The Evolving Contingency Contracting Market PKSOI Papers | Page 15

Furthermore, contingency contracting firms often
employ individuals who may be significantly more
experienced than current the government employees
assigned to these kinds of operations, as the private
sector can ensure such expertise by enlisting the services of retired military personnel and government
officials who have already had full careers in their
area of expertise with compensation and benefits incentives that are beyond the scope of standard government employee packages. Having employees with
government and military backgrounds, helps company managers understand the institutional irritations of
governmental response capabilities and ensure their
firm’s capabilities and services address the real gaps.
Curiously, many traditional international organizations have only recently begun to truly accept the
potential of modularized private sector services which
provide enormous value, quality, and cost savings. A
senior DoD official assessed that, “If operational expectations are only 1-2 years, then the U.S. saves about
90% through the use of contractors rather than the
military, due to the military’s lifecycle costs.” 13 The
same official went on to explain that a major appeal
of private sector support is that, “The contractor pillar is technically proficient and flexible, allowing for
rapid expansion and contraction. The U.S. could shed
140,000 contractor jobs in Iraq with virtually no liability.” 14
As the intentions of increased efficiency resonate
across the interests of all stakeholders involved in
multilateral peacekeeping operations, it is important
to recognize that private industry has already mastered exploiting synergies and economies of scale. As
past performance indicates, many international and
governmental organizations have a poor reputation

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