Assessing Commercial Air Services for the US Navy

The current state of the military is a force that is reduced in size but still maintains a high and expanding operational tempo. Doing "more with less" is a common phrase heard throughout the military ranks. Many times that means fewer people working longer hours with fewer resources to do a job that has not been reduced in scope to match the reduced force structure. In the spirit of transformation, the military has resorted to using civilian contractors to fill the gap left by a reduced force structure. The military actually has a long history of hiring commercial air transport companies to transport forces and companies that have specialized technical skills that aid military training and development. A more recent development is commercial security forces, like Blackwater USA, which have been utilized in Iraq to augment thinly stretched conventional forces.1 Blackwater USA gives the Department of Defense (DOD) and the military some employment options but also raises many questions of cost, liability and professionalism.