Gonzaga Debate Institute 2010

Readiness – I/L – Morale

PMC’s’ shorter deployments and higher pay hurts military morale

Harwood 8 (Matthew, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/23/military.iraq , July 23, date accessed: 6/24/2010) AJK
Besides the heightened risk Blackwater's actions have conferred on American troops, there is another reason American troops would like to see them go or at least shrink in size: Blackwater reminds them how much they put on the line for so little compensation. Blackwater contractors can deploy for small periods of time, perform similar tasks and take home a small fortune, making $600 a day. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama summarised the hostility soldiers feel for contractors, telling Defense News: "I think it creates some difficult morale issues when you've got private contractors getting paid 10 times what an army private's getting paid for work that carries similar risks." And with such disproportionate pay for the same, if not less, work, it's no wonder military men with special forces training are reportedly leaving the military for PSCs, according to a study by the British-American Security Information Council.
Low morale leads to suicide & depression

Gordon 9 (Bob, http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/282121 , date accessed: 6/24/2010) AJK
Morale has fallen sharply among U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan since 2005 according to an Army mental health survey released on Friday. In Iraq, morale has increased slightly. Those were among findings of two teams of behavioral health experts who surveyed and interviewed troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the sixth Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT). According to the Army media release: The teams, working in Iraq from February to March and in Afghanistan from April to June, formed the sixth Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT VI) since the start of the wars, evaluating the psychological health of troops and the behavioral-health care resources in theater. The teams included research psychologists, a social worker, a psychiatric nurse and enlisted behavioral-health specialists. The survey tells a story of two very different wars: The war in Iraq is drawing down, an end appears to be visible and mental health indicators are improving, while the war in Afghanistan is ramping up, with no end in sight and mental health indicators are declining. In Afghanistan, suicide rates are increasing while in Iraq the suicide rate did not go up in 2008 for the first time since 2004. Statistics on depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are mirror images. In Iraq this situation peaked in 2006 at 22 percent and fell to 13.3 for the survey period. In Afghanistan the figure was 21.4 percent. This represents a slight improvement over 2007 (23.4 percent) but double the 10.4 percent figure in 2005. The report also identified a link between lower morale accompanied by more mental health problems and number of deployments. Three or more deployments and the likelihood of mental health problems increases significantly.
Depression in soldiers can be deadly

National Institute of Mental Health (http://www.mhawisconsin.org/Uploads/business/bus_employee_depressed.pdf , date accessed: 6/24/2010) AJK
Symptoms of depression include Persistent sad or “empty” mood Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism Loss of interest or pleasure in ordinary activities, including sex Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness Decreased energy, fatigue, being “slowed down” Thoughts of death or suicide, suicide attempts Sleep disturbances (insomnia, early-morning waking, or oversleeping) Irritability Eating disturbances (loss of appetite and weight, or weight gain) Excessive crying Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions Chronic aches and pains that don’t respond to treatment Symptoms of mania include Inappropriate elation Irritability Decreased need for sleep Increased talking, moving, and sexual activity Racing thoughts Disturbed ability to make decisions Grandiose notions Being easily distracted In the workplace, symptoms of depression often may be recognized by Decreased productivity Morale problems Lack of cooperation Safety risks, accidents Absenteeism Frequent statements about being tired all the time Complaints of unexplained aches and pains Alcohol and/or drug abuse If four or more of the symptoms of depression or mania persist for more than two weeks, or are interfering with work or family life, a thorough diagnosis is need. This should include a complete physical checkup and history of family health problems as well as an evaluation of possible symptoms of depression. Depression affects your employees Depression can affect your workers’ productivity, judgment, ability to work with others, and overall job performance. The inability to concentrate fully or make decisions may lead to costly mistakes or accidents. In addition, it has been shown that depressed individual s have high rates of absenteeism and are more likely to abuse alcohol and drugs, resulting in other problems on and off the job.

