Howard R. Lind
Last month’s initial public hearing of the Afghanistan War Commission featured several discussions that touched on the role of contractors for both military and development projects during the war. We agree that the commission must take a clear-eyed view of the use and performance of contractors along with the policies and strategies associated with their work. In conjunction with this, however, we believe it is important to address some common perceptions and misperceptions about contractors.
The Afghanistan War Commission was established by Congress in 2021 to conduct a comprehensive review of key decisions related to U.S. military, intelligence, foreign assistance, and diplomatic involvement in Afghanistan from June 2001 to August 2021. As Co-Chair Shamila Chaudhary noted in her introduction, the commission intends to bring an unflinching and rigorous approach to assessing the twenty-year war, identifying lessons learned, and making recommendations with the directive to reflect, learn, and heal.
Notably, the Afghanistan War used the most contractors in the history of U.S. military engagements. This resulted from the military drawdowns following the first Gulf War. The fact that we were fighting two simultaneous wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, also increased the need. After the first Gulf War, the U.S. made a strategic decision to maintain an all-volunteer force and outsource much of its defense service support capability. Today, the U.S. cannot fight a war without their support. As an integral part of the defense industrial base, contractors provide significant capabilities both from a services and defense manufacturer perspective. These capabilities not only supported the warfighter during the conflict but also represented a deterrence to war and defense of freedom.
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