Understand as well that military contracting (as a business term) abroad can cover a variety of services, not just trigger pulling.

In the U.S. at least I know for a fact, that there are many civilians working aboard not as armed personel, but anything from kitchen workers to diesel mechanics. Many contractor companies have a variety of types of personel to assist in providing a larger variety of services to their clients (such as the Department of Defense).

You can get a skilled trade under your belt some experiance and still work aboard, however this only works as long as there is a "nation building" job market out there, and lastly you still will not be able to enter the field of armed contractors unless you have solid military experiance.

But if travel no real liablities (like a wife and kids),and high pay suites you by all means you can still consider contracting for the Government as a qualified contractor tradesman.

There are waivers for almost anything in the US military, you're just unfortunate to be trying to join when the armed forces has the pick of the litter with the bad economy. It you have your heart really set on joining, then you will have to do A LOT of the leg work and have patience. BUT, don't go into it thinking you're going to get in. The odds are stacked against you...the mental problems of your past are really going to close a lot of doors for you when it comes to this line of work. Think about it, would you want a guy with known mental disorders watching your back on a mountainside in Afghanistan? Combat is not the place to find out if you're going to be reliable or not, and sadly for you, it is just not a risk most are willing to take. It's not about you...it's about the soldiers with you. Lives are at stake here, this is a deadly serious business where the losers don't get a trophy too...they get dead.

I would seriously doubt any "quality" PMC would be willing to invest the time and effort into training a brand new guy. It's about cost effect. Why hire you with no experience when they literally have tons of overly qualified applicants to fill the line? I would stay away from PMCs anyways, yes they make good money...but you're essentially a merc. Good way to end up in a shallow grave in some god forsaken part of the world because you were outgunned and outnumbered...

There's always the French foriegn legion...

About the Legion.

They to have swarms of applicants and it's not as loose on entry as it was decades ago, they do check to the best of their ability where you came from.

And if you got rejected from the U.S. Armed forces, than there is a very high chance they will reject you as well, not on any personal grounds, just as with the U.S. recruiting, with swarms of Eastern Europeans and other from around the world trying to become legionaires, they most likely would not place much bet in those who have admitted mental issues (if minor ones) with so many trying to make a new life in a better place then where they came lined up at the door in Aubagne.

Well your mental dis-order is certainly on display. Firstly, being willing to die at any age is not a key quality, it is a fact of life in this kind of service, as C.S.Lewis put it, "death is total for every generation". The key quality in a PMC is to be able to keep others alive. Most of the bread and butter in these outfits comes from personal protective services, guarding the lives of clients and their families and business associates. Pretty much what police do, so try to get hired on as a police officer first and then apply when you have some skills to offer. Think that is not the way? Then consider that any pre teen orphan off the street in Africa can pull a trigger on a klashnikov rifle, pulling a trigger is what you get paid to avoid in the PMC world, your clients want you to keep them out of and not place them into the middle of gunfights. To be in charge of a safe transport move, consider, you have to understand vehicles and traffic patterns, prepare electronic communications and other means of signaling changes along the route. You need to know your clients' blood type and have it on hand and have the knowledge to administer it if necessary and also to know the location of medical facilities on your route and how to get there. You need to understand intelligence gathering functions, who is operating in the area along your route, and how to avoid any danger that can be foreseen. Lets see, vehicles or aircraft or marine craft, medical first aid, communication skills, the ability to think ahead, now who uses this kind of skill set all the time? Yep, primarily law enforcement and emergency responders like medics and firefighters. You can hire trigger pullers all day by the basketfull but if you shoot up the countryside in a foreign country, you could go to jail. So you also have to have non-lethal countermeasures like tasers, and smoke, and flash bang grenades to break up a crowd or subdue someone without killing the **** out of everything that moves. Your brain is your best defence against threats and how to avoid them, you clients want to stay alive and avoid trouble. If you are ever in a situation with no options, you can pull a trigger with your teeth if you have to, remember you are trying to gain employment as bodyguard, not a hitman.

[QUOTE=DaggerMDK;619840]
However, the men down at the recruiting office felt it wasn't a good idea.
QUOTE]

I am an ex Army Recruiter. They (Recruiters) want to get you in “boots” but they do not make the rules - don’t blame the men (and women) “down at the Recruiting office”.