Department of Defense Contractor and Troop February 22, 2021 Levels in Afghanistan and Iraq: 2007-2020 Heidi M. Peters Throughout its history, the Department of Defense (DOD) has relied on contractors to support a Analyst in U.S. Defense wide range of military operations. Operations over the last thirty years have highlighted the Acquisition Policy critical role that contractors play in supporting U.S. troops—both in terms of the number of contractors and the typetypes of work being performedthey perform. During recent U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, contractors often accounted for 50% or more of the total DOD presence in-country.

country. For the fourth quarter of fiscal year (FY) 20182020, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOMUSCENTCOM) reported 49,45143,809 contractor personnel working for DOD within its area of responsibility, which included 28,18927,388 individuals located in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. From FY2009 to FY2018FY2011 to FY2019, obligations for all DOD-funded contracts performed within the Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan areas of operation totaled approximately $208187 billion in FY2019FY2021 dollars.

In late 2017, the DOD stopped reporting the number of U.S. military personnel deployed in support of operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria as part of its quarterly manpower reports and in other official releases. These data remain withheld. Congressional Research Service link to page 4 link to page 4 link to page 4 link to page 5 link to page 6 link to page 7 link to page 8 link to page 14 link to page 14 link to page 21 link to page 21 link to page 21 link to page 21 link to page 22 link to page 22 link to page 9 link to page 15 link to page 15 link to page 10 link to page 12 link to page 12 link to page 16 link to page 16 link to page 19 link to page 20 link to page 23 Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Afghanistan and Iraq: 2007-2020 Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 The Role of Contractors in Military Operations .............................................................................. 1 Tracking Contractors During Contingency Operations ............................................................. 1 Force Management Levels for Deployed U.S. Armed Forces................................................... 2 DOD Usage of Contractors During Ongoing Military Operations ........................................... 3 Private Security Contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq ............................................................... 4 U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Afghanistan .................................. 5 U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Iraq (2007-) and Syria (2018-) ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Analytical Methodology ................................................................................................................ 18 U.S. Armed Forces and Private Security Contractor Personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq ....... 18 Afghanistan ....................................................................................................................... 18 Iraq .................................................................................................................................... 18 Obligations within the Iraq and Afghanistan Areas of Operations .......................................... 19 Use of beta.SAM.gov Data Bank ...................................................................................... 19 Figures Figure 1. U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Afghanistan .................. 6 Figure 2. U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Iraq (2007-) and Syria (2018-) .............................................................................................................................. 12 Tables Table 1. U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Afghanistan .................... 7 Table 2. U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Private Security Contractor Personnel in Afghanistan .............................................................................................................................. 9 Table 3. U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Iraq (2007-) and Syria (2018-) .............................................................................................................................. 13 Table 4. U.S. Armed Forces and Private Security Contractors in Iraq .......................................... 16 Table 5. DOD Contract Obligations in Iraq and Afghanistan Areas of Operations (AO) ............. 17 Contacts Author Information ........................................................................................................................ 20 Congressional Research Service Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Afghanistan and Iraq: 2007-2020 Introduction withheld.

This report provides general background information and data for Congress on the levels of Department of Defense (DOD) military servicemembers and DOD-funded contractor personnel deployed in support of prior and ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. For more information on DOD'’s use of contractor personnel, see CRS In Focus IF10600, Defense Primer: Department of Defense Contractors, by Heidi M. Peters and Moshe Schwartz and CRS Report R43074, Department of Defense'Defense’s Use of Contractors to Support Military Operations: Background, Analysis, and Issues for Congress, by Moshe Schwartz.

Heidi M. Peters. The Role of Contractors in Military Operations

Throughout its history, DOD has relied on contractors to support a wide range of military operations. Operations over the past 30 years have highlighted the critical role that contractors play in supporting U.S. military servicemembers, both in terms of the number of contractors and the type of work being performedthey perform. During recent U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, contractors frequently averaged 50% or more of the total DOD presence in-country.

