Insuring the life of public and private soldiers

The re-invention of military forces into leaner and more specialised machineries through downsizing and contracting-out has engendered both opportunities and problems for authorities to consider. An issue of particular concern for governments has been that pay rises in the military have not kept pace with the private sector. Whilst authorities try to retain their most talented military personnel beyond the date they are eligible to apply for retirement, private sector opportunities continue to lure them out. Let me make clear that there is nothing wrong about former military personnel working in the private military industry. They earn that right through service. However, an interesting dynamic unfolds when the field is levelled between governments and the private sector for the retention of highly-skilled personnel. Therefore, it is interesting to examine the actions the governments of leading suppliers of private military companies and personnel, e.g. the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), undertake to pre-empt competition and motivate officers to remain on service beyond the retirement threshold. In this light, it is worth highlighting the launch by the British Ministry of Defence in association with Sterling Life Ltd of a new life insurance scheme tailored for the Armed Forces: the Service Life Insurance (SLI). The risks associated with service in Iraq and Afghanistan have noticeably increased over the last two years. However, insurance firms have not been innovative enough to address the realities of post-9/11 conflicts and develop products tailored for servicemen engaged in them. Far from that, boardroom solutions have focused on raising life insurance premiums to prohibitive levels or closing the doors to soldiers on route to Iraq and Afghanistan altogether. Private military personnel have encountered the same problem too. In addressing such a critical need, SLI thus offers an attractive and needed service to British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is hoped similar innovative solutions will be on offer for private military personnel too. For in the end both public and private soldiers often find themselves fighting for the same causes, in similar arenas of conflict, and inevitably exposed to similar levels of risk.