[jammer]

You're correct all the way, until the last sentence. You may not have intended it as a pejorative, but it is--and that's why the wriggling on this thread to escape being termed that.

They are mercs, and that is a pejorative.

[SJSAMPLE]

I understand it’s used that way, but are we really changing anything by using the word “contractor”?

Hell, even that word is starting to be used in a negative manner.

What word do we come up with next?