Contingency Contracting and Contracted Logistics Support: A Force Multiplier

Abstract

Historically, the U.S. military has made use of civilian personnel and contractors to perform Combat Support (CS) and Combat Service Support (CSS) functions. The trend today is towards increasing this use with the intent of transitioning limited uniform military positions from "tail to tooth." The trend is also being driven by strategic initiatives related to privatization and outsourcing as well as a need to utilize contractor specific knowledge skills in maintaining increasingly complex military systems. The use of contracted support has proven to be a force multiplier for the operational commander. Programs like LOGCAP and AFCAP have been used effectively during contingency operations to provide supplies and services to the deployed military force. Unfortunately, this force multiplier comes at a cost. Using contractors in lieu of uniformed military personnel causes difficulties with both Command and Control as well as with providing Operational Force Protection.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 12, 2003
Accession Number
ADA420178

Entities

People

  • Mark D. Terry

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Army Personnel
  • Civil War
  • Civilian Personnel
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Contractors
  • Employment
  • Health Services
  • Logistics
  • Logistics Support
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Operations
  • Military Personnel
  • Personnel Management
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Government Contracting/Procurement.
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control