This is cool. Every once in awhile, the CEO’s of some of the big companies like to communicate with the public in one way or the other. In the case of Triple Canopy, Mr. Balderas is rallying support for CEJA. For Mission Essential Personnel’s CEO, Mr. Taylor was given the chance to speak at a high school graduation ceremony. (please check out both articles below)
I will not comment much about the CEJA. Contractors must be held accountable, and the CEJA could be one tool used to make contractors accountable. On top of the UCMJ and whatever else laws that congress wants to throw in there, I support anything that makes the client happy. My only caveat is that any and all laws implemented must not hinder the strategic value of contractors. National security comes first in my book, and any laws should be viewed with this filter. But yes, stuff like this helps to legitimize contractors and make us an asset and not a liability in the war.
The other thing that jumped up at me was the quote Mr. Taylor made about his interpreters:
“Every patrol working in Afghanistan has got a Mission Essential interpreter walking with them,”.
That is pretty remarkable, and it also brings some attention to what that actually means. That there are ‘contractors’ assisting every combat patrol out there, and those contract interpreters are the only connection between the troops and the locals. That is offensive operations, and without those contractors, there is no way the troops would be effective in that endeavor. Much like how interpreters and civilian scouts were hired by the US Army during the Indian Wars, we are doing the same thing in these current wars.
The other quote that is stunning, is the amount of contract interpreters being used:
“There are 7,700 Pashto speakers in the United States. [About] 3,300 would be eligible to serve in the capacity we need,” Taylor said. “Of them, we employ 1,800 to 1,900. And we know where the rest of them live.”
That is a lot of American contractors putting their lives at risk by walking side by side with the troops in the war. According to T. Christine Miller’s casualty graph, MEP has had 36 KIA over the course of the war. (although the DoL does not show any deaths–so these could be local national deaths or other) Triple Canopy has lost 15 guys as well.
Both companies have sacrificed in this war, and we should not forget these sacrifices or any of the contractor sacrifices during this Memorial Day. I also salute both CEO’s for getting the word out. Perhaps you guys should look into blogging, to further along your strategic communications goals? –Matt
Laying Down the Rules for Private Security Contractors
By Ignacio “Iggy” Balderas
CEO, Triple Canopy
05/24/11
The failure to establish effective accountability over private security contractors (PSCs) hasn’t just obscured important truths about how our nation secures its foreign policy — it has allowed some reckless actors to repeatedly endanger this goal.
We now have a chance to firmly lay down the rules, punish violators and allow the professional PSCs who make me proud every day do the jobs they’re trained to do. This is why I support The Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (CEJA), which will be reintroduced soon by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT. The bill was originally introduced last year and goes further than the current law in holding contractors accountable and plugs potential legal loopholes that bad actors may take advantage of.