Considerations for the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce: Preparing to Operate Amidst Private Security Contractors

Abstract

This paper examines survey data collected during a prior RAND study, the results of which were published in Hired Guns: Views About Armed Contractors in Operation Iraqi Freedom (Cotton et al., 2010). Its purpose is to derive lessons for how the CEW should be trained and prepared to work in theaters where private security contractors (PSCs) are deployed. The paper is meant to serve as educational material aimed at CEW leaders and CEW personnel to help them understand the challenges of interacting with PSCs and how they might play a role in helping the military coordinate with PSCs. RAND has also collected a variety of data on how the military and U.S. Department of State (DoS) view PSCs, and these data might usefully inform how CEW personnel approach their jobs in theaters where PSCs operate. It is, however, important to make clear at the outset that the experiences of PSCs are not directly applicable to the CEW. Moreover, this paper is not aimed at altering the CEW but, rather, at informing how its personnel are trained to operate in environments that include PSCs. This paper begins by discussing the CEW in greater detail, providing details on CEW positions and the evolution of the CEW concept. The following section provides a short overview of the extent to which PSCs have been employed in U.S. contingency operations in recent years and the tasks that they perform during these operations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA556669

Entities

People

  • Molly Dunigan

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civilian Personnel
  • Contractors
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of State
  • Employment
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Iraqi-War
  • Military Operations
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Nongovernmental Organizations
  • Personnel Management
  • Private Military Companies
  • Security
  • Security Personnel
  • Unified Combatant Commands

Readers

  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design