Tracking Contractors During Contingency Operations

Analysts and observers have previously raised questions about the reliability of the data gathered by DOD regarding the number of contractors it employs in theater in support of military operations.² DOD officials, however, have stated that since 2009, the DOD has implemented a variety of mechanisms to improve the reliability of contractor data it gathers, including modifications to information technology systems, such as data collection systems like questions about the reliability of the data This report uses contractor to describe individual gathered by DOD regarding the number of contractors hired through DOD-funded contracts. contractors it employs in theater in support of These individuals may provide a wide range of services military operations.3 DOD officials, however, to the DOD, including transportation, construction, have stated that since 2009, the Department base support, intelligence analysis, translation, has implemented a variety of mechanisms to interpretation, and private security support. improve the reliability of contractor data it 1 See 32 C.F.R. 158.3, “Definitions;” see also DOD Instruction 3020.41, Operational Contract Support (OCS), August 31, 2018, p. 48, at https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/302041p.pdf. 2 DOD policymakers and experts define area of responsibility as the “geographical area associated with a combatant command within which a geographic combatant commander has authority to plan and conduct operations.” USCENTCOM’s area of responsibility includes Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Iran, Turkmenistan, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. See CRS In Focus IF11428, United States Central Command, by Kathleen J. McInnis and Brendan W. McGarry. 3 See, for example, U.S. Government Accountability Office, Iraq and Afghanistan: DOD, State and USAID Face Continued Challenges in Tracking Contracts, Assistance Instruments, and Associated Personnel, GAO-11-1, October 1, 2010. Congressional Research Service 1 link to page 9 link to page 15 link to page 20 link to page 8 link to page 21 Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Afghanistan and Iraq: 2007-2020 gathers. Those improvements include modifications to information technology and data collection systems, such as the joint Synchronized Predeployment and Operational Tracker (SPOT) database; updates and changes to related departmental policies; and changes in "“leadership emphasis"emphasis” within DOD and the combatant commands.³

4 For the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, CENTCOM reported 49,451 2020, U.S. Central Command reported 43,809 contractor personnel working for DOD within its area of responsibility, which included 28,189 27,388 individuals located in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria (see Figure 1 and Figure 2).

From FY2009 to FY2018. From FY2011 to FY2019, obligations for all DOD-funded contracts performed within the Iraq and Afghanistan areas of operation totaled approximately $208187 billion in FY2019FY2021 dollars (see Table 5).⁴

5 Force Management Levels for Deployed U.S. Armed Forces

Force management levels, sometimes also described as troop caps, troop ceilings, or force manning levels, have historically been used by the United States to establish bounds on the number of military personnel that may be deployed in a country or region.

The executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government have used force management levels to guide the execution of certain overseas U.S. military operations, as well as the associated presence of DOD personnel. During the 1980s, for example, Congress used provisions within annual appropriations legislation to establish force management levels limiting the number of active duty U.S. military personnel stationed ashore in Europe.⁵6 The Obama Administration used force management levels to manage its drawdown of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, and to manage the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Syria under Operation Inherent Resolve.⁶7 The Trump Administration has reportedly delegated the authority to establish force management levels for Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria to the Secretary of Defense.⁷

