In recent years, U.S. military operations in Africa have greatly expanded. Washington has established forward operating locations (FOL) and drone bases. It has helped various African countries, like Liberia, retrain their militaries. It has tried to track rebel groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army and the East African terrorist group like Al-Shabaab. The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has been involved in wide-ranging activities.

Thanks to the work of a very few journalists—like Nick Turse who has greatly enhanced our understanding of U.S. Special Operations Forces in Africa or Craig Whitlock of The Washington Post who has exposed problems at U.S. drone bases—there’s more information about these expanded operations.

NATE BERG | When the U.S. government officially pulled its military presence from Afghanistan, it left behind a valuable piece of real estate. The U.S. embassy in Kabul, a sprawling 15-acre complex of more than a dozen buildings and annexes, was built at an estimated construction cost of $806 million.

As the Taliban takes over, it is physically filling in the footprint of the previous regime, including taking over the presidential palace. The U.S. embassy, the centerpiece of the country’s long and tumultuous presence in Afghanistan for more than 20 years, could similarly change hands. The State Department declined to comment.

According to the Department of Defense, the U.S. military is planning to leave Afghanistan by August 31. The plan for that departure includes not just U.S. service members, but also some of the important military equipment still in the country.

But, right now, the Defense Department is busy getting American citizens, Afghans with special immigrant visa applications in process, and other vulnerable Afghans out of the country. And that will continue to be the No. 1 priority right up until the very end, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said.

Leaving Afghanistan Will Be More Expensive Than Anyone Expects

Penalties for broken contracts, fees for shipping equipment, and salaries for the Afghan military are just a few of the costs that will hit the United States as it leaves.

U.S. President Joe Biden has announced the full withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 this year. This policy has some in Washington banking on a windfall of freed-up money for other defense priorities.

Don’t count on it.

A volley of rockets targeting an airbase in Iraq's Kurdistan region late on Monday killed a foreign civilian contractor and wounded five others and a US soldier, the US-led coalition said.
The attack was the first time Western military or diplomatic installations have been targeted in Iraq in nearly two months, after a string of such incidents.

Under former US President Donald Trump, Washington had vowed that the killing of an American national in such a rocket attack would prompt a mass bombing campaign in Iraq, although Iraqi officials are unsure if the Biden administration would stick to the policy.

In September 2007, a convoy of armored vehicles carrying private security contractors employed by the firm then known as Blackwater USA approached a large traffic circle in Baghdad. Minutes later, 17 Iraqi civilians in that square were dead, and 24 others had been wounded.

The sentencing this month of four Blackwater guards in the attack — which included the slaying of a 9-year-old Iraqi boy and a young mother — has focused new attention on what can happen when armed contractors encounter civilian populations amid the haze of conflict. But by the time the guards confronted the crowd in Nisoor Square, and the bullets started flying, it may already have been too late to avert the tragedy.

CONTRACTOR SUPPORT OF U.S. OPERATIONS IN THE USCENTCOM AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY

BACKGROUND: This report provides Department of Defense (DoD) contractor personnel numbers for 3rd quarter Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) and current status of efforts underway to improve management of contractors accompanying 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).

KEY POINTS: During 3rd quarter FY20, USCENTCOM reported approximately 48,937 contractor personnel supporting DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR, a decrease of approximately 3,205 from the previous quarter.

An Inside Look at Training the U.S. Special Forces

Maintaining success in any job can be challenging if you’re not supported by the right team, but for highly-skilled military units tasked to protect the nation, it’s especially essential.

The United States Special Operations Forces (SOF) play a significant role in the U.S. military and its personnel are often placed in dangerous situations while performing combatant command operations. Fortunately, these warriors have the backing and expertise of KBR’s human performance team, a group of specialists focused on optimizing SOFs mental and physical health.

BACKGROUND: This report provides Department of Defense (DoD) contractor personnel numbers for 2nd quarter Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) and current status of efforts underway to improve management of contractors accompanying 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).

KEY POINTS: During 2nd quarter FY20, USCENTCOM reported approximately 52,142 contractor personnel supporting DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR, an increase of approximately 1,678 from the previous quarter.

NY TIMES has reported the United States has been quietly reducing its troop strength in Afghanistan despite the lack of a peace deal with the Taliban, weakening its hand in any future negotiations with the insurgents.

BACKGROUND: This report provides Department of Defense (DoD) contractor personnel numbers for 2nd quarter Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) and current status of efforts underway to improve management of contractors accompanying 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).

KEY POINTS: During 2 nd quarter FY19, USCENTCOM reported approximately 55,135 contractor personnel supporting DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR, an increase of approximately 2,073 from the previous quarter.

The military has launched an investigation into how a U.S. contractor received fatal head wounds while working with special operations Marines in Irbil, Iraq, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the investigation.

The Lockheed Martin employee died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany last week, just days after he was found in his barracks room with severe head trauma, according to two U.S. officials.