Family is a huge part of almost everyone’s lives but I couldn’t see how it could really work when you’re away from home with no communication for six to nine months of the year. Most of these contractors have learned this lesson the hard way with divorce being such a common thing in this industry. Another topic I found myself thinking about a lot during this section of the book was about the jurisdiction these contractors have when they are deployed. Should the government be able to delegate the tasks of the military to civilians? I would definitely say yes, with only one principle in mind, efficiency. Think about the difference between a government run programs compared to a privatized company doing the same job. For example UPS v. US Postal Service. Every since its inception the US Postal Service has been a constant reminder that when the government is involved with a huge job it becomes incredibly inefficient. This is one of the biggest reasons why private military contractors are bigger than they ever have been in the history of the United States. In the current wars the US is fighting sheer size and strength won’t necessarily get the job done. These Islamic extremist groups have figured out the only way to take on such a big opponent is to fight unconventionally. Hit and run tactics, IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) and VBIEDs (Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive device) have been the biggest killers in the war on terror and not huge scale battles because these groups know they don’t have the resources to fight that kind of war. With these smaller more focused groups employed by Military Contractors they can get more things done without sacrificing the number of soldiers lost to these new guerilla tactics.
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