Hopyard you are right I work in a speciality so to speak but my point was that this pool of trained persons are where the companies could/would recruit from or from the employees already there. As far as encentives for reenlistments the armed forces are cutting back in a huge way so what jobs are they coming home to? The world is full of shooters now, you have to have a specific skillset that is needed by a company or contract to even be considered.
Many of these contracts DOS and DOD are being outsourced anyway. I compete for my job with Brits, Scots, Romanians and South Africans whom they can hire at half my salary. The advantage I have is I have a US Security Clearance which they cannot get, they can get a NATO clearance but it is not accepted.
One of the main incentives is the tax status or being an Expat. The majority of your salary is tax exempt. One of the drawbacks is you have to stay out of CONUS for 335 days in a one year period. That plays hell on the homelife.
MCP gave the perfect example. In these cash strapped times it makes perfect monetary sense to use contractors in that situation or stop the services altogether because they simply can't pay them.
WD you have to realize that many of the guys here are retired or were not going to reenlist anyways. Many a straight leg grunt used his GI bill or his savings to pay for a PSD school in the UK, Israel or South Africa just to be considered. I am not saying that guys don't network while still in then simply do not reenlist and go to contracting that happens. Again skillset, skillset, skillset.
Many contractors here take a leave of absence from their jobs to work for 6 months or so and then go right back to the department or S.O. they worked for. Not every SF type is a lifer. They enlist go to the schools and do a fantastic job but when they have gained what they want they simply leave to go on to something better. Why do you think in order to be a pilot you have to sign up for 6 years or more? They know many are not going to stay. They get the training, do their job, pay their debt of service to the government and go on to fly a plane for Jet Blue.
In regards to your comment about they simply go back to doing the same job but at three times the salary, not hardly. As an example the US military nor it allies can teach a recognized civilian law enforcement organization it is against International Law. They must be taught by civilian LEO's. Now in these countries Police is simply a word. They carry belt fed PKM's, RPG's and other heavy weapons and engage the insurgents but they also do standard police work.
I had military trainers on my team but and they could teach the police subjects but I had to sign off on whatever they taught. We were monitored closely by international organizations constantly. I hate to say it but the basic soldier while good at his job probably does not have the specific education or practical knowledge of a 10 year street cop.
Why does everything have to be corrupt? An example. You hire 10 contractors to pull convoy security and pay them whatever cash with no healthcare, insurance or benefits. You have the same 10 soldiers to do the job, but wait! For those 10 soldiers you now have to have command and control, support troops, medical, logistics, finance, mechanics for the vehicles, dental care, chaplains, retirement so now you are up to 50 soldiers and triple the cost. If one gets hurt now you have another set of costs.
It is all about what saves the most money in the long run. Now I am saying this from a security standpoint not the plumbers, food workers, supply, fuel, equipment and so on that there has been coruption, fraud, waste and abuse on. There is a time when profit margin and greed become so intertwined that you cannot tell the difference anymore.
Expat's. Loved by some. Hated by many. Needed by all.