Any troops here seen this before!

[Dino]

Where? CONUS / Stateside? Civilian world or military? If you're talking about our civilian jobs here stateside - yes, I agree it does happen in that sector (too). However, life, death, and a nations freedom are not on the line...

If you are talking about military contractors/employees, I firmly believe that civil service has it's place but the contractors need to butt-out unless it's a highly specialized field and the government is having trouble finding people for a particular task.



Yes, there are contractors that don't make six figures. I see them as actually supporting the effort and/or our troops. Those that make a living (read: killing - no pun intended) by going over solely for the money are scum if you ask me! If you want to fight, serve your country, or otherwise participate in the "conflict" - JOIN THE MILITARY!



If they didn't allow these folks to do this, the supply would increase. First, you'd end up recruiting some percentage of those folks into the military through traditional means for both the enlisted ranks and the officer corps. Second, the tax dollars could be spent on increasing recruitment of quality recruits. Third, with the remaining dollars, should there be any - and I would speculate there should be - you increase the base pay across the board for the military members. Which in turn helps with recruitment.


It's real simple. Get the contractors and privateers out of our boys' way. Our guys have been trained to handle and take care of themselves and each other.

You are forgetting that it takes quite a while to train a new soldier or marine. Contractors bring needed skills immediately to the fight.

So individuals that offer up their skill sets to support our fighting men and women deployed side by side are scum because they do so for good pay?

Over 1000 contractors have been killed and over 10,000 wounded. Bullets don't distinguish between military guys and contractors.

 

[Haya01B]

Well it seems like the old buddy buddy patting themselves on each others backs to me. I mean people are talking about the gov. taking their tax dollars for health care or what ever. You got contract companies sucking the country dry for years and years now for a war that the cost does not justify the means.

 

[HT_USMC]

You are forgetting that it takes quite a while to train a new soldier or marine. Contractors bring needed skills immediately to the fight.

Not forgotten. You would think that in seven plus years the need for them "immediately" would have long since passed and we'd be able to train a soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine to take over their job function. No? Yes.

If we continue to keep that mentality then we'll slowly convert our armed forces into armed contractors (as if that's not already happening).

So individuals that offer up their skill sets to support our fighting men and women deployed side by side are scum because they do so for good pay?

No.

Guys that are there more for the pay than anything else. Yes.

Guys who are there and receiving that good pay while living like they are on vacation in the middle of war-zones, all the while our military members live in "harder" conditions. Yep, scum.

Guys that dump computers in a pit, claim the loss with insurance and then charge the government for the replacements. Yes, they too are scum.

Guys that get six figures and don't do their job by cleaning the drinking/bathing water for the troops they are there to support. Big time scum.

Over 1000 contractors have been killed and over 10,000 wounded. Bullets don't distinguish between military guys and contractors.

Odd isn't it. We've lost military members as well, with thousands wounded also. It seems the risk versus reward is far greater for the relatively few contractors we've lost as compared to the military side of the house.

Another interesting thought. How many of these contractors were prior military with combat experience? Guys who, as a member of the armed forces, watched the contractors getting paid (sometimes five times more) to do basically the same job, slack off, vacation, and determine their own "tour" dates. Guys who were then recruited by these companies out of the military to work for them. I'd be willing to bet it's more than we, as a country, would like to admit.

So to quote you again:

You are forgetting that it takes quite a while to train a new soldier or marine. Contractors bring needed skills immediately to the fight.

I guess the contractors leave the bulk of the training up to the military in those cases and save the bucks for themselves. Pretty nice setup there in those particular instances.

 

[Dino]

Not forgotten. You would think that in seven plus years the need for them "immediately" would have long since passed and we'd be able to train a soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine to take over their job function. No? Yes.

If we continue to keep that mentality then we'll slowly convert our armed forces into armed contractors (as if that's not already happening).



No.

Guys that are there more for the pay than anything else. Yes. Why? Are you saying that individuals who pick jobs and do their jobs for good pay are wrong?

Guys who are there and receiving that good pay while living like they are on vacation in the middle of war-zones, all the while our military members live in "harder" conditions. Yep, scum. Even if they are getting the job done?