8 It remains unclear how the Biden Administration will establish and adjust force management levels for ongoing and future military operations—however, Congress, as discussed in this report’s overview of “U.S. Armed Forces 4 Email correspondence with DOD official, received by CRS on September 7, 2016. 5 Iraq areas of operation are defined by CRS as Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Jordan. Afghanistan areas of operation are defined by CRS as Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. See “Analytical Methodology” for a discussion of how these areas of operation were defined and related caveats. 6 See for example Section 799A of P.L. 97-377, enacted December 21, 1982. This provision was enacted in the larger context of congressional debate at the time regarding the perception that the United States’ NATO allies should assume a greater percentage of the mutual defense investment burden. 7 Established force management levels may be adjusted in response to operational needs or changing circumstances within a country or region, such as the Obama Administration’s decision in July 2016 to maintain approximately 8,400 troops in Afghanistan through January 2017. See White House Office of the Press Secretary, “Statement by the President on Afghanistan,” July 6, 2016, available at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/07/06/statement-president-afghanistan. 8 See Luis Martinez, “Trump Gives Pentagon Authority to Set Troop Levels in Syria and Iraq,” ABC News, April 26, 2017; Jim Garamone, “President Gives Mattis Authority to Set U.S. Troop Strength in Afghanistan,” Defense Media Activity, June 14, 2017; and U.S. Department of Defense Press Release, “Statement by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Afghanistan Troop Levels,” June 14, 2017. In a March 30, 2017, Los Angeles Times article, a DOD spokesperson reportedly noted that “[i]n order to maintain tactical surprise, ensure operational security and force protection, the coalition will not routinely announce or confirm information about the capabilities, force numbers, locations, or movement of forces in or out of Iraq and Syria.” Congressional Research Service 2 link to page 8 Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Afghanistan and Iraq: 2007-2020 and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Afghanistan” has placed some limitations on adjustments to force management levels in Afghanistan. In August 2017, the DOD announced that it was revising its force management level accounting and reporting practices for Afghanistan to also include U.S. Armed Forces personnel in-country for short-duration missions, personnel in a temporary duty status, personnel assigned to combat support agencies, and forces assigned to the material recovery element and the Resolute Support sustainment brigade in reported totals.⁸

In late 2017, the Defense Department9 Some observers noted that not accounting for these personnel categories in reported force management levels prior to August 2017 might have misrepresented the actual number of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan during that period.10 In late 2017, the DOD stopped reporting the number of U.S. military personnel deployed in support of operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria as part of its quarterly manpower reports and in other official releases. Some DOD officials asserted that withholding this data provided an additional layer of operational security for deployed U.S. forces. Then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis contended that providing public access to detailed deployment data could potentially allow U.S. adversaries to “take advantage of that kind of data, seeing trends at certain times of the year, and what they can expect in the future.”11 Other observers viewed the withdrawal of this information as part of a pattern of decreased “transparency” by DOD under the Trump Administration.12 These data remained withheld during the Trump Administrationin other official releases. These data remain withheld, leading to criticism from some observers and Members of Congress.⁹

13 Under the Biden Administration, it remains unclear if DOD will resume reporting the number of U.S. military personnel deployed in support of ongoing or future military operations. DOD Usage of Contractors During Ongoing Military Operations

Some observers and experts argued that external "“resource limits"” of force management levels may have increased DOD's "’s “reliance on…contractor and temporary duty personnel"” to effectively execute ongoing military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.¹⁰ In February 14 In February 9 See U.S. Department of Defense, Press Operations, “Department of Defense Afghanistan Force Management Level Accounting and Reporting Practices Briefing by Pentagon Chief Spokesperson White and Joint Staff Director Lieutenant General McKenzie in the Pentagon Briefing Room,” transcript, August 30, 2017. 10 See Wesley Morgan, “Pentagon Finally Comes Clean on Afghanistan Troop Levels,” Politico, August 30, 2017; see also Alex Horton, “The Pentagon Struggles to Provide Accurate Numbers for Deployed Troops,” The Washington Post, November 27, 2017. 11 See remarks, the Honorable James N. Mattis, during U.S. Congress, House Committee on Armed Services, The Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Budget Request from the Department of Defense, full committee hearing, 115th Cong., 2nd sess., April 8, 2018. See also David Welna, “Pentagon Questioned Over Blackout On War Zone Troop Numbers,” NPR Morning Edition, July 3, 2018, and Tara Copp, “Pentagon Strips Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria Troop Numbers From Web,” MilitaryTimes, April 9, 2018. 12 Loren DeJonge Schulman and Alice Friend, “The Pentagon’s Transparency Problem: Why Accurate Troop Levels Are So Hard to Find,” Foreign Affairs, May 2, 2018. 13 CRS October 26, 2018, correspondence with DOD officials; David Welna, “Pentagon Questioned over Blackout on War Zone Troop Numbers,” NPR, July 3, 2018; and Tara Copp, “Pentagon strips Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria troop numbers from web,” Military Times, April 9, 2018. 14 See for example the statement as delivered and the prepared statement of Cary Russell, Director, Defense Capabilities and Management, GAO, “Overseas Contingency Operations: Observations on the Use of Force Management Levels in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria,” before the U.S. Congress, House Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Force Management Levels in Iraq and Afghanistan: Readiness and Strategic Considerations, 114th Cong., 2nd sess., December 1, 2016. Congressional Research Service 3 link to page 12 link to page 19 Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Afghanistan and Iraq: 2007-2020 2017, U.S. Army General John Nicholson, then Commander of the NATO Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces–Afghanistan, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that DOD had to "“substitute contractors for soldiers in order to meet the force manning levels"” in Afghanistan.¹¹15 While the drawdown of U.S. forces contributed to a demonstrable increase in the ratio of contractors to uniformed servicemembers in Afghanistan between 2012 and 2017, it is difficult to assess if the increased ratio supported General Nicholson'Nicholson’s assertion.

