One of Donald Trump’s first executive orders in his new administration prevented family members of American servicemembers in Afghanistan from emigrating to America.
An estimated 200 family members of U.S. troops are in Afghanistan and attempting to flee the Taliban through the U.S. Refugees Admissions Program, or USRAP, said Shawn Vandiver, president of AfghanEvac, an organization that helps Afghan allies relocate. Trump suspended that program under the order, “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program,” which he signed on his first day in office because the influx of immigration into the U.S. has strained states’ resources. The suspension of the program goes into effect Jan. 27.
In total, 150,000 to 250,000 Afghans are trying to immigrate to the U.S., according to Sean Vandiver, president of AfghanEvac, an organization that helps Afghan allies relocate.
Aside from families of service members, Trump’s executive order impacts some Afghan partner forces who worked closely with the U.S. military, as well as women pilots, prosecutors, judges, and human rights advocates, he added.
Contractors in Afghanistan
When American forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, they envisioned a quick and decisive punitive action against the Taliban and its Al Qaeda allies. After all, that’s what happened in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and Saddam Hussein was a much tougher opponent, at least statistically. Iraq had the fourth-largest land army in the world at the time.
Instead, the fighting in Afghanistan quickly bogged down. Fighting an unseen enemy in mountainous terrain is much different from confronting a stand-and-fight enemy on a desert plain. Twenty years later, the conflict in Afghanistan ended indecisively, with America pulling out and the Taliban still in control.
Through all the war’s ups and downs, contractors played pivotal roles, especially as popular support eroded for the foreign war in a faraway place that concerned a forgotten issue.
Since the Revolutionary War, private military contractors have been the “tail” of an army that enables the “teeth” to strike faster and harder. We highlight a few specific roles in this post.
Direct Combat Support
When American politicians and other VIPs arrived in Afghanistan for inspection tours and boarded helicopters, they often couldn’t tell the difference between regular servicemembers and private military contractors.
Contractors served in similar roles throughout Afghanistan. They verified IDs at important checkpoints and escorted supply convoys through hostile streets.
Upon closer inspection, there’s a world of difference between private contractors and regular servicemembers, beginning with their pay. Many contractors earned two or three times the salary of a servicemember doing a similar job.
However, contractors were still much cheaper than regular servicemembers, which is one reason the DoD used them so much in Afghanistan.
When a contractor’s deployment ended, the government’s financial commitment ended. In contrast, when a servicemember’s deployment ended, the government’s financial commitment was just beginning.
Regular servicemembers were still on the payroll and earned basically the same amount of money, even if they were in a stateside encampment. The government was also on the hook for disability, retirement, and other benefits. These future expenses greatly eclipse the cost of current service, making contractors cost-effective for Washington bureaucrats.
Furthermore, flexible contractors responded quickly to changing situations in Afghanistan. Regular servicemembers required months of training and preparation. By the time they arrived, their original mission plan was probably obsolete. But contractors were boots on the ground after one phone call.
Gather Intelligence
Armies fighting insurgencies live and die by the intelligence they gather. Many regular servicemembers are excellent at bullying people into providing such information. Sometimes, that touch is exactly what is needed.
However, places like Afghanistan usually call for a softer touch. Many private military contractors are former law enforcement officers. Though not normally known for their soft touch, cops know how to build relationships with people who wouldn’t otherwise give an official the time of day.
Contractors often go a step further and hire locals who overcome the culture and language barrier during these meetings. Foreign nationals are entitled to the same Defense Base Act benefits as other injured contractors. More on that below.
Support Morale
As mentioned, with each passing day, 9/11 and the impetus for invasion drifted further into the past. By the time American troops withdrew in 2021, most soldiers were in grade school, or even in diapers, on September 11, 2001. Unsurprisingly, they did not understand how Americans felt on that day. So, Afghanistan was just another foreign war.
Morale officers, many of whom were private contractors, boosted spirits and gave men and women something to fight for.
Lingering Injuries
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and burn pit-related injuries may be the two most common lingering Afghanistan War injuries.
PTSD is a specific kind of traumatic brain injury. Extreme stress changes the brain’s chemical composition, enlarging the amygdala (emotional responses) and shrinking the hippocampus (logical responses). That imbalance triggers symptoms like:
- Hypervigilance,
- Depression,
- Anger,
- Personality changes, and
- Nightmares.
Available PTSD medications treat these symptoms, but they don’t correct the chemical imbalance that causes PTSD. As the body becomes tolerant of anti-anxiety PTSD medications, these drugs become less effective, leaving victims to deal with the debilitating symptoms.
As the fighting in Afghanistan bogged down, long-term exposure to burn pit smoke became a serious problem, especially for the contractors who often maintained these pits. The thick smoke was laced with toxins such as:
- Dioxins,
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
- Particulate matter (PM),
- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
- Heavy metals, and
- Furans.
These contaminants cause a wide range of health problems, mostly serious breathing problems that are fatal or debilitating.
Injury Compensation Available
A Defense Base Act lawyer can obtain compensation for these and other illnesses and injuries if an incident during deployment in an overseas war zone substantially caused the illness or injury.
Deployment is any mission that advances the interests of the United States. This category includes everyone from the toughest private military contractor to the meekest Peace Corps volunteer.
Any official U.S. military presence makes a country a “war zone” for DBA purposes. That official presence could be a large occupying army or a single Marine guard at an embassy. Normally, the injured contractor must be under contract with a U.S. government agency, such as the State Department.
Substantial cause means just that. Contributing causes don’t count. Bad roads sometimes contribute to car crashes, but driver mistakes, usually aggressive driving or impaired driving, substantially cause these accidents, at least in most cases. So, maximum benefits are available even if a victim’s pre-existing medical condition contributed to the risk and/or severity of illness and/or injury.
For more information about DBA procedure, contact Barnett, Lerner, Karsen, Frankel & Castro, P.A.