One Soldier’s Experience With One Nation Under Contract

Gerald · 04-18-11, 05:50 PM

We go to war because of the men on our left and right. Since 9/11, we should probably add to that the contractors in the rear providing us food, drinks and organizing basketball tournaments. Maybe we don’t fight for them, but we certainly couldn’t fight without them. This situation isn’t good or bad, it just is.

When I was in Afghanistan, my unit had to hire interpreters to talk to locals. They were contractors, though we didn’t think of them like that. In the Korangal, we struggled to keep them from going on leave, and never returning. Throughout our battalion, we struggled to staff enough of them. My platoon had two interpreters, and we still struggled to operate across our district.

At Bagram Air Field, I ate food made by KBR employees. In Kunar Province, my company hired locals to cook the food that had been flown in by contracted helicopters. And when our radios broke, the Army flew in a contractor to fix them.

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/...act/?ref=world

Note: April 18, 2011, 11:12 am

04-18-11, 05:50 PM	#1
Gerald SUBSIM Newsman Join Date: May 2008 Location: Close to sea Posts: 24,254 Downloads: 553 Uploads: 0	One Soldier’s Experience With One Nation Under Contract We go to war because of the men on our left and right. Since 9/11, we should probably add to that the contractors in the rear providing us food, drinks and organizing basketball tournaments. Maybe we don’t fight for them, but we certainly couldn’t fight without them. This situation isn’t good or bad, it just is. When I was in Afghanistan, my unit had to hire interpreters to talk to locals. They were contractors, though we didn’t think of them like that. In the Korangal, we struggled to keep them from going on leave, and never returning. Throughout our battalion, we struggled to staff enough of them. My platoon had two interpreters, and we still struggled to operate across our district. At Bagram Air Field, I ate food made by KBR employees. In Kunar Province, my company hired locals to cook the food that had been flown in by contracted helicopters. And when our radios broke, the Army flew in a contractor to fix them. http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/...act/?ref=world Note: April 18, 2011, 11:12 am __________________ Nothing in life is to be feard,it is only to be understood. Marie Curie