Readiness – I/L – Morale

PMC’s hurt military morale

RAND 2010 (June 16, http://www.rand.org/news/press/2010/06/16/ , date accessed: 6/24/2010) AJK
While U.S. government officials working in Iraq believe the use of armed private security contractors has been a useful strategy, many worry that the contractors have not always had a positive effect on U.S. foreign policy objectives, according to a new RAND Corporation study. A survey of staffers from the U.S. military and the U.S. State Department who worked in Iraq during 2003 to 2008 found that a sizeable minority viewed the widely reported abuses of power and the killing of civilians by security contractors as potentially detrimental to the overall American mission in the country. "While U.S. government workers don't believe these armed private security companies are 'running wild' in Iraq, they do have serious concerns about behavior that is unnecessarily threatening or belligerent," said Molly Dunigan, an author of the study and an associate political scientist with RAND, a nonprofit research organization. Most U.S. officials surveyed said they had not witnessed power abuses by contractors, but having even a few officials observe such behavior is troubling, particularly in the context of a continuing stability operation in which poor contractor behavior can very quickly become detrimental to U.S. goals. "Our research found evidence to support the view that, extrapolating from their experiences with private security contractors, Iraqis may take a negative view of the entire military occupation and coalition forces," Dunigan said. "However, we also found that certain private security firms were able to be flexible in their standard operating procedures and keep a 'low profile' among local civilians." The largest clients for armed security contractors in Iraq have been the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Defense and the U.S. Agency for International Development. In addition, news media companies, reconstruction contractors and nongovernmental organizations also hire contractors to fill security needs. However, there have been numerous reports of private security contractors committing serious and sometimes fatal abuses of power in Iraq, raising questions about the strategy. RAND researchers surveyed workers from the U.S. military and State Department who had been deployed to Iraq at least once between 2003 and 2008 to find out the extent to which armed private security contractors impose costs on the U.S. military effort, whether the costs are tempered by benefits, and how the use of private security contractors has affected military operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Armed private security contractors or similar forces have been used by the U.S. military in conflicts dating back to the American Revolution, but the extent of their use in the Iraq war has been unprecedented. The number of armed contractors employed in Operation Iraqi Freedom grew from approximately 10,000 in 2003 to 30,000 in 2007 before receding to 10,422 in 2009. At times, the number of all types of contractors—armed and unarmed—has exceeded the number of U.S. military personnel in the country. After a shooting incident in 2007 at Nisour Square where 17 Iraqis were shot and killed by an armed personal security detail working for Blackwater Worldwide, U.S. government officials improved oversight of contractors. Despite several reasons for skepticism about the impact of these measures, they do appear to have had at least somewhat of a beneficial effect thus far, Dunigan said. "We discovered much of the problem is that the international law covering these kinds of operations is murky—from 2003 to 2008, these firms were essentially legally immune to prosecution in Iraq," Dunigan said. "The 2009 Status of Forces Agreement between Iraq and the United States has given Iraq jurisdiction over these contractors, but they still are thought to, in effect, be legally immune from prosecution under U.S. law." Based on the findings, Dunigan and her colleagues said there are several things the U.S. could do to improve relations with the military and private security contractors. Since the survey findings indicate that contractors' higher pay relative to military employees has had a negative effect on military morale, the researchers recommend that the military pre-deployment training regimen could be improved to give more information on contractor functions, in an effort to increase the level of understanding and cohesion between contractors and the military in the field. Given the United States' counterinsurgency goals in Iraq, disconcertingly high numbers of surveyed Department of State personnel believed that contractors do not respect local and international laws and do not display an understanding of and sensitivity to the Iraqi people and their culture, Dunigan said. Further legal regulation via contract law, or a heightened determination on the part of the Department of Justice to utilize existing regulations to hold private security contractors accountable for their actions, might help alleviate the problems associated with contractor recklessness.
PMC’s hurt military morale & retention
RAND 2010 (Sarah K. Cotton, Ulrich Petersohn, Molly Dunigan, Q Burkhart,

Megan Zander-Cotugno, Edward O’Connell, Michael Webber, http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2010/RAND_MG987.sum.pdf, date accessed: 6/24/2010) AJK Th e diff erence in pay between PSCs and troops is a recurring theme in interviews, anecdotal accounts, and analyses of how contractors are aff ecting the military. Employment with private security fi rms off ers signifi cantly better remuneration than military employment (Spearin, 2006). It also off ers a more moderate operational tempo, with better leave options and greater choice of deployment locations. Th e argument has been made that these more desirable work conditions have the unintended side eff ect of reducing rates of military retention. However, offi cials from the private security industry insist that their companies pose no challenge to military retention rates. Although data on U.S. military continuation rates indicate a fairly steady rate of continuation across the services throughout OIF, our survey data indicate that the prevailing perception among military personnel themselves is that the higher levels of pay earned by armed contractors do indeed adversely aff ect retention in the services (Figure S.1).

PMC’s adversely affect military morale
RAND 2010 (Sarah K. Cotton, Ulrich Petersohn, Molly Dunigan, Q Burkhart,

Megan Zander-Cotugno, Edward O’Connell, Michael Webber, http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2010/RAND_MG987.sum.pdf, date accessed: 6/24/2010) AJK

A majority of the lower-ranking and younger military personnel surveyed also believed that the disparity in pay had been detrimental to morale in their units while they had been in the Iraqi theater.