Privatising the hard part: The New Zealand experience of employing contractors to deliver military logistic support

Abstract

There is an increasing trend amongst global military forces to engage private sector contractors to provide a wide range of services. This thesis examines the outsourcing of logistics functions in the military environment, with a particular focus on the New Zealand experience. Logistics is a little understood and often overlooked, but vital, part of military operations, potentially outsourcing such a vital role could impact national sovereignty if it were to impair the ability of the national military to perform. This thesis outlines the core theoretical beliefs that lead to the outsourcing of military activity being considered acceptable. The impact of the end of the Cold War and the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 on military budgets, combined with the widespread adoption of belief in the validity of outsourcing has changed the nature of support provision for national military forces. Despite this change, and the engagement of private companies to deliver what were once tasks of uniformed members of the military, there appears to be little threat to national sovereignty through the emergence of this new model.