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On the Zapata incident outside of Fallugha, the articles author leaves a whole bunch of details. As I was very close to 2 men involved in that, (1 retired USAF PJ, the other a a retired WO from 1st SFG) the article fails to mention that the Zapata convoy was at BIAP when the alleged shooting took place. This was confirmed by a NICS investigation. Second if a young Marine O' had not flown off the handle and over-reacted there would have been no incident. If what had happened those men would still be in the brig today. Bottom line was the MC made a big deal out of it, they were wrong and had to cover their butt. For the record the two gentelmen I mention were back in-country in 90 days working for the US Govt.
Frankly I have seen very little animosity between contractors and Coalition Forces. What little I have seen is generally from "Leg, Fobbit," Sr Officers & NCOs. I have always had excellant relationships with both Big Army combat troops & Special Operations Forces. If we saw something we reported it to local mil, if they had something we needed , we got them something they needed and traded. Hell there many contractors who are members of the Guard who bounce back between Mil deployments and contractor deployments.
As far as someone offering Marine LTC Mike Zacchea a $1000 a day I can pretty much call BS on that. For one thing I'm sure he was not qualified for a contract that would pay that. While I'm not at the top of the contacting pay scale, I'm pretty close. While there was some that did pay that in the early days, those were extremely special short-term deals. They also required very special skill-sets/quals that most folks don't have.
Sorry for going so long but this is typical MSM BS designed to piss mil personal off at contractors, as well as give a another black eye to the war effort. Sure there are negatives to the contracting business, but they serve a place.
Back to lurking.
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