No, that guy is Special Forces, not a mercenary. Special Forces guys can get permission for relaxed grooming standards to grow their beards out like that in-country as long as it meets the needs of their mission. I’ve seen guys like that all over Afghanistan. And as for his standard of dress, once you get into special operations and what not, some missions allow you to wear civilian attire. Btw, his “good equipment” is a basic issue M-4 with an Aimpoint M-68 reflex sight. There’s nothing super special about it, but just for the record, spec ops units have just about unlimited funding. So good or expensive equipment doesn’t disqualify him from being in the Army. Lastly, I saw this pic a long time ago. I think this pic is just now popular again because it’s on the cover of a new book called “Killer Elite” about a covert U.S. military intelligence unit.