A BloombergBusinessweek article (Sept 5, 2011) describes the approach in the Pentagon to use “surge and purge” services offered by CACI International and ManTech International. These companies provide the capability required for the specified time frame and are available on call to respond quickly. Services include bilingual Spanish English teams to assist counter-narcotics operations, software programmers overseas, convoy route analysis in Iraq, preventing cyberattacks for sensitive data etc.  As their roles expand, these companies may face competition from defense manufacturers who also offer services as part of their products. Is the use of such outsourced services an optimal way to manage defense services and costs ? What capability should these “surge and purge” firms have to offer their services profitably ? Is the success of these outsourced firms a function of the current recessionary climate and thus availability of talented employees in the market ? How should the military plan for conditions when the economy improves and such surge capacity is no longer available ?