Ask Slashdot: Working As an IT Contractor In a War Zone?

Capt. Picklepants writes "I have been feeling malaise about the IT and technical job market in the United States. I'm interested in doing some IT work for our government in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. I've heard it pays very well. Got any advice, or pointers, aside from the usual combing corporate websites and social networking?"

Comments

Why explicitly war zone?

[InsightIn140Bytes]

There's lots of world to see outside US and its war zones. Go to China, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore or Philippines. It's extremely easy for a westerner to find jobs in Asia if they just know something, especially in IT. Life is generally more relaxing too. I've done just that, but I don't work for anyone, I work as freelancer over the internet.

However, there's a huge amount of employers that can hire you, if you rather take a stable paycheck. This includes both westerners who have set up companies and moved there and also companies by locals. IT is huge in Asia. The funny thing is, it's also a job widely appreciated by local women, and often you find women working in IT. Really knowledgeable ones, too.

On top of that you get great weather, nice people and relaxing lifestyle. You might get marginally lower wage, but then again the cost of living is insanely smaller too.

Re:Why explicitly war zone?

[goarilla]

A friend of mine was almost recruited to do this a few years ago (2005 iirc). The pay was 600 $/day in Iraq.

Re:Why explicitly war zone?

[Garybaldy]

I have a friend who just got back this year from doing IT in Iraq. He loved it (well not the heat). He gave it up to be with his new baby. The money he made was stupidly high.

Re:Why explicitly war zone?

[DrgnDancer]

Spoken like a person who has never been to warzone. There's a great number of things wrong with your post, so I'll enumerate them:

1) Contractors are rarely killed in warzones. There've been a few high profile incidents, but it's a very uncommon event. Moreover, of the contractors that *are* killed, the vast majority are either trucking contractors or security contractors. People that spend a lot of time "outside the wire" (basically not on our bases). I'd be shocked to hear that the number of IT contractors killed in Iraq/Afghanistan goes above the single digits. You're probably as safe as you would be driving a half hour to work on the highway every day.

2) Lots of people ride motorbikes to work without helmets in places that it's legal to so. People perform various other risky activities too. they have unprotected sex in non-monogamous relationships, they climb mountains, they go cave diving... There are an endless variety of things that people do, some of them explicitly because they are, or seem, dangerous.

3) The pay in the military sucks by comparison to what contractors make. You also spend years in training, can't always guarantee that you'll be doing the job you signed up for (several of my "IT" soldiers spent their tour in Iraq on guard duty assigned to one of our line companies), and you can't quit if you decide you don't like it. On top of that, while it's true that soldiers are better trained than contractors, they are also often doing far more dangerous jobs. The number of contractors killed in action pales compared to the number of troops killed in action.

4) IT contractors aren't breaking down doors and rushing into combat. They're doing IT. Usually on a base. The chance that they'll ever see an enemy combatant, let alone have a chance to be "a risk to themselves and others" is small. If they do see action it will be on a road traveling between bases, and likely the driver will be a soldier and know what to do. Contractor's job is: get low, stay low, don't freak out any more than you have too.

There are thousands of contractors working on every base in every conflict zone. It's a perfectly normal and accepted part of the gig. Nobody thinks they're nuts, soldiers are mostly jealous that they make so much more than we do.

I will caution the original poster on a few things though. Contracting work in a hot zone is not fun and games. The pay is good, but there are lots of downsides. You often work 12 hour days, 6-7 days a week. What leisure time you do have is constrained: you usually can't leave base, there are no movie theaters, no restaurants beyond a Burger King or Pizza Hut (and then only on larger bases), Internet connectivity is extremely chancy, and TV is limited to AFN (Armed Force Network, pretty good mix of programs but only a couple channels). While what i said earlier about it being fairly safe is true, it's not completely safe by any means, and even when they aren't aimed at you hearing explosions in the distance all the time can get... disconcerting. On the bright side, on any decent sized base you have cell service so your family is easy to stay in touch with, unlike in earlier wars.

Re:Why explicitly war zone?

