Welcome to the 27th episode of the Silah Report Podcast! We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Hamed, a Kurdish firearm instructor and contractor situated in Erbil. We discussed with him his history as a Kurdish contractor, the environment in Erbil for private security contractors and his project, Kobra Tactical. Through his project, he aims to give Kurdish security forces and shooters a chance to further their small arms marksmanship. He also explained to us the “cultural mindset” of many Kurds and their “resistance to modernization/adoption of better combat tactics”.
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Check out the podcast here and listen along with the photographs below!
https://soundcloud.com/silah-report/v27-hamed-and-kobra-tactical-in-erbil
Podcast Running Order:
Presentations:
Hamed’s Background
Training with “The Expats”
Training Security Forces and Contractors-Kobra Tactical
Difference Between a Contractor and a Mercenary
Arab Contractor, Kurdish Contractor, and a Western Contractor, What is the Difference?
The Tactics of the Fathers – Changing the Mentality
PMCs and Paperwork – The Ease of Working in Erbil
Hamed’s Background
Hamed was born and raised in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, in his teens, he traveled to the United States. Several years later he would return to his homeland and enter the field of private security.
Training with the Expats
Hamed wanted to improve his skills and competence as a shooter; given that Erbil is full of contractors of different security professions, Hamed used that opportunity to train and learn from “foreign contractors” in the region for around nine years. He also managed to gain a lot of useful information from the internet, which helped him develop his skills even further.
Training Security Forces and Contractors-Kobra Tactical
When he became confident in his skillset and experience, Hamed started Kobra Tactical a training agency providing its services to security forces, contractors and licensed firearm carriers. Kobra Tactical has been successful according to Hamed and played a role in changing the perspective of many Kurdish fighters on modern-day combat tactics.
Differences Between a Contractor and a Mercenary
Our discussion took a philosophical turn when Hamed was asked about what he felt the difference between a contractor and a mercenary was. In his view, a mercenary is a “gun for hire” that would lurk in the shadows and avoid interaction with people as much as possible due to the nature of their work, while a contractor is quite the opposite as they don’t need a reason to be hiding in the darkness.
Arab Contractor, Kurdish Contractor, and a Western Contractor, What is the Difference?
According to Hamid, the Kurdish contractor is the cheapest, likely to receive the lowest pay rate and no benefits whatsoever and as he noted – “life here is cheap”. Western contractors are obviously vastly more expensive to hire and a viewed as more skilled and are more valued thank Arab or Kurdish contractors.
The Tactics of the Peshmerga – Changing the Mentality
Hamed spoke to us about the mentality of many Kurdish Peshmerga fighters; although brave, they follow the ways of their ancestors in combat, which according to Hamed is no longer applicable to the needs of modern-day combat and especially in the asymmetrical war conducted against ISIS. Kurds grow up watching their fathers and grandfathers hunting and fighting with bolt action rifles, especially ‘BRNOs’ (Czech-made 7.92×57mm bolt action Mauser-pattern rifles). Hamed explained that he had to persuade some of them that such rifles can be a poor choice in close quarters combat for example. Hamed feels he is doing his part in changing the mentality of some Kurdish fighters and contractors and is helping them to adopt modern combat tactics.
PMCs and Paperwork – The Ease of Working in Erbil
According to Hamed, Private Military Contractors (PMCs) is an extremely profitable line of work in Erbil. Some foreign PMCs end up opening more than one division in Erbil to deal with less paperwork. As long as a PMC is willing and does hire local Kurds, then they can operate with ease. The fight against ISIS and protection of VIPs and facilities, as well as training and logistics, keeps the money flowing into the pockets of many PMCs operating in the region.
More topics were discussed with Hamed and are available in the Patreon version of the podcast record! To access this become an SR patron. If you would like to know more and have an inquisitive nature, be sure to subscribe to get access to all of our limited content! We definitely plan to speak to Hamed again and we enjoyed every second speaking with him.
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