The increasing reliance on private security companies (PSCs) in and around international peace operations has created new public–private constellations, influencing both military and civilian efforts, sometimes generating problematic relationships and even violence between public and private actors, as well as unclear divisions of labour, authority and responsibility. To explain how and why these problems occur, mapping out the understandings that these different actors have of each other in different contexts is of key importance. Through an analysis of Swedish officers’ views of private security actors, this paper aims to contribute to our understanding of the complex relationships between civilian authorities, state militaries and commercial security actors. Particularly, the article will shed new light on ‘PSC–military’ relations and the ways in which the private security sector functions as both a competitor and a career option for former or active service personnel. The article draws on a study commissioned by the Swedish Armed Forces and is empirically based on in-depth interviews and a survey of Swedish officers’ attitudes to PSCs.