
What the heck are they supposed to do in an extended wartime situation?
I've seen contractors deployed to war zones on many occasions. There's money to be made there.
When I was in Afghanistan, we had a contractor (think it was ITT?) that worked directly with our unit in Kandahar helping to maintain and train us on a comm system. His partner drew the shorter straw and would go out and visit the FOB's.
When I was in Italy, supporting Operation Deny Flight, Litton Data Systems had a contractor working with us there. Dude had a uniform just like ours, but it said "LITTON" instead of "US AIR FORCE". His official travel orders listed "worldwide". He'd travel everywhere they had equipment performing the more extensive preventative maintenance inspections and repairs.