Some of the guys got permission from the Korean site commander to hunt 'Pheasant' on the mountain and came back after a weekend with enough to provide Pheasant with our Turkey dinner at Thanksgiving.

The amount paid depends on the job required and the supply / demand of the skill sets needed. The companies make money by paying out the least to get the most productivity. After the pay all the expenses whatever is left is the companies profit, some contracts make butt loads of money, some make very little, and some even loose money (but are kept anyway because they have a growth opportunity).

We get paid whatever the market will bear, if there are a thousand guys looking for a job but only 10 jobs available, then the starting pay will be rather low. But if there is a shortage of qualified people (there often is) then the pay will be a bit higher. And companies don't like loosing their most qualified people, so they tend to pay you more over a period of time and give you more perks.

Technically we're not "contractors", as most of us have ~zero~ control of the actual contract. We're just "at will" employees of a private company. The US Government, and sometimes the host nation governments are our clients.

If you want a job contracting, do you have the skill sets required? The security clearance? The background experience? If you have these things then the job is just as open to you as anyone else. You can drop your resume on the MANY places. Better yet if you would stop the hating on contractors and instead make close friends of a few they can put in character references when vacancies become available. Personal character references are preferred over resume farming whenever possible.

The only place's where contracting makes an obscene about of money is in the desert. And that is because of the incredible difficulty in finding people willing to go there for six months to a year to perform a job. They have to jack the pay up that high or it would be impossible to fill the man power requirements.

What is it? $80,000.00 minimum to over 100K depending on the skills.

You are well paid when compared to all soldiers, regardless of rank.

By the way, are you hiring?

I don't care that "the actual concern from the US Military is near zero".

I felt the same way when I was IN UNIFORM. So it wouldn't be a big change, except for a HUGE pay increase. I would be happy with that for a year or two.

Where do I send my resume? I'll be disposable for one year of that pay!

It's not going to be easy changing that perception. Going home and telling people you are a contractor for the military today is like going home and telling people you are a soldier in the closing years of the Vietnam War. They would more likely want to spit on you than shake your hand.

When people hear that we employ as many contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan as uniformed troops, they don't hear that most of them are host nation employees or from south Asian countries.

When they are kidnapped or killed, we may never hear of it. They don't show up on any death tolls. There won't be any monuments of memorials made for them outside their own families.

When people ask why we need contractors, I cite experience, expertise, and continuity. They are supposed to be ready, able and qualified to do the job on day one. They can be made available for as long as the job is necessary.

They are disposable yet indispensable assets.

She knows about world history and the people who made it from her high school and collage teachers, most who were never in the military or even left their home except to move to Colorado for a few years, or wherever.

Now she got a job with a newspaper, and become a respected colomnist.

Bottom line is she has led a very sheltered life, and understands little of the reality of the world.