“U.S. technical teams will continue to assist Afghan forces in some sections after September 11, some in Bagram,” said an entrepreneur with knowledge of the new jobs. The contractor has been working for a private agency in Bagram for 15 years and extended his three-year contract in mid-April. Other contractors, he said, will be based outside the country but “will visit from time to time,” in accordance with Pentagon plans for counterterrorism missions “on the horizon.” Either way, he said, “the portfolio of U.S. companies in Afghanistan will continue.” One such company is Triple Canopy, which is owned by Constellis, a company that also owns Academi, the recent iteration of Erik Prince`s famous private military blackwater contractors. Triple Canopy hires armed guards in Bagram to ensure the safety of remaining U.S. personnel at four locations across the country. Raytheon Technologies holds logistics and intelligence analyst positions at Bagram. CACI and BAE Systems have both announced signal recognition specialist positions for an estimated 12 months. SOSi has published open positions for intelligence analysts for one-year deployments where “the work environment may require 100% of the time outdoors.” PAE, Inc., which has four-year contracts worth nearly a billion dollars with the Pentagon, is terminating a contract for the State Department. Fluor Corporation hires technicians to work for both the U.S. and private sectors.
Louis Berger, which built and maintained the nation`s largest power plant at Bagram, has more than 20 new stations at the base. Correction, 05/13/21: An earlier version of this article stated that the Fluor Corporation was hiring armed guards and intelligence analysts for Afghanistan. Many American entrepreneurs who have spent years of their lives on the ground in a war that has cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars are willing to give up. “If they offered me early termination of my contract, I would accept it,” said one Bagram contractor. “Fuck this place, I mean, good luck to the Afghan guys who were left here with the talibs to be honest, they deserve more but all I can say is they`re fucked.” For those still in Bagram, the U.S. war is not yet ending with an exit from the U.S. military, and for newcomers who are about to enter Bagram, an important and perhaps more secretive new mission is imminent. But while some Americans are leaving, others are also arriving in Bagram, which senior Afghan military officials have confirmed will be the remaining center for entrepreneurs. In April, 70 U.S. security and defense companies began bidding for more than 100 new security and intelligence positions, some of which have annual contracts beyond September 11, 2021. This demand could be met by the billion-dollar industry of private military contractors, as they are not considered “boots on the ground,” but offer the same level and range of capabilities – all at much lower political costs and with a dose of secrecy. The boundaries that distinguish these entrepreneurs from mercenaries are blurred: while private military contractors are considered legal, mercenaries are banned by international and American law, which caused problems for Prince when he trained and trained private armies in Iraq and Libya and planned to privatize the war in Afghanistan.
But entrepreneurs, who make up america`s largest force in Afghanistan, are stepping up their presence just in time to fill the void left behind. Like CIA personnel, contractors can be nowhere to be found and, by nature, they exist unspeakably while supporting the military with logistical roles such as transportation. Some have darker roles in the dark world of dark proxy operations and mercenaries. Others are helping to operate a billion dollars worth of U.S. equipment and heavy weapons within the Afghan army: contractors take care of all the maintenance of the Afghan Air Force`s Black Hawk helicopters and C-130 freighters. Air traffic controllers at the country`s airports are international entrepreneurs, Watkins said, without an organic local labor pool of Afghans trained for the job. “So far, nothing has changed,” said an entrepreneur who works for a Bagram-based U.S. company. News from the Pentagon has not yet been released. “I am not aware of any changes in my workplace or contracts that will be handed over to the Afghan government. These are American companies and these contracts will remain under the private payroll. Entrepreneurs are a force on which the U.S.
and Afghan governments depend, and contracts in the country are a big deal for the United States. Since 2002, the Pentagon has spent $107.9 billion on contract services in Afghanistan, according to an analysis by the Bloomberg administration. The Department of Defense currently employs more than 16,000 contractors in Afghanistan, 6,147 of whom are U.S. citizens, more than double the remaining U.S. troops. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said contractors like the U.S. military would come out, but many don`t initially work for the military — rather for other departments and a number of private entities. For example, despite the withdrawal, the U.S.
Agency for International Development and the State Department are hiring contractors for ongoing programs outside Kabul. “McKenzie was talking about American contractors with DoD contracts, but not necessarily other agencies or other nationalities,” says another Bagram entrepreneur. “So many contracts extend beyond the retraction period and between what U.S. officials are saying and the immense needs on the ground, something doesn`t add up and something has to yield,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia program and senior associate at the Wilson Center. “Hence the likelihood that the entrepreneur`s footprint will remain anchored to some extent.” I don`t have much to share because no one told us, says another. “If there is an endgame, no one has told us. It`s as if the Pentagon is making an effort to come up with some sort of “exit plan” as it goes along. The skies over Kabul were flooded last week by huge cargo planes that stole equipment during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Some fly from Bagram Air Base, a stronghold of American monsters that once housed 40,000 military and civilian contractors at the height of the war.
Today, there are 3,300 U.S. troops across the country who, like their NATO counterparts, must all leave by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In addition to maintaining airports and bases, equipment and aircraft, the army and contractors rely on a force of Afghan contractors and premises for workers, such as cooks, laundry staff, drivers and translators – employees who will be most financially affected by the withdrawal. At the height of the war, it was estimated that more than 12,000 Afghans were working in Bagram. Today, there are still about 1,700. “After four years as a translator, I fear being fired. We are all worried. We`ve seen this before, and in what seemed like a day, hundreds of us left the bases for the last time,” says an Afghan entrepreneur who works in Bagram.
“I was lucky, but I`m not betting on keeping my job this time. Maybe I`ve already seen my last paycheck. We are all preparing for the worst. “This is a really sensitive area, and these people have to do a very delicate dance with their activities so as not to come into conflict with the law,” Kugelman said. “The government wants to step back and move on, with the remaining security presence largely kept out of the public. The last thing he wants is another controversy about contractors and needs to be very careful when making decisions about how to deal with the remaining contractors after September. “It is possible that some contracts may be terminated prematurely, but this could result in heavy penalties or legal hurdles for the change or termination. After the withdrawal, the biggest problem will be the protection of the armed forces. The U.S. Embassy will most likely house the remaining CIA personnel and contractors who could be exposed to security risks such as kidnappings. The embassy will maintain a modest military presence, as is the norm, but contractors would likely rely on U.S.
contractors for security. “Many international companies will likely be wary of entrusting Afghan security forces without additional measures,” said Andrew Watkins, senior analyst for Afghanistan at the International Crisis Group. .