Since Ledger posed me some interesting questions in the comment section a couple of days back (rather than relying on my spotty e-mail reading habits), I figure I’ll answer right out in the open so that
a. anybody (who isn’t / hasn’t been a contractor) who’s also curious about the subject won’t start bugging me in the comments and
b. anybody (who is / has been a contractor) who’s got a completely different set of experiences can start bugging me in the comments.
1. Are contractors really so cost efficient that they replace two divisions (let’s say a division is 15,000 men)?
Well, you wouldn’t *want* to replace an entire division or two (man-for-man) with contractors because
a. it definitely wouldn’t be cost-effective, even in the long run and
b. that infantry gig is too rough on the knees when you’re my age.
What *is* cost-effective is replacing small elements (say, platoon-to-company-sized – and not from the tooth, but from the tail) with an even smaller number of high-speed, low-drag, multitalented, multitasking, Jack-of-All-Trades-and-Masters-of-a-Whole-Bunch contractors, such as, well, *me*. Contractors function most-effectively in a supporting role, freeing up uniformed folks to weight the pointy end. F’rinstance, six of us contractor-type instructor pilots will be replacing about a dozen Air Force ‘structor pilots plus a half-dozen ground instructors and a couple of flight simulator operators on the fixed-wing side. When the rotary-wing portion opens up, I’ll be teaching that group, too, and six more contractor IPs will replace all the Army IPs plus the Army ground instructors *and* augment the two contractor simulator operators. Our one logistics guy will replace four military supply types.
Another thing you get is focused specialization – say, you’ve just been awarded the gate-guard portion of the Force Protection contract for an LSA – the first thing you do is hire vet-MPs and -APs, because they’ve already spent at least one tour being successful at guarding gates. They’ll hit the ground running, rather than spending “unproductive” time training up for the job, and chances are *excellent* that they already know all the sneaky tricks the opposition uses to try to get HE surprises into the base.
Don’t forget, most contracts are short-lived (a year or three), so the contractors “go away” sooner than troops do -- at least, until the next contract award, which may be for something entirely different in an entirely different area. Since the better part of the Defense Budget is obligated for personnel (pay and allowances, etc.), you hire contractors for the short run and spend a boatload of money, but you’re saving it in the long run because you’re not paying for training, base pay, bonuses, family housing for dependents, etc., for the equivalent number of troops over the course of several years (twenty or thirty), nor are you incurring obligations for their retirement pay.
2. Do contractors really make $400 a day or about $140,000 per year? I am sure rotor wing pilots like BillT would be paid a higher amount because of his skills. Is this $400 a day net take-home pay?
The salary depends on the job description, the amount of physical danger involved, the outfit that was awarded the contract and the hiree’s experience, pretty much like any job in New York, Philly, Amsterdam or Oslo. Oh, yeah – the gummint sets terms, too.
I worked with a guy in Pakistan who made an *obscene* amount of money as a helicopter owner-operator in California and was making less on this particular contract than he would have by supporting the average Hollywood mega-production; on the flip side, I have a couple of wheeled-vehicle mechanic buds in Kuwait and a fellow aviator in Kazakhstan who all make twice what they’d make working stateside.
Whether or not your salary is tax exempt depends on whether or not you spend at least 330 days OCONUS; if you do, your earnings up to $84-point-something-grand are tax-free. There are additional stipulations and requirements for increasing your tax freedom from the IRS, but then you incur Host Nation tax obligations.
3. Do contractors die in higher numbers than their military counterparts thus, justify being highly paid?
Depends on the job, your own survival skills and pure luck. Most of the high pay offered is because the companies hiring want to attract the best talent, and the best talent can afford to figure the odds and be picky. And, since the companies are offering the bucks, *they* can afford to be picky when they hire.
Have there been a *lot* of contractors killed? Yes. But if you compare the stats (numbers in-country and numbers of casualties) for both contractors and troops, the percentage for each group is about the same.
However, don’t forget that most contract jobs in nasty areas are pretty mundane – satellite commo systems setup and integration, avionics circuit-board repair, HESCO barrier installation, counter-mortar radar calibration and stuff like that -- the “go-in-harm’s-way” security types probably suffer marginally more casualties, but there are plenty more scuzzballs who prefer to pick on “softer” targets.
4. Do contractors depend on the military when they get into a jam?
Most of us depend on the military for pretty much everything we don’t bring with us – security, housing, cute nurses – and, since most of us work in the tail and not the tooth, we have neither the firepower (have you priced Ma Deuce ammo lately?) nor the industrial-strength toys that only sovereign nations (or John and Murray) can afford. In my particular situation, we’ve worked out a deal with the QRF (Quick Reaction Force) guys to cover us in case we faw-down, go-boom due to hostile fire or mechanical failure.
The contractors who work outside the wire (most teachers, construction workers, truckers, etc.) *usually* travel with armed escorts, either allied troops or local-hire bodyguards. Those who don’t travel in a convoy generally pack sufficient firepower to suppress a small-arms ambush (in Pakistan, we had a ram truck as lead vehicle and eight guys with subguns in a thin-skin SUV as trail). Those who travel solo are sometimes lucky and sometimes not.
As far as the armed security type contractors go (e.g., Blackwater), I know of several instances in which
a. troops charged to contractor rescue,
b. contractors charged to troop rescue and
c. blue-on-blue firefights broke out between troops and contractors because of crappy planning and really, really *sloppy* intel work. Plus atrocious Threat Recognition on both sides. And I’ve talked with participants from both sides of all three types (the last one *after* their tempers cooled – the advantage to being both retired Army and a contractor is I can walk in both worlds without betting beaten up in either).
So much for personal observations. Anybody else care to expound (or expand) on the subject?
Hold the e-mails – I’m still working my way through December…
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