Does it make sense some Blackwater officers make double General Petraeus' salary?

Question

Tax payers money well spent?

Answer 1

It is very common for somebody in the civilian world to make more money that an equally-talented person in the military.

If you are so upset about this - why are you not pestering your congressman to give the people in the military a raise?

Answer 2

Sure, why not? It's a free market economy, isn't it? If the US government wants to have the military take on the task they hire companies like Blackwater to do, fine. But realize it will mean even more troop deployment to fill in those gaps. Also, the argument that the US trained those guys is very true, but it's not like those guys are going back into the military. No. They're private citizens and would work in another sector. Blackwater, and companies like them - and there are a lot out there - simply provide a civilian side contract for people otherwise getting out of the service. Which they have every right to do.

And last I looked? General Petraeus isn't being actively shot at.

Answer 3

Yep. It is called the free market system where someone is paid what they are worth. Working in Iraq is deadly and to get a private citizen to work in that environment you need to compensate them well.
There are inherent risks to being a non-governmental agency working in a war zone.
1. Not protected by the Geneva Convention
2. If killed or severely injured the private security agent does not receive benefits or compensation as a US military veteran. So he/she is subject to compensation through a private company. What happens if Blackwater goes bankrupt? Those benefits go down the drain.
3. A private agency is not just subject to US military martial law but also Iraqi law.
So on the face of it there are extraordinary risks being a private contractor in a war zone in addition to being shot and blown up by insurgents.
It's a good question you ask but the reality is the US cannot afford to pay military personnel huge salaries. The same can be said for firemen, policemen, and nurses.

On the other hand lots of folk make more money than General Petraeus. I make more money the most Generals. The advantage is his retirement benefits are guaranteed by Uncle Sam. Mine are not.

Answer 4

Yes it does. Contracting. Now, compare the benifits a general gets that a contractor doesnt.

Compare the retirement package the general gets to his contract.

Compare the training money spent on a general compared to a contracted person.

Compare the equipment costs to a contrator.

It does make sense. Now, who has more honor? Who would you trust more? Ill take Petraeus anyday over a contrator.

Like it not, contractors are a short term fix that is keeping a draft at bay. If these contractors were gone, we would probably be paying more by filling all those jobs with soldiers that have to be trained from scratch. It generally costs about 100,000 dollars roughly to recruit and train a soldier. Obvioulsy less if they were drafted. Contractors are a way to get a ready made service to the field now. This is a sad fact but true.

Answer 5

The differnece is the Army pays for medical benifits for the soldier and family, their housing, retirement pay and benifits, and gives you veteran benifitts. Soldiers get a $250,000 life ensurance policy through the government and their soviers get government benifits. If they get permanently injuried then the VA payes them disablity.

Contractor get none of it. They are responsible for getting themselves to Iraq and then taking care of everything at home. If they get killed there is no government insurance for them. If they are injuried they sometimes get a bill for treatment and then they are on their own. If their contact expires they are out of a job. They work 12 to 14 hour days seven days a week in a combat zone where people are trying to kill them. If there was no big pay, they would not be able to get anyone to do it.

I would rather have soldiers doing all their work. When the military was cut back in the 1990s they planned to use contractors to do this in any future war. They did this because it saved money in peace time when they are not needed. They could then use that money for social projects. Now we are paying for it because of lack of planning.

Answer 6

And what does Blackwater have to do with the military ?

Blackwater works for the State Department.

Augmenting the State Departments own diplomatic security corp.

Your comparing the wrong groups.

Answer 7

senior Blackwater employees make way more than double his salary. he makes a little more than 175k a year.

additional: I keep hearing this argument that contractors are cheaper cuz they dont have the retirement package and training cost of servicemembers.
WHO do you think trained them in the first place? a good many of them are RETIRED service men.

Answer 8

enable's see.. because of the fact the U. S. government isn't offering the blackwater persons with a pension, or scientific care, or housing, or nutrients, or kit or existence coverage. All it fairly is popping out of the $six hundred an afternoon it incredibly is being paid.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

They made 4 times what we did doing the same PSD (personal security detail) and convoy stuff.