Amazing that folks continue to scream about the civilian surge not having enough folks, or not having enough troops for commitments in the war, but you never hear too much about contractors filling that void (which we are, and will do, as per usual).  We are such a crucial element of this war, and have certainly sacrificed and contributed, and it always miffs me that none of the strategists or MSM observers acknowledge that fact.  We are the elephant in the room that no one wants to recognize, and when they do acknowledge us, it’s when a few bad apples screw things up. Thanks.

   Let’s get real on this.  Of course contractors will be the lubrication of any deployments or withdrawals in this war, and I fully expect to see us being used even more as the wars get more complex and taxing. And of course there will continue to be incidents here and there.  The military will continue to have incidents as well, and guess what, that is war and that is the way things are.  The best we can do is to continue to improve, and continue to minimize these incidents that hurt the war effort, and that is it.  It is absolutely unrealistic to say that we can have a ‘zero mistakes’ war, and that applies to the military and contractors.  Either way……

   The question I have is will contractors ever get that acknowledgement for contribution and sacrifice in this war?  Who knows, but you can guarantee I will definitely continue to bring it up and drive that point home to anyone that will listen. It is the least I could do for my fallen comrades, and for an industry that has certainly contributed. -Matt

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Afghanistan Strains Already-Strapped Army

Date: 10/12/2009

Media: Audio

October 12, 2009 – CNAS President John Nagl spoke with Steve Inskeep of NPR’s Morning Edition about the strain on the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The requirement for increased troop strength is doable, but it is going to put additional strain on an army that is already feeling a lot of pain,” said Nagl. “Whatever troop level we increase to in Afghanistan in 2010 we need to be prepated to hold that level for 2-3 three years.”

Podcast here.

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Support Troops Swelling U.S. Force in Afghanistan

Additional Deployments Not Announced and Rarely Noted

By Ann Scott TysonWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, October 13, 2009

President Obama announced in March that he would be sending 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. But in an unannounced move, the White House has also authorized — and the Pentagon is deploying — at least 13,000 troops beyond that number, according to defense officials.

The additional troops are primarily support forces, including engineers, medical personnel, intelligence experts and military police. Their deployment has received little mention by officials at the Pentagon and the White House, who have spoken more publicly about the combat troops who have been sent to Afghanistan.

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Tags: Afghanistan, John Nagl, NPR, Podcasts