When military veterans hang up their uniforms, many don’t walk away from danger—they just change the patch on their sleeve. The private security industry has become a lucrative second career for thousands of former soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. But as recent events prove, the job can be just as deadly as war.

Kabul, Afghanistan — In early 2025, a political shift in Washington triggered one of the most sweeping aid shutdowns in modern history. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), once a cornerstone of post-conflict stabilization in countries like Afghanistan, was dissolved and folded into the U.S. State Department. For contractors, NGOs, and aid workers on the ground, the consequences were immediate — and devastating.

(POC) — BACKGROUND: This report provides Department of Defense (DoD) contractor personnel numbers for the 4th quarter of Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) and the current status of efforts underway to improve the management of contractors accompanying United States (U.S.) Forces. It includes data on DoD contractor personnel deployed in Iraq and Syria, Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), and the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).

(POC) — The Washington Post recently reported that "more than 500 retired U.S. military personnel — including scores of generals and admirals — have taken lucrative jobs since 2015 working for foreign governments." They also claimed that some of the countries are known for human rights abuses and political repression.

Kimberly Motely a practicing attorney and litigator since 2003 and has worked in Afghanistan since 2008. She is the founder of Motley Legal Services and cofounder of Motley Consulting International. She is the first foreigner who has ever litigated cases in Afghanistan's Criminal Courts and has a strong litigious practice focusing on criminal, commercial, contract, civil, and employment law matters.

During the Iraq war, private defense contractors providing security and support outnumbered troops on the ground at points. Contractors can enhance US military capacity but also entail risks. US experience with private security contractors holds several key lessons.

Over 20 years after the war began, the Iraq war might best be remembered as America’s most privatized military engagement to

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the United States government’s initial 2022 contribution of more than $308 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan. President Biden has been clear that humanitarian assistance will continue to flow directly to the Afghan people and the United States remains the single largest provider of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.

By Ross Wilkers — Some transition and startup activities are going forward on the Army’s massive LOGCAP V global logistics program but the coronavirus pandemic continues to push back the timeline for being fully up and running.

Now that full operational capability is not expected until next year and the timeline for the transition itself is also being extended because of base access and border restrictions abroad, Vectrus CEO Chuck Prow said Wednesday during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

"There are a lot of assumptions about contractors, and a lot of the assumptions are wrong." Those are the words of a private security contractor who asked to be referred to only as "Lloyd" for this story because like most of his colleagues he is not authorized to speak to the media.

By Lloyd's count, he has spent some 1,000 days working in Afghanistan in the past four years. He, like many other well-trained military men, decided to leave his position as a Navy SEAL and take his chances finding employment in one of the hot spots around the world where highly skilled contractors were well-paid, and in demand.

The US recently announced the end of active combat for troops in Iraq. On the ground, there will only be small changes, but it could signal a different attitude towards Iraq.

Last month, the US military announced it had ended its combat role in Iraq.

The move comes just a few months after a July meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and US President Joe Biden. Afterward, the leaders issued a statement announcing that "there will be no US forces with a combat role in Iraq by December 31, 2021."

BACKGROUND: This report provides Department of Defense (DoD) contractor personnel numbers for 4th quarter Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) and the current status of efforts underway to improve management of contractors accompanying the United States (U.S.) Forces. It includes data on DoD contractor personnel deployed in Afghanistan, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS); Iraq and Syria, Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR); and the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).

On Tuesday General Mark Milley testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee along with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the head of U.S. Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie Jr. None of these generals will resign or would resign prior to the disastrous withdrawal although they knew it would end in disaster for Americans left behind.

General McKenzie took responsibility for droning an innocent family but won’t admit he used Taliban intelligence. He didn’t have any other intelligence. The droning was based on good intelligence according to General McKenzie.

General McKenzie testified that he advised Biden to not withdraw all the forces.

“I recommended we keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.” Also says he predicted withdrawing them would cause the Afghan army to collapse and the Taliban taking over. General Milley later said the same thing.

This crew didn’t have enough resources, didn’t have the proper staging, and yet they planned it by their own testimony! They also didn’t plan for the President’s option to flee.

General Milley, totally unprepared for the questioning, couldn’t answer questions about the Woodward book suggesting he’s a traitor. Milley said he didn’t read it. He didn’t want to check for accuracy? He has no sense of responsibility.

Basically, they want you to believe they planned for every contingency and no one could have done a better job.

IN THE GUARDIAN » 

Gen Mark Milley gave the stark assessment at an extraordinary hearing of the Senate armed services committee to examine the US departure, which also became a postmortem on the 20-year war that preceded it.

Milley appeared alongside the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the head of US Central Command, Gen Kenneth ‘Frank’ McKenzie, in the most intense, heated cross-examination of the country’s military leadership in more than a decade.

At one point, Milley was obliged to defend his loyalty to his country, in the face of allegations of insubordination in last weeks of the Trump administration, and to explain why he had not resigned in the course of the chaotic Afghan pullout.

“It is obvious the war in Afghanistan did not end on the terms we wanted,” Milley said, noting “the Taliban is now in power in Kabul.”

Thousands of Afghans shell-shocked at the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, brought to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where they await the next leg of their journey, to the United States.

After Kabul fell to the Taliban the United States began flying people out of Kabul at a rate of thousands a day. Many were brought to U.S. military installations in Qatar or Kuwait. But by the end of that week, those bases could not safely support anymore. Ramstein, which has served as a key transit point in Germany for troops and equipment throughout the 20-year war in Afghanistan, was called on for one more mission.