News & Articles

While troop levels have increased only slightly, the number of military contractors in Iraq has multiplied eightfold in only the last few months. 70% of the new contractors in the wartorn country are American nationals. These figures include only Pentagon contractors; hundreds or thousands more are serving the State Department and other government agencies. The buildup began just about a …

Average Weekly Wage Update Insurance companies are at it again! Over the past few months the insurance companies have been raising a novel argument on the calculation of the average weekly wage. This new argument can present some hurdles, and may impact how Longshore and Defense Base Act claims are prosecuted. As we reviewed in an earlier Newsletter, the average …

Military outsourcing reached a peak in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and many experts agree that the number of private contractors, and their percentage as the number of troops in-country, will continue to rise. In fact, the statistics indicate that the DoD is becoming increasingly dependent on military contractors. In Between 1992 and 1997, when most contractors essentially played support …

After decades of categorizing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder alongside concussions and sensory processing “disorders,” scientists are finally starting to understand that one of the most common war wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan is every bit as physical as a gunshot wound. Early Background When the psychological effects of battle first became serious in World War I (earlier, in 1904, the …

As the Obama Administration winds down in the coming months, much ink will be spilled in the discussion of the President’s legacy in foreign affairs in general and military matters in particular. One thing is beyond dispute: Today’s military is more dependent than ever on military contractors, especially in the “overseas contingency operations” (DoD-speak for “wars”) in Afghanistan and Iraq. …