News & Articles

Private military contractors, specifically BAE and Dyncorp, may see a significant uptick in business after Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he would use a new “toolkit of coercion” to keep China in check. Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis cited “policy differences” with Trump when he left the White House. Many speculate that these differences include military privatization. The stated …

What role will overseas contractors play in the military’s expanded “persistent engagement” activities against foreign cyber threats? In the runup to the 2018 midterm elections, the U.S. military took steps to protect the integrity of the election process. These steps included shutting down the servers of notorious “troll factory” Internet Research Agency in the hours before the November election. That …

A group of contractors left the island nation under fire after having been accused of illegally propping up embattled strongman Jovenel Moïse. Details are murky, but the men arrived in a charter plane and proceeded to the country’s central bank. There, they planned to electronically transfer $80 million from a public oil fund to a private Moïse account. Before they …

After a $3 million government grant, more Post Traumatic Stress Disorder victims may soon receive therapy that involves virtual reality programming and other unorthodox methods. In 2010, Dr. Deborah Beidel and her team started using virtual reality goggles to decouple anxiety from traumatic combat memories. Therapists carefully caution patients that they will probably get worse before they get better if …

Contractors serve all over the world. They take the same risks that regular service members take. In fact, if you see a mixed group on a helicopter, it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between contractors and servicemembers. Upon closer examination, there are some important differences. Front-line troops and “door kickers” are almost always servicemembers. Support personnel, like mechanics, …