Do you know what value the civilian employees bring to the military?

SGT David T. — Wed, 20 May 2015 12:23:21 -0400

When I talk to the military types I often get strange questions about what company I work for and how do I like being a contractor. They mostly look confused when I tell them that I do not work for a company nor am I a contractor. This got me thinking about how little I knew about civilian employees (government not contractors) when I was a Soldier. So I figured I would open it up and see what happens. Also, I would be happy to answer any questions about civilian employees.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2015 1:14 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 May 2015 13:14:38 -0400

I will say since switching over to the contract side aka "The Dark Side of the Force". it cleared up a lot of misconceptions I had as a soldier. I had been to the COR course and the Operational Contract Support course, but was still seriously misinformed about how my civilian contractors work.

I believe that we provide continuity to the force and can in fact be force multipliers when required. Since being at my job we have had high turn over rate for our green suitors and they do get pulled away for all types of mandatory training.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made May 20 at 2015 6:03 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Wed, 20 May 2015 18:03:04 -0400

Have to admit it, I've done both military and civil service. In my GS job we administered a number of contractors. A couple of insights.

1. The unions hate military doing anything that can be done by a non military. It's the taking food out of babies mouths drum. Given declining membership, they get more vocal. That's why the taxpayer has to spend a pile of money for the Seabees to do work overseas, not here. We'd have to fight to get the Bees to train on road patch repair on base.

2. The military doesn't train many skill sets needed to run a base and more particularly to the expertise level needed. Don't know of any certified sewage plant operators who are military. Yes we have military high voltage electricians, but haven't seen one SCADA qualified. It would just cost far too much and detract from the war fighting skill set that needs to be maintained.

3. The level of respect between military and civilians ebbs and flows. The big thing new installation COs and Flags get shocked over is just how much they can't control due to external agency regulations. You can't take a fallen tree that has stumpage value and just give it away. The list goes on. The successful COs learn quickly what good civil service and contractors can do to make the installation run better. Unfortunately too many of them try to make their mark on something and wind up hurting the service member.

3. Continuity is a two edged sword. You need it but it also creates dinosaurs. We have a number of employees who scream they have thirty years experience when they have one year experience thirty times.

4. Given everything, the current system guarantees our systems, infrastructure, etc. always remain 1-2 generations behind what's out in the commercial sector, especially IT stuff and medical. That's why I pushed for my knee rebuild be done by a pro football ortho team and not 20 year out of date available at Bremerton or Madigan.