Stripes letter: Civilian contractors v. soldiers (on pay, morale, etc)

[lebkuchen]

Civilians contribute downrange

I agreed with “The problem with GIs’ pay” (letter, Aug. 16) until I got to the last sentence where it said the soldiers’ “idea of a civilian counterpart is the civilian contractor who makes two or three times the cash to endure the same conditions.” The key word was “endure,” — 98 percent of civilians came here for the money. That is the main reason why they “endure” this environment.

Comparing soldiers to civilian contractors when it comes to pay is misleading. Soldiers swore an oath, and signed a contract (including pay) with the military. Civilian contractors came at their own free will with open-ended contracts (meaning either party can forfeit at any time).

I’m a civilian contractor and also served my country in active duty. It was my choice to join the civilian world, so if the writer of that letter is upset that he made the wrong choice, then that is not our problem, but don’t rub it off on civilian contractors by making such a remark.

There are over 60,000 civilian contractors in Iraq working 12-16 hours a day seven days a week filling in military jobs so you can fight and concentrate on terrorism. If it wasn’t for our triple pay, you would have half the military force in Iraq cooking, cleaning, fixing, building, and so forth. There wouldn’t be enough soldiers left to fight the battles.

Tobias Barbir
Camp Bucca, Iraq

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=31254

[JHB]

1. I bet that'll go over just peachy with the rank and file...

Not only are they profiteers, but they're smug, arrogant bastards as well!
:argh:

[lebkuchen]

5. Ya know,

you oughta follow the next month's worth of Stripes letters, which are destined to make your case. :)

[Toots]

2. A very stupid argument IMO

If soldiers did all their own work like they used to America would not be fleeced by the right wing looters like is currently happening. sixty thousand contracter in Iraq and iraqis have an eighty percent unemployment rate. We are creating more hatred by the use of US contracters instead of Iraqi Contracters and are doing shoddy work to boot.

[driver8]

3. And soldiers are riding "shotgun" for these civilians so they

can get their trucks from place to place.

Yeah, I'd be a little pissed off if I was getting my ass shot up for some guy making as much in a day as I made in a week.

[lebkuchen]

6. soldiers ride shotgun, contractors rid BB gun

if they ride at all. The convoy positions are mostly filled by NG and Reservists, which is why so many of them have died.

The contractors mostly put on aprons or watch the E-1s bust the same tires that the contractors are supposed to be busting at three times the pay.

[zbdent]

4. You know, back when the Dems were running the House and Senate,

there was all this hubbub about "military spending" being all out of control.

So nice that it's all now privatized, so they can pass the savings on to the, er, um, never mind . . .

[lebkuchen]

7. 8 trillion national debt and rising

You will never live long enough to see the US come close to paying off that bill, though I'm told the contractors' $1,000 per day salary is well worth it.

Tell that to the Gulf State residents who are competing with rats for food.