Book excerpt: Historically, the U.S. military has made use of civilian personnel and contractors to perform Combat Support (CS) and Combat Service Support (CSS) functions. The trend today is towards increasing this use with the intent of transitioning limited uniform military positions from "tail to tooth." The trend is also being driven by strategic initiatives related to privatization and outsourcing as well as a need to utilize contractor specific knowledge skills in maintaining increasingly complex military systems. The use of contracted support has proven to be a force multiplier for the operational commander. Programs like LOGCAP and AFCAP have been used effectively during contingency operations to provide supplies and services to the deployed military force. Unfortunately, this force multiplier comes at a cost. Using contractors in lieu of uniformed military personnel causes difficulties with both Command and Control as well as with providing Operational Force Protection.