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The fundamental flaw is employing contractors.. Governments should be doing all things they are responsible for in house. Contracting anything out costs in ter

The fundamental flaw is employing contractors.. Governments should be doing all things they are responsible for in house. Contracting anything out costs in terms of added security risk and in profits a contractor will want.

KMag 10y ago
Former DoD contractor here. Contracting is a description of legal contracts and payment flows, independent of security arrangements. I sat in the same SCIF as my directly employed colleagues, and the same security officer was in charge of our site and everything I did at the site. My employer's security officer had to handle getting my clearance and forwarding the paperwork to my site's security officer. It's not like DoD contractors are doing classified work from home in their sleepwear. They're still subject to the same security procedures, and in fact the same security people are overseeing the contractors and direct employees. I would still roll in before sunrise during what looked to be a beautiful day and work in a windowless chainsaw-resistant room with a steel door. I'd daydream of a nice sunny lunch break just like my direct employee colleagues, and be just as disappointed that it was raining when I exited isolation.
- logfromblammo 10y ago
  Except they would get Columbus Day and MLK Day as paid holidays, while you had to sit at home and eat a PTO day, because the work site cannot be used with no government employees there, and your company doesn't coordinate its holiday schedule for on-site employees. And then they would have some morale event (read: party/picnic) on base, and they could go to it while on the clock, while you were nominally invited, but if you attended it would have to be off the clock. Then the funding for your project is interrupted. They get furloughed, and will probably be repaid later when the funding is restored, but you just get straight-up laid off, and have to find a new job with zero notice. But at least you got paid more. That almost makes the crap treatment worthwhile.

KMag 10y ago

Former DoD contractor here. Contracting is a description of legal contracts and payment flows, independent of security arrangements. I sat in the same SCIF as my directly employed colleagues, and the same security officer was in charge of our site and everything I did at the site. My employer's security officer had to handle getting my clearance and forwarding the paperwork to my site's security officer. It's not like DoD contractors are doing classified work from home in their sleepwear. They're still subject to the same security procedures, and in fact the same security people are overseeing the contractors and direct employees. I would still roll in before sunrise during what looked to be a beautiful day and work in a windowless chainsaw-resistant room with a steel door. I'd daydream of a nice sunny lunch break just like my direct employee colleagues, and be just as disappointed that it was raining when I exited isolation.

logfromblammo 10y ago
Except they would get Columbus Day and MLK Day as paid holidays, while you had to sit at home and eat a PTO day, because the work site cannot be used with no government employees there, and your company doesn't coordinate its holiday schedule for on-site employees. And then they would have some morale event (read: party/picnic) on base, and they could go to it while on the clock, while you were nominally invited, but if you attended it would have to be off the clock. Then the funding for your project is interrupted. They get furloughed, and will probably be repaid later when the funding is restored, but you just get straight-up laid off, and have to find a new job with zero notice. But at least you got paid more. That almost makes the crap treatment worthwhile.