The House-passed version of the FY2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, H.R. 28102810) contained a provision (Section 923) that would have expressed the sense of Congress that the DOD should discourage the practice of substituting contractor personnel for available members of the Armed Forces when a unit deploys overseasto Afghanistan. This section also would have required the Secretary of Defense to provide a related briefing to the congressional defense committees. A similar provision was not included in the Senate amendment to H.R. 2810. While the House receded in conference, the conferees directed the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing detailing steps taken by DOD to revise deployment guidelines to ensure readiness, unit cohesion, and maintenance were prioritized, as well as the Secretary of Defense'’s plan to establish a policy to avoid the practice of directly substituting contractor personnel for U.S. military personnel when practicable in the future.

Concern about DOD'’s use of contractors in contingency operations predates the recent usage of force management levels. For example, the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, in its 2011 final report to Congress, expressed its view that operations in Iraq and Afghanistan between FY2002 and FY2011 had led to an "“unhealthy over-reliance"” on contractors by DOD, Department of State, and USAID.¹²

16 Private Security Contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq

In Iraq and Afghanistan, armed and unarmed private security contractors have been employed used by DOD to provide services such as protecting fixed locations; guarding traveling convoys; providing security escorts; and training police and military personnel. The number of private security contractor employees working for DOD in Iraq and Afghanistan has fluctuated significantly over time, and is dependent on a variety of factors, including current force management levels in-country and U.S. operational needs.

The Since 2008, the presence of DOD-funded private security contractors peaked in Afghanistan in 2012 at more than 28,000 individuals and in Iraq in 2009 at more than 15,000 individuals. For the fourth quarter of FY2018FY2020, DOD reported 4,172164 DOD-funded private security contractors in Afghanistan, with 2,3971,813 categorized as armed private security contractors (seesee Table 2). DOD reported 41896 DOD-funded security contractor personnel in Iraq and Syria during the same period, none of whom were identified as armed private security contractors (see Table 4).

U.S. Armed Forces and 15 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Armed Services, Situation in Afghanistan, 115th Cong., 1st sess., February 9, 2017. This concern was also echoed in a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in December 2016, and in a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness on March 8, 2017. 16 Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, “Transforming Wartime Contracting: Controlling Costs, Reducing Risks,” final report of the Commission to Congress, August 2011, pp. 18-21. Available at https://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/cwc/20110929213922/http://www.wartimecontracting.gov/docs/CWC_FinalReport-highres.pdf. Congressional Research Service 4 link to page 10 Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Afghanistan and Iraq: 2007-2020 U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Afghanistan

Afghanistan As of the fourth quarter of FY2018, 25,239 DODFY2020, 22,562 DOD-funded contractor personnel were located in Afghanistan (see Table 1).¹³17 Approximately 4435% of DOD'’s reported individual contractors were U.S. citizens (10,9897,856), approximately 4243% were third-country nationals (10,6289,639), and roughly 14% 22% were local nationals (3,6225,067). Of the 25,23922,562 DOD contractor personnel, about 98% were armed private security contractors (2,397).

