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 Defense Base Act provides workers' compensation protection to civilian employees working outside the United States on U.S. military bases or under a contract with the U.S. government for public works or for national defense.

This general information regarding the Defense Base Act may be of interest to government contracting officials, U.S. government contractors, insurance professionals, covered employees, their families, and others in the workers' compensation claims community.

BACKGROUND: This report provides Department of Defense (DoD) contractor personnel numbers for 2nd quarter Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) 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 FY21, USCENTCOM reported approximately 37,597 contractor personnel supporting DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR, a decrease of approximately 567 from the previous quarter.

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.

This report provides background information for Congress on the levels of Department of Defense (DOD) troop and contractor personnel deployed in support of prior and ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Throughout its history, DOD has relied on contractors to support a wide range of military operations. Operations over the past 30 years have highlighted the critical role that contractors play in supporting U.S. troops—both in terms of the number of contractors and the type of work being performed. During recent U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, contractors frequently averaged 50% or more of the total DOD presence in-country.

Although stability operations and contingency contracting may not be the biggest industry in the world, “You’d have a hard time finding another industry that has a greater impact in places that matter.” This observation, offered by a former commander of U.S. Africa Command at a 2015 security sector industry conference, marks the realization that the success of U.S. foreign policy in complex and high-threat environments over the last two decades has, in many instances, been dependent upon private contractors for a number of critical and highly specialized services.

Four years ago, President Barack Obama declared the end of the Iraq war. So much of that fight and our current involvement in the Middle East is carried out by a privatized military.

Back in 2003 Iraq invasion, there was the predictable commentary about why we went to war and what the consequences were. And there was some attention given to the fact that this had been the most privatized military engagement in U.S. history, with private contractors actually outnumbering traditional troops — the “First Contractors’ War,” as Middlebury College scholar Allison Stanger called it in 2009. No one, however, talked about the possibility of a second contractors’ war, a topic that may surface sooner than we anticipated and one that yields a multitude of questions.

The following is a list of the Top 20 U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Prime Contractors in Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 ranked by total contract funds awarded. In FY 2014, the DoD has awarded a total of $239.02 billion in defense contracts.

In FY 2014, top awardee Lockheed Martin has received $22.03 billion in contracts (prime contracts) or 9.2% of total contract funds awarded by the DoD. Runner-up is Boeing with $15.70 billion (6.6%) followed by General Dynamics in third place with $12.46 billion (5.2%). Raytheon has received $10.51 billion (4.4%) followed by Northrop Grumman, United Technologies, L-3 Communications, BAE Systems, Huntington Ingalls, and Humana. BAE Systems, #8 on the list, is the largest foreign DoD defense contractor in FY 2014 to date.

One of the more controversial proposals in the Pentagon’s latest budget is the cutting of the active duty Army from its post 9/11 peak of 560,000 soldiers to approximately 450,000. If sequester pressures remain in 2016, numbers could go to 420,000 or even fewer. Critics assert that slimming the Army to numbers not seen since before WWII will require a time intensive process to grow more forces when faced with another large scale operation.

This will send a dangerous message to potential adversaries who will question our ability to respond to aggression. Pentagon leaders counter that these cuts are manageable and that our ground forces will remain more competent and lethal than any potential foe. I am sympathetic to the critics’ arguments that we cannot wish away the need for robust and ready ground forces.

CONTRACTOR SUPPORT OF U.S. OPERATIONS IN THE USCENTCOM AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY TO INCLUDE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

BACKGROUND:

This report updates DoD contractor personnel numbers in theater and outlines DoD efforts to improve management of contractors accompanying U.S. forces. It covers DoD contractor personnel deployed in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)); Iraq; and, the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).

KEY POINTS:

In 4th quarter FY 2013, USCENTCOM reported approximately 111,500 contractor personnel working for the DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR. This total reflects a significant decrease from the previous quarter. The number of contractors in other USCENTCOM locations make up about 17.4% of the total contractor population in the USCENTCOM AOR. A breakdown of DoD contractor personnel is provided below:

CONTRACTOR SUPPORT OF U.S. OPERATIONS IN THE USCENTCOM AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY TO INCLUDE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

BACKGROUND:  This report updates DoD contractor personnel numbers in theater and outlines DoD efforts to improve management of contractors accompanying U.S. forces.  It covers DoD contractor personnel deployed in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF); Iraq; and, the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).  

KEY POINTS: In 3rd quarter FY 2013, USCENTCOM reported approximately 129,100 contractor personnel working for the DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR.  This total reflects a slight decrease from the previous quarter.  The number of contractors outside of Afghanistan and Iraq make up about 15% of the total contractor population in the USCENTCOM AOR.  A breakdown of DoD contractor personnel is provided below:

For every U.S. service member serving in Afghanistan, there are 1.6 Defense contractors on the ground (and on the payroll) in supporting roles. Contractors make up 62 percent of the force there -- 108,000 versus 65,700 troops, watchdog agency reports reveal.

The Congressional Research Service, in a May 17 report obtained by Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, said that the Pentagon spent $159.6 billion on contractor support in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2007 through 2012. A Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday said the Pentagon spent a total of $195 billion on contract services in 2010, double what it spent in 2001. Spending on contract services declined to $174 billion in 2012 , GAO said.