An area in which U.S. Armed Forces are currently engaged, or have previously engaged, in combat (including the airspace above the area). The President of the United States issues specific Executive Orders defining an area as a combat zone. There are currently three active combat zones including Afghanistan, Kosovo region, and the Persian Gulf region (Executive Order No. 12744, 1991; Executive Order No. 13119, 1999; Executive Oder No. 13239, 2001). Iraq is included in Executive Order No. 12744 (1991) as noted above. The term has also been used synonymously with ‘conflict zone’ in describing Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq (PBS, 2011 AU36: The in-text citation "PBS, 2011" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. ).
Published in Chapter:
Effects of Environmental Threat on U.S. Defense Contractors in War Zones from the Social Science and Technology Perspectives
Jeffrey T. Fowler (Northcentral University, USA) and Ruth Sharf (Northcentral University, USA)
Copyright: © 2015
|Pages: 9
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5888-2.ch638
Abstract
The following article will explore environmental threat as it applies to contractor personnel in combat zones from both the technological and scientific perspectives. A unique aspect of defense contracting is the performance of contracts in war zones, such as Afghanistan. Asymmetric warfare, lacking conventional front lines, dictates that contractors encounter physical threat at any time and in a variety of circumstances. Under these conditions, contracting assumes a new dimension associated with a heightened level of physical environmental threat and the mitigating effects inherent in technological advantage. In addition, social science research into morale factors is an important element in contractor performance. It is interesting to note that the West has been unable to destroy the fundamentalist forces arrayed against it despite remarkable and rapid technological and scientific advances and their application in the theater of war.