ARRC JOURNAL
Understanding the Money
This not just a ‘G8 sport’, but, rather,
the responsibility of everyone who has
ownership of an activity and a funding line.
Supporting stabilisation, economically,
means we need to better understand
where the money is coming from, but
more importantly where it is going, who it
is going to, what they are using it for and
where is it ending up. Detailed analysis
of the human terrain and of how the A3E
community is interconnected allows us
to better understand the likely networks
that control the flow of money in an
operational environment.
The Contracting Environment
The environment will be different to how
many contracting staffs are used to
operating within in almost every respect.
Contracts will be utilised by organised
crime syndicates running companies
that provide services and by insurgents
using them as a source of influence,
power or infiltration. Commanders at all
levels should appreciate that contracting
will have an impact on the operational
situation. Contracting is a significant
Figure 1 – The provision of goods and services in an
operational environment is wide ranging.
5 LTG Williamson – RUSI LWC 2015.
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ALLIED RAPID REACTION CORPS
way through which funds flow through
to the local economy and can influence
the political dynamics of a region. Apart
from the provision of goods and services,
it will also impact local employment
and prosperity. A balance needs to be
struck between using internationally
recognised contractors, reducing the
risk of corruption and a more guaranteed
supply chain versus local suppliers and
the unknown nature of the contractor
and sustainability of the commodity. Both
support stabilisation in their own way,
but striking the balance of how the long-
term sustainability of the economy will be
affected needs to be understood.
To provide that balance, contracting
is performed on a wider scale than
just within theatre; how and where
contractors deliver solutions is key.
Contractor support to operations is
becoming big business; in 2015 alone
US Forces in Afghanistan employed one
contractor for every soldier deployed on
operations. The factors driving this are
various, but CSO is now an essential
element in any operation. 5 Employment
of staff is contractor business; however,
they will invariably look to strike a balance
of locally employed civilians (LEC), third
country nationals (TCN) and core staff.
Contractual IPB
The contracting battlespace looks very
different to the operational one, but
nevertheless it overlays the operational
battlespace with an impact on the same
actors in a crisis response operation.
What differs is the focus of those actors;
in the contracting space they will become
economically focussed. The economic
environment will be as congested and
contested as the G3 battlespace. There
will be competition for resources, goods
and services from all actors in theatre.
Whether it is the local population and
industry, international organisations (IO),
non-governmental organisations (NGO)
or other countries – all will compete for
resources in this environment and all will
approach it from a differing perspective
with competing priorities. This makes the
market both competitive and challenging.
We have to accept that we will not be the
preferred bidder of choice; some of our
competitors may have more freedom to
operate in this space.