Efficiency and the Military

Efficiency and the military have always seemed to be at odds with each other. Whether due to increased troop deployments or unspecified time frames, it seems that our military has not always been the model for efficiency, if efficiency is measured in regards to using the given input for the most output, and that output being something positive.

In regards to my specific issue of contracting out our military needs to private companies in order to achieve both an efficient cost and resulting outcome several aspects must be taken into consideration. First the outcome must be deemed fiscally efficient as well logistically efficient. By this I mean if we can pay a private highly trained fighting force to liberate a small terrorist compound for 10 million dollars when it would cost us no less than 15 million in logistics, troop transfers and other odds and ends needed to insert a specialized force into a hostile area, with the end result being the same in both situations, then it would be fiscally efficient to use the private security over our own. Second we would need to prove that not only is the private method fiscally and logistically effect but morally as well, for when dealing with any military situation public support always seems to hinge on an emotional undertone, such as discerning what is morally acceptable. For this reason one would have to show that even though the company was a private organization they would still be subject to all the rules and regulations which national military forces must abide by, that way lessoning humanitarian concerns and clearing the way for an unobstructed private military excursion.

The driving force behind this privatization and outsourcing of military operations would need to be a happy combination of both the market and the polis. The market through competition would drive the cost of the operations down due to outbidding by companies. While the public exposure and successful PR spin would allow the polis to feel substantially involved in that any private operation would still be under the oversight of the national government, which should be in the simplest terms, an extension of the polis. Therefore through the successful manipulation of both the market and polis could one successfully outsource military operations to private companies.