military contractor

What Do Military Contractors Do?

By Tom Gardner

Military contractors have been around about as long as the military. The military has to get weaponry, food, clothing, shelter, and transportation from somewhere, after all. Military contractors have historically provided all of these and more.

Any military contractor has to live by a complex code of rules and regulations in order to provide services to the United States military. On occasion, these regulations are even more complex than what the military itself has to uphold. Many of these rules are bureaucratic in nature, meant to ensure smooth functioning and communication between military and contractor. One of the longest running military contracts in existence is for military rations. Historically, military personnel have never had time to grow or cook their own food. Supplying soldiers with rations that can easily be transported and eaten with a minimum of preparation has been a military concern since before the Roman Empire, and lucky was the Roman farmer who got the contract to feed the legions. The tradition continues today, with many farms, food processing plants and catering companies contracted to provide MRE's and dining services to our modern military.

At the other end of the spectrum, many of today's military contracts are for cutting-edge software and technology. The United States modern military relys heavily on the latest technology, and that technology requires people to create and maintain it. While many of the maintenance people are part of the military itself, most of the developers and manufacturers are military contractors. The creation of a specialized computer program to run a particular kind of tank requires many software programmers. Once created, however, that high number of programmers is no longer needed.

Therefore, contracting out the software development work to highly specialized companies who fit the military's security requirements is far more efficient than keeping all of those specialists permanently on the military's payroll. Planes, tanks, vehicles, software, and personal weaponry are all developed and created by military contractors. In addition, many military contractors will go out with our forces into the field to test new equipment and train military personnel in its use.

Military contractors play an important part in the supply and maintenance of a capable fighting force. The need for specialized, competent and trustworthy contractors will only increase as time goes on. If our military is going to get the supplies, weapons, and security they need to keep doing their jobs, military contractors will probably be getting it to them.