What do current soldiers and veterans think...?

Question

about private contractors in Iraq making four to ten times the annual salary of the average GI?

What do the taxpayers who pay these salaries think?

Answer 1

everyone's disgusted but those drinking the Bushco kool aid

Answer 2

Pretty much 80% of the private contractors are Ex Military anyway so what is wrong with them picking up some extra bucks prior to retirment. My best friend from my recruit days in the depot got out after doing his 22 years he was killed in Mosul along with a canadian, he was there as a private contractor after having been a soldier for 22 years on average pay. What do the tax payers thing about those salaries, which salaries are you referring to the military ones or the private contractor ones. Trust me in saying this, as a soldier your pay might be lower than a private contractor but as a soldier you have a wider support network if injured etc than a private guy, and you get killed just as easy being a soldier or a private contrator to the enemy you are the same.

Answer 3

Actually companies like Blackwater are giving ex-soldiers good jobs...they hire Infantrymen and Special Forces soldiers (Along with Medics and Pilots)...these jobs do not pay well on the outside (except pilots), and Blackwater is giving them a job making good money for doing what they did in the military...you don't know how many times I have seen a retired Infantry man working as a security guard or selling cars...why do you think the Re-enlistment bonus for SF is now 150K? They do jobs that free up soldiers, like guarding VIPs and convoys...Haliburton (KBR) does the cooking, cleaning, and transporting...to once again to free up soldiers...I have no ill feeling for the Contractors...and no one I know does...they are doing what they need to do to get paid...I had a chance to go to Iraq to do Ops and Training, but decided not to, not because of the danger, but I hate doing Ops and Training, if they offered me a Log job for the same money...I would do it...but that option is always opens

Answer 4

While many Soldiers wish that they made the same amount as the contractors.

Contractors ARE less expensive to the government than a Soldier.

For every Soldier in Combat the army needs to maintain 2 to 4 Soldiers in the rear as well as installations and training equipment to maintain the rotation requirements. (Soldiers are also paid when they are not in combat)

Soldiers will receive benefits and retirement costs that will continue long after the conflict.

When a contractor is sent to combat the government pays only for that contractor and the day he leaves he is no longer paid.

Answer 5

Everything a contractor does,is one less thing the GI has to do.
This is a free country, all the GIs are volunteers as are the contractors. Each has their own motivator, the GI is service to his country and the contractor is money. It is the American way...

Answer 6

Private Contractors earn their pay. Soldiers deserve more money than they get. Noone is overpaid when they're being shot at.

Fortunately, contractor pay goes mostly to seasoned military vets!

Answer 7

The Contractors are doing the mundane jobs, freeing up soldiers for the fight.....The contractors are experts in what they do....cooks, engineeers, construction, infrastructure etc. The military is a fighting machine, not a background support group. The contractors are also not mercenaries....Mercenaries are combat ready troops., that fight. Blackwater is a security organization, not an army.

Answer 8

They work hard and earn what they make. I was not in the Army to get rich but to serve my country. I do not begrudge anyone their earnings, why should you?

BTW Contractors do risk their lives daily. That is why they get the bucks that they get.

Answer 9

When I was over in Iraq, I was a little...ok very jealous that they do the same things as us soldiers but get more money. Now that I'm back in the states I can't blame them for making good money. It's part of the American dream.

Answer 10

I am not young: when I first joined the Army, my "take home" pay was $11 a month! What do I think about those contractors? Not much. But, even less about people like Tom Brokaw, the movie stars, the sports stars. People SHOULD BE PAID ACCORDING TO THEIR CONTRIBUTION! Period.

Answer 11

I've heard many young serviceman say that they resent the fact that these mercenaries get paid the big bucks and are never in real danger because they have the U.S. military to protect them.

.