Overall in Iraq and Afghanistan there are 282,000 troops and 242,657 contractors but there are more contractors than U.S. troops in Afghanistan. As of March 2009, there were 68,197 DOD contractors in Afghanistan, compared to 52,300 uniformed personnel. 75% of the DoD contractor personnel in Afghanistan are locals, about 15% are U.S. citizens. Contractors made up 57% of DOD’s workforce in Afghanistan, the highest recorded percentage of contractors used by DOD in any conflict in the history of the United States. With an increasing trend towards the privatisation of war the report notes that “abuses and crimes committed by armed private security contractors and interrogators against local nationals may have undermined U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan”.


Defense Contracting in Afghanistan at Record High
 http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2009/09/afghan_contracting.html

Department of Defense Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan: Background and Analysis
 http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R40764.pdf