Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Gary Motsek defended the use of contractors in contingency zones yesterday in a lecture titled "Contractors in the Battlefield," which was held in 016 Robertson Hall.
He emphasized the distinction between the roles of soldiers and contractors and argued that the government needed to determine how it can better manage contractors deployed oversees.
Motsek discussed the legality of contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan after briefly covering the lengthy history of military contractors playing a role in U.S. military operations. He said that these two regions are "contingency zones" rather than war zones, and contractors' roles there are therefore legitimate under international law. The Department of Defense spent $16 billion on contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan during fiscal year 2007.
He said that problems like "long lines of communication and substantially extended operations" plagued troops in conflict regions, and argued that the use of contractors in conflict zones will help to alleviate these problems.
Acknowledging problems with accountability between the U.S. government and contractors, Motsek said he thinks contractors who failed to perform acceptably would "be thrown out" of conflict zones, and that "minor infractions" should be "handled very quickly."
The crux of the problem, he said, goes "back to the rules of force, which isn't a panacea."
Motsek oversees government-paid contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan and serves as a principal policy adviser to the leadership of the Department of Defense. He became Commander of NATO Support Activity in Belgium in 1991 and then Commander of the 5th Corps of the 15th Ordnance Battalion in Darmstadt, Germany. In 2006, he became Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense.
The lecture was part of the Wilson School's series on "The Privatization of National Security."
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