Contractors Supporting Military Operations
Abstract
The author's previous research surveyed issues and policies related to the trend toward increased reliance on contractors in combat and other contingency operations, documented relevant case studies, and, presented analyses and recommendations. The current research presents a background summary and updates relevant policy developments since the earlier research. It then takes a distinctly different approach than the earlier study. Instead of trying to extract additional lessons from case studies of current events, this research attempts to gain historical perspective through case studies of earlier conflicts, primarily World War II. Rather than attempting to survey a catalog of issues, this research concentrates on a narrow set of issues. The issues reviewed in this paper relate to the extent contractors can and should be made an integral part of the "mission team" in combat and contingency operations. If contractors have become integral to the success of combat and contingency operations, shouldn't they be responsive and responsible to the commander formally charged with mission success? Expressed another way, can and should the concept of "unity of command" be applied to contractors in a combat theater? Assuming that contractors should be integrated into joint task force operations in a way that creates the essence of unity of command, how can that be accomplished? The question of contractor control/unity of command can be relatively simply stated as suggested in the previous paragraph. This research found, however, that the path toward combatant commander control of contractors is complicated by divergent policies, conflicting belief systems, disconnections between policy theory and "on the ground" reality, and a variety of legal and regulatory hurdles.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 30, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA498252
Entities
People
- Richard L. Dunn
Organizations
- University of Maryland