EO are those officers and non-commissioned officers who have reached middle rank and are vastly experienced, but are not suited for further promotion within the armed forces. However, generally these people are happy performing the duties of their ranks - planning, training, organisational development and support duties; with the practical experience and skills to help the client through a rough spot.
Those are the very people who, if not selected for promotion, often block the promotion ladders of regular forces and actually present a personnel management problem. The private company can thus provide a new challenge to the "old hands" and also retain military knowledge, experience and skills that would have been lost. In particular situations selected SANDF personnel could be deployed with private companies to gain experience in a specific field to return to the SANDF as a better trained and experienced soldier.
EO competed in an international market and therefore pay competitive salaries applicable in the market that it operated in. The salaries paid by companies such as MPRI, Vinnell, Sandline and Betac should be compared with that of EO to make a realistic appreciation. Any person with insight in the execution of military support operations and training knows of the extremely high cost involved.
In 1989, EO was approached by the SADF Special Forces and asked to develop special warfare training packages for Special Forces operatives. These packages covered special warfare subjects related to : Covert Intelligence Gathering Operations; Counter Espionage Operations; and Covert Operations.
Operatives trained in these areas of warfare were soon deployed within and outside of South Africa with great operational success by the Special Forces. Word of their professionalism and success-rate spread, and soon EO was approached by a major South African mining house and asked to provide assistance and training to executives within the mining industry in order to counter both white-collar crime and the trafficking of high-value commodities.
The role EO played in establishing this special task force to counter crime in the mining industry in South Africa, did not go unnoticed, and soon EO was approached to assist a mining house in a neighbouring African state.
One of EO's first projects outside of South Africa was in 1991. This first non-South African contract entailed the training of mine security officials in a neighbouring African state in infiltration and penetration techniques targeted at organized crime syndicates. These officials, many of whom are still active to date, have played an invaluable role in countering crime aimed at damaging their company. During the early 90s, EO was also approached by a South American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to provide them with advice on countering the growing drug trafficking problem in South America.
EO's advice was "take the problem to the producers" - a strategy which led to the formation and training of a highly specialized team of soldiers who would operate outside the normal military brief, working closely with the host DEA and police intelligence. These troops deployed clandestinely into drug-growing areas and conducted raids and strikes against the drug lords with great success. This term of counter-drug operations later became known as Discretionary Warfare.
In 1993, EO was approached by SONANGOL, the Angolan Oil Parastatal, to provide a security team to protect the on-shore oil facilities in the coastal town of Soyo, whilst millions of dollars worth of oil-drilling and related equipment was being recovered.
Executive Outcomes WIKI