Figure 1. U.S. Armed Forces and 1,813). On November 17, 2020, Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller announced, “we will implement President Trump's orders to continue our repositioning of forces from” Afghanistan, and that the number of U.S. forces there would reach 2,500 by January 15, 2021.18 As of December 2020, there were reportedly approximately 4,000 U.S. troop in Afghanistan, with the level “dropping quickly” to meet the 2,500 level by mid-January.19 Section 1215 of the FY2021 NDAA (H.R. 6395; P.L. 116-238) established a limitation on the use of FY2020 and FY2021 DOD funds to make any change to the total number of U.S. Armed Forces deployed to Afghanistan that would result in (1) the reduction of the total number of deployed forces below 4,000 (or the total number deployed as of the date of the FY2021 NDAA’s enactment); or (2) the reduction of the total number of deployed forces below 2,000. This limitation could be lifted upon the Secretary of Defense’s submission to Congress of a report containing a number of specified elements, such as a risk assessment for the reduction in deployed forces and an assessment of the impact of U.S. troop reductions on counterterrorism, Afghan military capabilities, the NATO-led training mission, and other U.S. policy priorities. The President may waive the reporting requirement with the submission of a written determination that such a waiver is in U.S. national security interests, together with a “detailed explanation” of how it furthers those interests. 17 See Department of Defense, Contractor Support of U.S. Operations in the USCENTCOM Area of Responsibility, October 2020, at https://www.acq.osd.mil/log/PS/.CENTCOM_reports.html/FY20_4Q_5A_Oct2020.pdf. 18 Department of Defense, “Acting Secretary Miller Announces Troop Levels in Afghanistan and Iraq,” transcript, November 17, 2020, available at https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/2418641/acting-secretary-miller-announces-troop-levels-in-afghanistan-and-iraq/. For further discussion of U.S. operations in Afghanistan under Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS), which includes the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, see CRS Report R45122, Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy: In Brief, by Clayton Thomas. 19 Hope Hodge Seck, “In First, NATO Forces Now Outnumber US Troops in Afghanistan,” Military.com, December 21, 2020, available at https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/12/21/first-nato-forces-now-outnumber-us-troops-afghanistan.html. Congressional Research Service 5 Figure 1. U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Afghanistan Q4 FY2007-Q4 FY2020 Source: Created by CRS. Contractor levels drawn from USCENTCOMContractor Personnel in Afghanistan Q4 FY2007-Q4 FY2018

Source: Contractor levels drawn from CENTCOM Quarterly Contractor Census Reports; U.S. Armed Forces levels through Q4 FY2017 drawn from "“Boots on the Ground"” monthly reports to Congress. Notes: DOD did not beginbegan releasing data on contractors in CENTCOM untilUSCENTCOM in Q4 FY2007. U.S. Armed Forces levels includefrom FY2007 to FY2017 included all active and reserve component personnel.

U.S. Armed Forces and b. DOD-reported total; note that for Q4 FY2012, DOD reported 2,014 private security contractors who were U.S. citizens; 1,437 private security contractors who were third country nationals; and 15,413 private security contractors who were local/host country nationals. The source of the discrepancy between the DOD-reported total and the sum of the reported private security contractor country of origin categorizations (18,914 vs. 18,864) is unclear. Congressional Research Service 10 link to page 16 Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Afghanistan and Iraq: 2007-2020 U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded Contractor Personnel in Iraq

(2007-) and Syria (2018-) DOD ceased publicly reporting numbers of DOD contractor personnel working in Iraq in December 2013, following the conclusion of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn), and the subsequent drawdown of DOD contractor personnel levels in Iraq.

