Role of Military Contractors in the Iraq War
Operation Iraqi freedom has endured much skepticism since it began in March 2003. It took only three weeks to bring down the government and secure the oil fields, but no could have anticipated the journey ahead for the soldiers that fought to free the Iraqi people, and the contractors sent in to support them. The L.O.G.C.A.P (Logistics Civil Augmentation Program), which was established by the U.S. Army in 1985, was designed to task civilian contractors with all of the primary needs of the military during war. Food, maintenance, and base support, are just some of the roles that they play. Companies such as KBR, Bechtel, and LSI, are key players in this process.
Basic needs such as food and water are contracted out to civilian workers. In Iraq, all dining facilities are staffed and operated entirely by civilian contractors. These dining facilities are responsible for supplying four meals per day to the soldiers and other contractors in Iraq. All meals are planned weeks in advance, and the contractors are responsible for ordering all supplies and preparing food for the 120,000+ troops stationed on the various bases.
Water is the biggest concern in Iraq. The country is a vast desert wasteland, and water is scarce if you are not along the Tigris or Euphrates River. All water needed to sustain life on the bases in Iraq is pulled from these two rivers. Civilian contractors are responsible for purifying this sludge into potable, and drinking water. It is a huge operation to support the troops with potable water, and elaborate mobile storage bladders are set up on every base in order to store the cleaned water.
Other basic needs are handled by contractors as well. Base maintenance, such as power generation, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, H.V.A.C., are all civilian contractors. All bases in Iraq require these maintenance personnel, to keep the latrines working, and the lights burning. Power generation is a main priority on most camps and generators are used to power nearly everything. Carpenters are on hand to fix any buildings that require maintenance, and the HVAC mechanics supply maintenance all of the air conditioning units which on some bases can be as many as 10,000 units. Other trades such as general labor are there to handle special needs such as painting, and road cleanup. It is surprisingly clean and organized on most of the larger bases in Iraq.
The civilian contractors are also in Iraq playing some unexpected roles. The PX, which is basically a glorified convenient store, or an under stocked Wal-mart is located on every base in Iraq, and is run completely by civilian workers. Civilian contractors are also responsible for staffing the various gyms, and movie theaters located on these bases. Laundry is also a huge responsibility and is handled as well by the civilian contractors.
Some people may ask why civilians are needed to go to a war zone to do these menial tasks. They may think that all of these jobs could be performed just as easily by the military personnel as they could by the civilian contractors. The simple fact is, there are far too many duties to perform in order to sustain a military campaign. With the civilian contractors there, the soldiers can concentrate on getting the job done that they are there to do. The contractors can do what they are there to do, and that is to take care of the soldiers who are fighting on the front line, fighting for the freedom of their country.