Army Overdependency on Contractors
Abstract
In recent years, the Army, as well as the military at large, has been progressively delegating many billets traditionally held by uniformed personnel to civilians and creating new billets for civilians by contracting jobs out to private companies, thus creating an increasing reliance on civilian contractors, especially for the development and maintenance of systems. While civilian contractors have supported the Army since its inception, the current proliferation of contractors in every facet of military support, including on the battlefield, is disconcerting because it creates the potential for dependence on the contractors' skills and decreases soldiers' overall combat readiness. Recent events both prior to and during the Army's most recent conflict have begun to validate these concerns and illustrate that, even though contractors are prohibited from doing certain Army jobs, this has not stopped them from becoming vital to the development and upkeep of essential Army systems, especially the technology-heavy command and control systems. As such, many soldiers have concluded that the Army must minimize its current dependency on contractors to maintain combat effectiveness and take back control of its systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 20, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA505219
Entities
People
- H. L. Morris
Organizations
- Marine Corps University