Military Intelligence???

Here's a story which should boost you confidence in the desk jockeys that are in our military. It seems that the army hired a military contractor to write the army Field manual 100-21 (FM 100-21)Contractors on the Battlefield, the company, Military Professional Resources Inc. (MPRI) was contracted to write this manual which is used to establish a doctrine directed toward acquiring and managing contractors as an additional resource in support of the full range of military operations. It seems they left out a major chapter as it makes no mention of intelligence gathering or restrictions on contractor roles. When revising the draft the military failed to read a memo written in 2000 which states military policy concerning contractors and intelligence which finishes, "FM 100-21 should be modified and clarified to reflect these determinations. The manual went to print without any mention of intelligence operations and how to use contractors in this sense. This glaring oversight must be one of the reasons these military personnel are tacticly postioned behind a desk.

Contractors Write the Rules

While the new manual contains detailed instructions on how deployed commanders should use contractors � from force protection measures to what kind of shoes contract employees should bring � it makes no mention of intelligence gathering or restrictions on contractor roles.

In a December 2000 memo, previously posted by the Center, Assistant Secretary of the Army Patrick Henry sharply restricted the use of private companies in intelligence work, stating that the tactical intelligence gathering could not be contracted because it was "integral to the application of combat power." At the strategic level, he wrote, contracting out intelligence work posed unacceptable risks to national security.

His memo concludes: "Field Manual 100-21, Contractors on the Battlefield (March 2000) should be modified and clarified to reflect these determinations."

Despite the directive from Henry, the prohibition on contractors performing intelligence work never made it into the Army's official contracting doctrine. In recent months, reports on the use of contractors in Iraq have disclosed that private-sector employees have been performing sensitive intelligence work in and around combat zones. A report by Major General Antonio Taguba on the alleged abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib Prison noted the involvement of civilian contractors at the Baghdad facility.

Private Contractors
Link to PDF of 2000 Memo

[edit on 30-6-2004 by John bull 1]

[edit on 1-7-2004 by JacKatMtn]