How Obama’s Afghanistan plan forces the Army to replace soldiers with contractors

[Peter1469]

How Obama’s Afghanistan plan forces the Army to replace soldiers with contractors (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/01/how-obamas-afghanistan-plan-is-forcing-the-army-to-replace-soldiers-with-contractors/)

The title is from WAPO and isn't completely accurate. Congress is part of the force level in country. Anyway, the problem is real. The army didn't take the helicopter maintenance soldiers and used contractors instead so they could have more trigger pullers.

That is bad- military maintenance losses skills.


Current restrictions on U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan and a heavy reliance on civilian contractors are eroding the skills and cohesion of units deployed to the country, according to information from the Army given to the House Armed Services Committee and provided to The Washington Post.

According to an Army document, the use of civilian labor in one of the Army’s combat aviation brigades, or CABs, in Afghanistan has had negative side effects because the contractors are being used in lieu of the brigade’s maintenance soldiers. Those soldiers should be deploying with their units, but are not because of the “constrained troop level environment” in Afghanistan, the document says.

“Aviation maintainers not deploying with their [brigades] results in an erosion of skill and experience essential to soldier and leader development,” Army officials said in the document. “The atrophy of these critical skills erodes the brigade’s ability to deploy in the future and sustain itself in an expeditionary manner to locations that may not permit the deployment of contractors.”




Read more at the link.

[Crepitus]

playing politics against ourselves

[donttread]

How Obama’s Afghanistan plan forces the Army to replace soldiers with contractors (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/01/how-obamas-afghanistan-plan-is-forcing-the-army-to-replace-soldiers-with-contractors/)

The title is from WAPO and isn't completely accurate. Congress is part of the force level in country. Anyway, the problem is real. The army didn't take the helicopter maintenance soldiers and used contractors instead so they could have more trigger pullers.

That is bad- military maintenance losses skills.



Read more at the link.


Mercenaries for the new imperialism.

[Peter1469]

Mercenaries for the new imperialism.

Helicopter mechanics- the new mercenary.... :shocked:

[MMC]

How Obama’s Afghanistan plan forces the Army to replace soldiers with contractors (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/01/how-obamas-afghanistan-plan-is-forcing-the-army-to-replace-soldiers-with-contractors/)

The title is from WAPO and isn't completely accurate. Congress is part of the force level in country. Anyway, the problem is real. The army didn't take the helicopter maintenance soldiers and used contractors instead so they could have more trigger pullers.

That is bad- military maintenance losses skills.



Read more at the link.


According to the Army document, only 6 percent of the 4th’s CAB is dedicated to maintaining aircraft. That small number is specifically for recovering aircraft that land or crash in a hostile environment. Instead, 427 civilian personnel — at a cost of $101 million annually — are maintaining the CAB’s fleet of helicopters. Through 2014 and 2015, 390 contractors maintained both the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions’ aircraft for $86 million when their CABs were deployed to Afghanistan......snip~ Same link.

As usual BO peep excels in Bad business decisions, huh?

[Ethereal]

I have no idea what we're still doing there.

Well, I know that the military industrial complex is profiting from it, so there's that.

But as for America, there is no discernible benefit.

The Taliban will not be defeated using conventional military tactics, nor will AQ.

The only reason to remain there is out of pure inertia.

[Tahuyaman]

Obama's foreign policy is an abortion.

[Peter1469]

I have no idea what we're still doing there.

Well, I know that the military industrial complex is profiting from it, so there's that.

But as for America, there is no discernible benefit.

The Taliban will not be defeated using conventional military tactics, nor will AQ.

The only reason to remain there is out of pure inertia.

The Taliban is a large part of Afghan politics. More Afghans identify with the Taliban than Americans claim to be republicans.

[donttread]

Helicopter mechanics- the new mercenary.... :shocked:

Can you you run much of a war without good copter mechanics? Or security forces like Black water ?

[Peter1469]

Can you you run much of a war without good copter mechanics? Or security forces like Black water ?

It depends on where Congress sets the force level caps.

[donttread]

It depends on where Congress sets the force level caps.

When you out source you do so to save money, which means lower standards and crashed copters probably. You also do so in order to under report the number of people you have in the war zone

[Peter1469]

When you out source you do so to save money, which means lower standards and crashed copters probably. You also do so in order to under report the number of people you have in the war zone

The DoD reports the number of troops and contractors in theater.

[MisterVeritis]

Mercenaries for the new imperialism.
Yeah. No. Even for you this is dumb.

[MisterVeritis]

When you out source you do so to save money, which means lower standards and crashed copters probably. You also do so in order to under report the number of people you have in the war zone
No. Money is clearly not an issue. This is all about pretending we have a smaller footprint than we actually do. It is the Regime's way of deceiving Americans. Sometimes the reason to use contractors is to maintain a very high skill level in a critical function. Because we are not in the war to win it we rotate units in and out. Contractors can provide continuity.

[donttread]

The DoD reports the number of troops and contractors in theater.

Don't take everything quite so literally Peter. I'm sure they report them but I'm pretty much equally sure MSM doesn't report contractor info to us very often.

[Peter1469]

Don't take everything quite so literally Peter. I'm sure they report them but I'm pretty much equally sure MSM doesn't report contractor info to us very often.

Most reporters probably don't understand. There is a group that do. And they report on it.

But most Americans are more interested about American idol and who uses which bathroom.

[donttread]

Most reporters probably don't understand. There is a group that do. And they report on it.

But most Americans are more interested about American idol and who uses which bathroom.

Even that group pretty much only reports scandols , right?

[Peter1469]

Even that group pretty much only reports scandols , right?

No.