For the first time in our Veterans Breakfast Club history, we’re shining a spotlight on an essential but often invisible force in America’s recent wars: military contractors. Join us for this important livestream conversation with Ron Farina, Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and author of Out of the Shadows, and a panel of former contractors who served alongside U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other combat zones under Department of Defense contracts.

We also welcome Rob Kugler, a Marine Corps veteran, whose brother, Mike, served as a military contractor and was killed in Iraq in 2007. This profound loss propelled Rob into a mission of healing and storytelling. In his memoir, A Dog Named Beautiful, Rob chronicles his cross-country journey with his three-legged chocolate lab, Bella. This heartfelt narrative captures the essence of love, loss, and the road to recovery. Through his travels, Rob found solace and a renewed purpose, connecting with countless individuals and sharing stories that underscore the human cost of war.

Since the beginning of the post-9/11 wars, private contractors have been central to U.S. military operations. In fact, by 2011, the number of military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan surpassed the number of uniformed personnel. By 2019, that ratio had grown to 1.5:1, with contractors making up more than 60% of the Department of Defense workforce in Afghanistan. As of 2008, nearly 200,000 contractors supported the mission in Iraq—30,000 of them armed security contractors, forming what was effectively the second-largest armed force in the country.

From logistics and food service to intelligence gathering and armed convoy security, civilian contractors have taken on roles once reserved for military professionals. As the wars expanded, so too did the “Camo Economy”—a vast network of military contractors whose operations, casualties, and costs are often hidden from public scrutiny.

This growing reliance on civilian contractors raises fundamental questions:

• Are contractors part of the military profession?

• Do they share the same code of conduct, sense of duty, and social obligation?

• How do they view their roles—and how do traditional military personnel view them?

Research shows that many contractors come from law enforcement or prior military backgrounds, but often operate with different motivations, typically driven more by economic incentives than by the vocational calling traditionally associated with military service. Their training and operational directives are frequently dictated by government contracts, but they exist outside the chain of command and military legal structure. This “securitized management of violence” blurs the line between soldier and mercenary—and challenges long-held notions of military professionalism.

Despite their integral role, contractors often return home to no welcome, no resources, and no community. They lack access to VA services, often receive no formal recognition, and are largely absent from public memory. As Ron Farina emphasizes in his work, these “invisible warriors” bear many of the same wounds as veterans—PTSD, moral injury, survivor’s guilt—but without the support structure uniformed veterans rely on.

This program will feature the voices of those contractors. They’ll speak about their motivations, missions, relationships with military personnel, and the personal struggles they’ve faced in service and upon returning home. We’ll also discuss the broader ethical, legal, and economic implications of America’s unprecedented reliance on private military firms—some of which now rival the defense budgets of small nations.

Let’s give voice to those who served without a uniform but with no less courage, commitment, and consequence.

We’re grateful to UPMC for Life  for sponsoring this event!