I believe this is my first Bulgaria related post. Although I don’t think this story is that radical, because numerous militaries throughout the world have come to the same conclusions. The rule of the thumb for quality control still applies. You cannot just contract the thing out, and not apply some checks and balances to the thing. Hopefully Bulgaria will learn from other’s mistakes on the proper way to do such a thing.
As for the security market in Bulgaria, who knows. I do not know who would stand to benefit there, or who the top security companies are in Bulgaria. Obviously the General mentioned would probably benefit if he had a piece of a company being used, or was getting any kick backs for setting something like this up. Who knows, and if any of the readership has something to add, feel free to post away. –Matt
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Bulgarian general wants private security contractors to guard military bases
Nov 12 2009
by Nick Iliev
Bulgarian army generals have spoken against the “widespread influx of women into the armed forces and the infantry in particular”. Additionally, they have requested that military bases and installations in the country “be guarded by private security firms, so as not to waste the time of regular soldiers with mundane stag duties,” Mediapool reported on November 12 2009.
General Ivan Dobrev, in charge of infantry selection and training, has complained of the large numbers of women in the army and has requested that a regulation be passed to curb that. “They apply for all sorts of jobs, including tank mechanics,” he said.
“You see there are things that a lady cannot cope without. Traditionally, the Bulgarian soldier is trained so that he can last in the field several days without soap or a bath,” he said.
Generals are complaining because specialisations in the armed forces were initially segregated according to gender, but eventually those divisions were revoked because of “discrimination complaints”.
Of all Nato member states, the Bulgarian army has the highest proportion of female soldiers, who currently make up 12.7 per cent of the country’s ranks, whereas in some regiments the female population is as much as 20 per cent. In 2008 alone, more than 1200 females passed selection and were allowed to put on the camouflage DPM’s.
The average for the rest of Nato is about 10 per cent. In the near future, however, the Bulgarian army is likely to augment selection procedures. The army currently offers a package of a stable government job and an array of supplementary benefits on top of a 600 (plus)-leva monthly wage but the conditions are deemed “unappealing for the general Bulgarian male population”.
Another “problem” facing the Bulgarian soldiers was stag duties. “Stag duties disrupt regular training and the presence of personnel in the bases; it means that soldiers are burdened with mundane activities and as such are a total waste of time,” Mediapool reported.
So the proposal put forward by the Bulgarian infantry generals is that “private companies, or a combination of security companies and military personnel be allocated to guard the military bases”.
“Infantry soldiers are paid 700 leva wages to be on stag duty, instead of training properly, so we could recruit private firms to guard the bases for 400 leva instead,” General Dobrev told Mediapool.
Story here.