Guys that dump computers in a pit, claim the loss with insurance and then charge the government for the replacements. Yes, they too are scum. Yes, I agree

Guys that get six figures and don't do their job by cleaning the drinking/bathing water for the troops they are there to support. Big time scum. Yes, I agree along with the Government guys who's job it is to make sure the contractors are living up to the terms of their contract.


Odd isn't it. We've lost military members as well, with thousands wounded also. It seems the risk versus reward is far greater for the relatively few contractors we've lost as compared to the military side of the house.

Another interesting thought. How many of these contractors were prior military with combat experience? Guys who, as a member of the armed forces, watched the contractors getting paid (sometimes five times more) to do basically the same job, slack off, vacation, and determine their own "tour" dates. Guys who were then recruited by these companies out of the military to work for them. I'd be willing to bet it's more than we, as a country, would like to admit. So what if they were? If a guy did his required time and lived up to his commitment shouldn't he capitalize on it?

So to quote you again:

I guess the contractors leave the bulk of the training up to the military in those cases and save the bucks for themselves. Pretty nice setup there in those particular instances. Again, so what? Are you saying that a guys should not capitalize on his talents?

Ok, I agree 100% if they are not doing their jobs.

But if a guy is working hard and doing his job supporting the troop why do you begrudge him being compensated for it?

 

[HT_USMC]

Ok, I agree 100% if they are not doing their jobs.

But if a guy is working hard and doing his job supporting the troop why do you begrudge him being compensated for it?

It's simple. We shouldn't have an military force that has been hired. Corruption will abound. Add to that, I believe it's a gray area in terms of what our constitution outlines concerning a mercenary force, which is what we're employing/deploying as of late.

I begrudge those people because they put the dollar before loyalty, they put comfort before duty, and they would rather user their debit card as a sell-out versus their voice to help change the things that prevented them from wanting to join or stay in the military.

I don't know when we Americans became so obsessed with tip-toeing through politics and not speaking our mind but I'm tired of it! Not everyone is a winner. In this case our military is losing because of these profit-mongering mercenaries. I don't care if the person in question is a cook and does his job amazingly well while worrying about mortar attacks. No, if he's an employee of a contracting company (read: mercenary force) then he is therefore a contractor (read: mercenary). We call these people "contractors" because it makes things palatable for us Americans and leads to discussions like this because things are vague. It's pretty black and white when you step back and look at things.

The guy making twice as much - or more - as his counterpart in a war-zone because he circumvented the military to earn the bucks because there is turmoil somewhere in the world isn't doing anyone but himself a favor. It's selfish to profit due to someones turmoil; It's lazy because they don't want to earn the ranks in the military or take on the challenges of being in a special operations capable unit to do the same things they want to do today; It's wildly demoralizing to the military guys they work with due to the disparity of pay and perks - which, by the way, is the opposite of "support".

Read a few comments here

 

[Southside Playa]

Halliburton/KBR = Di*k Cheney

 

[Bird Hunter]

Halliburton/KBR = Di*k Cheney

Plenty of politicians involved in those big companies on both sides of the fence.. Their there for the $$$ plain and simple..... Politics and corruption go hand in hand, no party line boundaries..

 

[Southside Playa]

Plenty of politicians involved in those big companies on both sides of the fence.. Their there for the $$$ plain and simple..... Politics and corruption go hand in hand, no party line boundaries..

Dude, you are correct ......

William Jefferson (D) - Louisiana, Mr. Money in the freezer
Tom Delay (R) - Texas, Mr. create a BS job that pays his wife & daughter $100k+ a year

Just to a name a couple

Greed hath no party affiliation. It really sucks that our troop are fighting & dying and these guys (politicians) have no shame about themselves.

 

[busa-josh]

OK_ overall issue is that our gov't is setup in such a way that allows for the capitalization of war. That is wrong... agreed? We are a republic that draws heavily on capitalism. Free trade is the basis of our economy and is needed to sustain our way of life. Should we as citizens support anything that allows the privatization of a combat zone into that particular type of economy? After all, you and I are paying for it.