The Congo Mercenary: A history and analysis

There has been little use made of the mercenary, the truly professional soldier, in modern times. States have usually found revenue enough to maintain an army and often conditions are so good there that, with the added prestige, a soldier becomes one of a select elite. If one lifts the veil of social disapproval which surrounds the mercenary, a much broader picture emerges and the purpose of this study is to assess the modern mercenary both as a military man and as a social phenomenon. The Congo is, perhaps, a special case in the light of the political chaos which followed Independence, but it does share with most of its African contemporaries one distinctive feature in its internal administrative structure: the Congolese army was of typical Colonial structure, officered by non-Congolese and with little or no idea of what its responsibilities would be in a new political environment. This neglect of the national" concept in the military machine and the paucity of trained Congolese to assume command precipitated the crisis in the army and its complete ineffectiveness in maintaining internal order. Thus the mercenary was able to fill a vacuum where there were no other standards available with which to compare his performance."