Gen. David Petraeus could be successful in Afghanistan if he followed a strategy similar to the one used in Iraq, according to Center for a New American Security President John A. Nagl. In a recent column in Wall Street Journal, Nagl wrote how “a war not going well is not yet lost,” and Petraeus could [...]
As of December ’09, DoD estimates that over 207,000 contractor personnel are directly supporting operations in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters, and DoD expects to increase the number of contractors in Afghanistan as more troops deploy there. However, a recent GAO report suggests that DoD isn’t doing enough to support and oversee contractor personnel. Here [...]
Defense contractors are seeing change on a variety of fronts. Topping the list is a shift from combat support in the Middle East to longer-term sustainment solutions. That’s no easy task given the current slew of challenges: an increase in oversight and fixed price competitions, plus a decrease in smaller contract values. For an inside [...]
Wartime contracting has faced more than its share of criticism lately. Just last month, the Commission on Wartime Contracting released its interim report, which offered this bleak assessment: Since 2001, America’s reliance on contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan has reached “unprecedented proportions.” But where some defense contractors might want to switch the subject, Suzan Zimmerman [...]
The recent release of the defense budget for 2010 makes one thing clear: With $61 billion requested for Iraq (versus $65 billion for Afghanistan), a shift in US priorities is underway. As the Obama administration looks to new challenges in Afghanistan and secondly, Pakistan, ExecutiveBiz recently caught up with Mary Beth Long, former assistant secretary [...]
