Civilians contribute downrange
I agreed with “The problem with GIs’ pay” (letter, Aug. 16) until I got to the last sentence where it said the soldiers’ “idea of a civilian counterpart is the civilian contractor who makes two or three times the cash to endure the same conditions.” The key word was “endure,” — 98 percent of civilians came here for the money. That is the main reason why they “endure” this environment.
Comparing soldiers to civilian contractors when it comes to pay is misleading. Soldiers swore an oath, and signed a contract (including pay) with the military. Civilian contractors came at their own free will with open-ended contracts (meaning either party can forfeit at any time).
I’m a civilian contractor and also served my country in active duty. It was my choice to join the civilian world, so if the writer of that letter is upset that he made the wrong choice, then that is not our problem, but don’t rub it off on civilian contractors by making such a remark.
There are over 60,000 civilian contractors in Iraq working 12-16 hours a day seven days a week filling in military jobs so you can fight and concentrate on terrorism.
If it wasn’t for our triple pay, you would have half the military force in Iraq cooking, cleaning, fixing, building, and so forth. There wouldn’t be enough soldiers left to fight the battles.Tobias Barbir
Camp Bucca, Iraq
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=31254