Yes, that is a lot of money. You imply that it is excessive. Let's look at how that might be. You could compare the annual total costs of keeping one US government employee in the country for a year--pay, hazardous duty pay, benefits, supervision, administration, security, housing, home leave, etc. The result is probably a very big number, no? And the trouble is, the government doesn't even "stock" this kind of employee for deployment. Further, in these comparisons you won't be able to capture the full cost of government overhead. It is enormous, if you start with the management of the government agency involved, all the admin support, etc. Government managers see all of that as "free" but it is just in another bucket, invisible because of government accounting and the manager does not have to budget for it or control it. And you can't take into account the full costs of a government pension, job security, and the fact that when the job is done, the government employees don't leave the payroll. My only point here is that, compared to the government's cost for the equivalent, the contract cost might not be as high as it looks. Just a little digging would rather easily make this point.
Finally, notice that when you asked about profit (revenue minus costs), the answer was vague chatter about costs. You might follow up to try to elicit an answer regarding profit. Based on the type of contract the fee (profit) is probably in the mid single digits to no more than 15 percent of costs. You won't get the answer in a FOIA or other public record, but info on the contract type and task type that you can get from your own digging could tell us a lot about profit. Happy hunting, Robert.
Michael Lent, Editor and Publisher, Government Services Insider.

I really find it mind boggling that sense we are paying out $545,700,000 for this Contract with DYN Corporation, to train the Iraqi Police force. Why can't the American government gather together a Battallion or a Brigade of Military Police trainers from our Army,Navy,Marines,and Air Force as well as the same from the British Military Services,and all of the other countries that are already involved. I'm sure that with all that experience and training that ours and the other countries militaries have gone through, we could devise a training program for the Iraqi Police Force, that would be more than adaquate,instead of hiring a company to do this job. I mean we already have these military forces over there, they are already on the government payroll, as far as being in the military. So why does our Country have to go through the added expense of paying a private Corporation to train the Iraqi police, and why doesn't the country of Iraqi pay the United States for this education. Any time a student goes to college here in the United States,he or she usually needs to go to the financial aid office first to request financial aid to attend classes,pay for tuition, pay for books, sometimes pay for their rooms ect... ,so why is the American people having to take the Payment of educating the Iraqi Police Force's education on our shoulders. It makes no sense to me, like I said it's mindboggling.

FREE MARKET FORCES

Your analysis and reasoning is shallow and flawed. You may not like it but what DynCorp is doing is in line with all DCAA guidelines. Take your own salary of about $115,000/yr to write a few articles and this blog. What do you think it costs the Post every year to pay you that princely sum of money? There is a multiplier that the Post uses that includes all the overhead, benefits and G&A needed to support your salary. Do you know what that is? In addition, you seem to do a lot of your work ensconsed in the safety of a work at home program right here in the US and I am sure you don't work 12 hr days, six days a week and get only 2 weeks of vacation per year. Perhaps you should check these things out. Your outrage might be more meaningful if you understood the context and did a little more digging.

I am compelled to contact you re: an even more alarming situation concerning those who have or intend tobe deploying to Iraq...Halliburton is contracted there for water treatment services for our troops & contractors.A video on youtube reveals that approx.97% of the water supply remains untreated exposing all to a variety of pathogenic contamination This not poses a danger to those exposed,but also to those they may come into contact with even upon their return stateside!! A website is availabe for all to get tested: (Iraqforsale.org/gettested.php)The video can be accessed by: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FJC_OrO3Nw&feature=1 This MUST be publicly exposed!!

I trained the Iraqi Police forces on a one year contract with Dyncorp. It is no different than being a Police Officer in America when it comes to the pay-to-death ratio. A Police Officer can never be paid enough to put his or her life on the line on a daily basis. It is pretty sad when someone who sits at a desk all day gets more pay than a Police Officer. The cities, states, private companies, etc. have been taking money from our pockets from the begining of time. It is the same old story. You get a raise and then they raise your health insurance costs so you end up with nothing. Does the fact that Dyncorp pays its employees 1/6 (not 1/3 as described above)of their share to the Police Officers who actually do the work, really surprise anyone?
The bottom line is this. If any Police Officer has the guts to live in Iraq with the Iraqi Police, I don't think money should be an issue. A Police Officer obviously does not do it for the money. They never have, and they never will. I actually went to Iraq for the chance to help the soldiers in any way I could. The money was good. Of course I wanted more money. Who doesn't? It wasn't quite the 134,000 you see on the website. Also, my rationale was this: I can get shot here in the states, working for a city council who doesn't even care about the Police Officers in their city, or I could work in Iraq, and tell a soldier, "Its alright brother, I'm right here next to you." and at least I will have enough money so my family can afford to bury me.