Shortly before the November election, U.S. President Joe Biden quietly authorized the DoD to send maintenance contractors to the war-torn country.
The decision was made before Tuesday’s election as a way to provide Ukraine with specific technical expertise needed for weapons like F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems, said the official, who was granted anonymity to speak about a sensitive military issue.
It will give the Defense Department the ability to ask for a small group of American weapon contractors to bid on sending their maintainers to the war-torn country.
“Having small numbers of contractors in Ukraine conducting maintenance away from the front lines will help ensure U.S.-provided equipment can be rapidly repaired when damaged and be provided maintenance as needed,” the defense official said.
Situation in Ukraine
The back-and-forth fighting in the latest iteration of the on-again, off-again Russo-Ukraine War, which began in the early 1990s, has stabilized for now, but a long-term solution remains elusive.
Contrary to popular myth, the Cold War did not end with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. The fighting style simply shifted. For about ten years, Russia and Ukraine played well together. They even signed several joint security and nuclear arms treaties.
But Ukraine was steadily moving toward NATO, a move the suspicious Russians could not tolerate. The conflict intensified in the early 2000s when Russian agents allegedly poisoned pro-western Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, who nevertheless won a contested election.
Things came to a head in 2008 when Ukraine and Georgia petitioned NATO for membership. The NATO countries were divided. They eventually issued a compromise statement that denied membership to the two nations but stated they would be part of the NATO family someday. Tensions between Russia and Ukraine erupted into violence several times over the next decade.
In 2021, Russia began massing its military forces on the border. It launched an unabashed, full-scale invasion the next year. After some initial Russian advances, the conflict became a stalemate until Ukraine rallied and invaded Kursk in 2024.
That move may ultimately widen the war, as thousands of North Korean troops arrived in the area to support their Russian allies.
Manpower and Firepower
Six hundred years after the Battle of Agincourt, armies of the world are finally learning the lesson that firepower is superior to manpower. Private military contractors are an important part of the firepower equation.
On St. Crispin’s Day in 1415, about 8,000 Englishmen and their Welch allies used longbows and other advanced weapons to rout a French force approximately three times their size. The English suffered about 600 casualties against over 6,000 French casualties.
Longbows require extensive maintenance. Furthermore, the archers must know how to operate these advanced weapons. It’s not a matter of simply pulling a string. F-16s and Patriot missile systems are the longbows of today. These advanced weapons require considerable maintenance, especially under tough battlefield conditions. Furthermore, firing a Patriot missile is not a matter of pushing a button, and flying an F-16 requires more than jostling a stick.
The English and French armies relied on gros valets (armed servants) to maintain weapons. Private military contractors are modern gros valets. Contractors are highly skilled maintenance technicians. In many cases, they worked for the companies that developed and/or built the weapons they maintain. Furthermore, in a pinch, private military contractors can put down their wrenches, pick up machine guns, and acquit themselves well in battle.
Contractors serve in a similar capacity in other roles. Most cooks, auto mechanics, doctors, morale officers, and other support personnel are dual-action private military contractors. They excel in these roles because that’s what they have been trained to do.
Contractor Injuries
These duties are also just as dangerous as front-line combat jobs. Contractors risk deployment-related trauma injuries and occupational diseases.
The deployment-related requirement is the key requirement in terms of Defense Base Act benefits. Usually, a Defense Base Act lawyer must establish a nexus (indirect connection) between deployment and injury.
Assume Mike is at a street market when a suicide bomber explodes a device. He is caught in the explosion. Even if Mike was off duty at the time, his injury is deployment-related.
Incidentally, even if Mike was not caught in the blast, he could still sustain an injury, most likely a traumatic brain injury. Loud noises, such as explosive blasts, emit shock waves that disrupt brain functions, much like an EMP disrupts electrical devices.
The same rule applies if a pre-existing condition contributed to the risk and/or severity of a deployment-related injury. Full benefits are available if the deployment-related incident substantially caused the illness and the pre-existing condition was a contributing cause.
Injury Compensation Available
If contractors sustain deployment-related injuries, the Defense Base Act replaces the lost wages as follows:
- Temporary Total Disability: Most falls and other trauma injuries cause temporary disabilities. If the injury is totally disabling (the victim cannot work while s/he recovers). The DBA usually pays two-thirds of the victim’s average weekly wage for the duration of that temporary disability.
- Temporary Partial Disability: As they recover, especially in the late stages, many victims can work part-time. This arrangement is good for employers who need employees to work, victims who need to feel productive, and caregivers who need victims out of the house. The wage replacement benefit usually covers the gap between full-time and part-time income.
- Permanent Total Disability: Many occupational diseases, such as toxic exposure illnesses, are permanently disabling. A physical or other disability precludes future employment. Usually, to determine a proper amount of compensation, a DBA lawyer partners with accountants and other outside professionals.
- Permanent Partial Disability: Sometimes, a permanent disability restricts, but does not eliminate, the victim’s ability to work. Once again, DBA benefits usually cover the gap between pre-injury and post-injury earning capacities.
The AWW, the key metric in all lost wage replacement calculations, accounts for prior wages and future wages. If Mike’s injury causes him to miss prorated signing bonus payments, his DBA benefits must reflect that loss.
The AWW also includes non-cash compensation, such as lost 401(k) matching contributions. Such money may seem trivial, but when a job injury victim cannot work, every dollar counts.
For more information about DBA medical benefits, contact Barnett, Lerner, Karsen, Frankel & Castro, P.A.