In late 2014, in response in part to developing operations in the region, DOD reinitiated reporting broad estimates of DOD contractor personnel deployed in Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR). As the number of DOD contractor personnel in Iraq increased over the first six months of 2015, DOD resumed reporting exact numbers and primary mission categories of OIR contractor personnel in June 2015. In the second quarter of FY2018, DOD began reporting a combined total of contractor personnel physically located in Iraq and Syria.

As of the fourth quarter of FY2018, there were 6,318 DOD As of FY2020, DOD reports the quarterly number of contractors with a mission category of “security” in Iraq and Syria, but does not identify any individuals within this category as specifically armed private security contractors. As of the fourth quarter of FY2020, DOD reported it had 4,826 contractor personnel in Iraq and Syria (see Table 3). Approximately 4953% of DOD'’s reported individual contractors were U.S. citizens (3,0862,558), approximately 3834% were third-country nationals (2,4051,632); and roughly 13% were local/host-country nationals (636).20 As of December 2020 observers and analysts estimated the number of U.S. Armed Forces personnel in Iraq to be approximately 3,000.21 Reports in late 2020 indicated the Trump Administration intended to drawdown in-country U.S. forces to 2,500 by January 15, 2021.22 20 See Department of Defense, Contractor Support of U.S. Operations in the USCENTCOM Area of Responsibility, October 2020, at https://www.acq.osd.mil/log/PS/.CENTCOM_reports.html/FY20_4Q_5A_Oct2020.pdf. 21 Jim Garamone, “U.S. Will Draw Down Forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, Acting Secretary Says,” Defense News, November 17, 2020, available at https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2418416/us-will-draw-down-forces-in-afghanistan-iraq-acting-secretary-says/. 22 Ibid.; For further discussion of the U.S. and its coalition partners' efforts to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria under OIR, see CRS Report RL33487, Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response, coordinated by Carla E. Humud and CRS In Focus IF10404, Iraq and U.S. Policy, by Christopher M. Blanchard Congressional Research Service 11 link to page 16 Figure 2. U.S. Armed Forces and DOD-Funded local/host-country nationals.¹⁶ As of FY2018, CENTCOM has not resumed reporting data on DOD-funded private security personnel in Iraq.

Figure 2. U.S. Armed Forces and Contractor Personnel in Iraq (Q4 F72007-Q1 FY2014; Q1 FY2015-Q4 FY2018)

Contractor Personnel in Iraq (2007-) and Syria (2018-) (Q4 F72007-Q1 FY2014; Q1 FY2015-Q4 FY2020) Source: Contractor levels drawn from CENTCOMUSCENTCOM Quarterly Contractor Census Reports and depicts the number of DOD-funded armed private security contractors as a subset of all reported DOD-funded contractors; U.S. Armed Forces levels from Q4 FY2007-Q1 FY2012 drawn from "“Boots on the Ground"” monthly reports to Congress. U.S. Armed Forces levels for Q1 FY2015-Q4Q1 FY2017 drawn from White House semiannual "“War Powers Resolution Report"” to Congress. Notes: DOD did not beginbegan releasing data on DOD-funded private security contractor personnel in CENTCOM untilUSCENTCOM in Q1 FY2008, and ceased reporting data on DOD-funded private security contractor personnel in Iraq in Q4 FY2013. As of Q4 FY2018, CENTCOM has not resumed reporting data on DOD-funded private security personnel in Iraq. U.S. forceBetween Q1 FY2014 and Q4 FY2014, no data on any DOD-funded contractor personnel in Iraq was released. In Q2 FY2018, DOD began reporting a combined total of contractor personnel physically located in Iraq and Syria. U.S. Armed Forces levels for Q4 FY2007-Q1 FY2012 includeincluded all active and reserve component personnel. SeeFol owing the conclusion of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq in 2011, the “Boots on the Ground” reports ceased providing separate force levels for Iraq. Beginning in 2014, in support of U.S. military operations against the Islamic State, additional U.S. military personnel were deployed to Iraq. See Table 3 for further discussion of recent U.S. Armed Forces and contractor levels in Iraq. As of Q2 FY2018, CENTCOM reports a combined total of contractor personnel physically located in Iraq and Syria.