48,000 pvt military forces currently fighting in iraq for us

[Cap]

I think the security companies employee Iraqis as well. How come they can train some asshole off of the streets of Baghdad when they're contractors and the world's most advanced military can't?  Looks like horrible management on the military's part when it comes to leaving behind a strong Iraqi police force.

Plus, I bet most of the mercs are older men over 30.

More experience.

[Camel Jockey]

More experience.

Of course. And I bet they take care of their business without getting into stupid messes involving rape and murder. Hell, if it isn't too expensive, let's pull out and leave these guys in charge.

[militarymuscle69]

So to put one army man in the field is $40k + 15k = 55k.
To put one contractor in is $250k to 400k.

Plus, you don't have to train every man every year.  you can, but it's not required.

on paper it is cheaper, not in reality however. When they figure costs for military they figure in billeting, transporting etc....but for a contract it is one set cost and then the contractor picks up the tab out of that contract. For instance, in the air force if I send out my guys to repair the airfield we "charge" $47.50 an  hour regardless of rank. So if I send out 4 guys for that, plus add in materials and a contractor says he can do it for $35 an hour then on paper they do it cheaper. Same sort of thing here, but the biggest reason we use civilians is for continuity. The contractor will be there to maintain continuity when military units are rotating in and out, just like we do in the states.

[ieffinhatecardio]

I don't see how paying a contracter $300k a year is cheaper than paying an Army man 40k a year.

I'd love to see how those numbers work out. What could it possibly cost the military to have one trained soldier in Iraq, even if it's $250,000 which is 625% more than an annual income of $40,000 how does $300,000 or more work out to a savings?

[youandme]

youtube has some pretty cool videos of some blackwater fights of Iraq.

[benchmstr]

youtube has some pretty cool videos of some blackwater fights of Iraq.

yeah some of my buddies brought back videos looks fun,makes me want to get back into the game

bench

[headhuntersix]

Its pretty easy and it works like this......Blackwater contracts are fixed contracts...no more cash for mission creep. There is no paid insurance for the contractor or his family unless he takes his own out. The military gets his medical/his famlies medical and dental...the contractor gets smoked he gets exactly 65 grand insurance money from uncle sam under the BDA or base defense act passed by Congress. If i were to get smoked ..my family gets 400,000 plus 100 grand death bonus and all unpaid allowances..plus up to 90 addtional days medical for the family and it might be longer. The contractor gets nothing. Most contractors get about 550 per day on 6 month contacts..depending on jobs u can look at 650-1000 per day plus about 65 bucks per diem. The logistics trail of the soldier is much longer. If a Blackwater guy eats in our chowhall....Blackwater pays the bill. The list is endless.....its just cheaper for a contractor to do what he does as opposed to a soldier doing the same job. These guys would not be in business if Uncle Sam was not seeing a reason to pay em. This is the way to go.

[Camel Jockey]

Its pretty easy and it works like this......Blackwater contracts are fixed contracts...no more cash for mission creep. There is no paid insurance for the contractor or his family unless he takes his own out. The military gets his medical/his famlies medical and dental...the contractor gets smoked he gets exactly 65 grand insurance money from uncle sam under the BDA or base defense act passed by Congress. If i were to get smoked ..my family gets 400,000 plus 100 grand death bonus and all unpaid allowances..plus up to 90 addtional days medical for the family and it might be longer. The contractor gets nothing. Most contractors get about 550 per day on 6 month contacts..depending on jobs u can look at 650-1000 per day plus about 65 bucks per diem. The logistics trail of the soldier is much longer. If a Blackwater guy eats in our chowhall....Blackwater pays the bill. The list is endless.....its just cheaper for a contractor to do what he does as opposed to a soldier doing the same job. These guys would not be in business if Uncle Sam was not seeing a reason to pay em. This is the way to go.

Interesting man.. We might as well pay these contractors to gaurd our interests while we pull out and let the Iraqis fucking kill each other. We'll take a foreign policy hit, but it's not like it'll be any worse than it is now. Seems like no amount of troops can keep them from being themselves so we might as well let them duke it out.

[headhuntersix]

I have a ton of books..ateast as many as I can get my hands on about mercenaries from the late 1940's on. This is just a continuation of the whole mercenary thing but put into a corporate structure. These companies and the ones in Great Britain will prosper so long as they don't come in conflict with their respective governments. The guy who runs BW is in very tight with the CIA and the conservative movement in America...the same can be said for the folks in GB. The whole idea fasinates me......

[Camel Jockey]

I have a ton of books..ateast as many as I can get my hands on about mercenaries from the late 1940's on. This is just a continuation of the whole mercenary thing but put into a corporate structure. These companies and the ones in Great Britain will prosper so long as they don't come in conflict with their respective governments. The guy who runs BW is in very tight with the CIA and the conservative movement in America...the same can be said for the folks in GB. The whole idea fasinates me......

I bet those securities companies are managed by people with MBAs. That would explain how well they're managed as opposed to our military.

[headhuntersix]

Um well they had to hire folks once the money came pouring in. Blackwater made metal targets for pistol ranges. But the guy who owns it was well connected, ex-SEAL (no combat)and came from a family with plenty of money and a large corporate background. Some of these companies end up with multi million dollar contracts before they have more then two employees. There is a huge need for them by not only governments but private industry....The problems will come when the big multinationals hire them to pacify areas to pull out oil or other resources..u will have a well funded company fighting an insurgency without any rules......