When we think of war and who fights it, we often imagine a state-dominated realm, an arena of militaries contending on behalf of their nations. The reality of warfare in the twenty-first century is far different. The groups that threaten our security today range from terrorist cells and insurgent forces to drug cartels and warlord groups, motivated by causes that range from religious to socioeconomic.

Adding to the complexity of this twenty-first-century witches’ brew of challenges, our own forces are increasingly made up of men and women who serve under a contract rather than an oath. Indeed, one of the...

The presence of hired soldiers on the battlefield is not something new to the military. Indeed, the first recorded case of civilians receiving pay to conduct military operations occurred in 2094 BC, when King Shulgi of Ur hired mercenaries to augment his army.¹ History is replete with examples of nationstates and organizations that turned to the civilian community to outsource portions of their military forces. One might say that the concept of a Total Force is as old as warfare itself.

Today, no service in the DOD better understands or embodies this concept than the Air Force. Although the components...

One does not have to venture far into the history of manned flight to find the first case of aviation-related military outsourcing. On 8 October 1909, Wilbur Wright began providing flight instruction to Lieutenants Frank Lahm and Fredrick Humphreys shortly after the Army accepted delivery of its first airplane.¹ The rationale for outsourcing this critical military function was simple: no one in the military had this expertise. Since then, the Army Air Corps, later the Air Force, has found it beneficial to turn to the civilian market to fill a wide spectrum of services.

Before taking a closer look at...

Today, signs of outsourcing within the Air Force community are fairly common. For example, contract security personnel guard the front gate at 37 of 157 Air Force facilities around the world.¹ Although this recent change has caught the attention of civilians and military people alike, many would be surprised to know how deeply outsourcing has penetrated the service’s infrastructure. In fact, one finds it increasingly difficult to point out an Air Force role or function not directly or indirectly supported by outsourcing. This chapter examines how outsourcing has increased in both amount and scope in today’s Air Force, addresses both...

The outsourcing of functions and organizations provides the Air Force with a powerful tool to execute its mission at home and abroad in a most efficient and effective manner. Through the use of properly designed contracts, the service can access human resources that might otherwise be unavailable or too expensive to maintain in the uniformed portion of the Total Force. Outsourcing does not come without risks and potential negative consequences, as described earlier in this study; however, these problems do not appear insurmountable. This chapter provides Air Force decision makers involved with any portion of outsourcing (decision to outsource, conversion...