Contractors on the 21st Century Battlefield

Abstract

Victory in the Cold War brought reduced military budgets and lower end-strengths. Contemporaneously, operations tempo rose dramatically. This, plus government policies favoring outsourcing, led to a growth in importance of contracted support for military operations, and, correspondingly, an increasing prevalence of contractor personnel in proximity to combat. This paper reviews the legal status of civilian contractors in proximity to combat; control, discipline and force protection of such personnel, and the impact and cost effectiveness of contract support on combat operations.