[Bardwick]

My brother did something similar. The company he contracted to kept 20% of his pay in reserve. If he stayed for 1 year, he got all that money back. If he left before, he forfiet... He was pulling $140,000 as opposed to $90 in the states. Not bad for construction.

Re:Why explicitly war zone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Contract work in a warzone is ok, but not for everyone. Of the approximately 100 folks we've sent over for work there, only 1 actually got off the plane and then got back on the SAME plane to come home. Most of the others did their tours.

Good clothing

[Strider-]

As someone who's been over there a number of times, my advice is to invest in some good clothing for there. As crazy as it seems, the best way to beat the heat in the desert is to cover up. Long, loose pants made from lightweight fabric and similar for shirts (along with silk-weight polypro undershirts) will keep you significantly more comfortable than your typical cotton t-shirt. Also, a good wide-brimmed boonie hat is worth it.

Basically, the idea is to keep the sun off your skin, the air flowing, and wick the sweat away from your skin.

Not all war zones are created equal

[hakioawa]

I worked in Qatar (not in IT), which is technically a war zone by USG standards. It is also the wealthiest country on the planet and obscenely safe. I didn't even bother to lock my door. The pay there was good, but not insanely good. I looked into IT work in Afghanistan and would have made ~$300K. That job would require two things. 1) A USG security clearance and 2)willingness to literally be on the front lines and get shot at. Not all war zone are created equal. Pay will reflect that.

Now you will probably hear a lot of folks talking about the danger etc. Yes, it is a war zone, but your odds of being killed are very low. I'd say your two biggest concerns in a place like Iraq are: 1) dying in a traffic accident, which would be just as likely in India of SE asia. 2) Dying of boredom. THAT is the big issue. These places are boring. And the security you are forced to endure will piss off most geeks. You see it, it is designed to slow you and everyone else down. There is a lot of theater and it can get tedious.

That said, If you spend all your free time indoors reading obscure tech blogs, then I say go for it.

Stay away

[slasho81]

Stay away from war zones.

Jobs in these areas are glamorous - they seem exciting and adventurous, but in reality they are extremely boring and needlessly dangerous. If that's not enough, you'll feel socially excluded because you're not a soldier in a place where almost everyone else is and you're disconnected from "real life" where civilians like yourself thrive. On top of all that, working in rigid bureaucratic organizations like the armed forces can drive people up the wall. You'll feel like you're immersed in stupid. Watch Generation Kill for a very credible illustration of that.

In summary, don't do it.

Advice

[strikethree]

I worked in the Middle East as a contractor for six years. Two and a half of those years I was under fire in Iraq. Here is some advice:

Be prepared to live well outside your comfort zone. If you are working in a nice place, you will have shower trailers and restroom trailers... but most places are not nice.

Temperatures are extreme. I saw multiple thermometers claim a temp of 142F one day (July 2005 Baghdad). None of the official reports mention temps that high. Afghanistan is not so hot but it gets MUCH colder.

Be prepared to keep your wits about you as the explosive devices start flying over barriers and blowing shit (and humans) up nearby. I was able to put up with it for two and half years at which point I knew that if I stayed longer, I was going to change (permanently?) mentally in ways that were not desirable. You can only ignore the possibility of getting shredded for only so long... One of my coworkers died in Fallujah in... 2006 I think. He was the only employee from my company to die. A mortar round essentially landed on his head. His coworkers had to clean his brains and bone fragments out of the equipment to get it operational again. Could you do that?

You will not really be making that much money even if it seems like a lot compared to what you are used to. Do NOT spend all of your money. There will be some surprises down the road and you want the cash to be available.

More about money: You will not be making that much money forever. I knew several people who bought $600,000+ houses and then were not offered to be recontracted (either due to the company losing the contract or that person was just not wanted). Live a lifestyle like you have now and when everything is done, you will be well off. If you choose to live the high life, expect a harsh period of ... ahem... "lifestyle readjustment".

Take a durable laptop with you. If you do not play 3D video games, see if you can find one without a fan (dust buildup). Bring lots of large capacity laptop style external drives with you.

I am sure there is more. If you want, I can even refer you if you send me your resume. I have done that with two people from Slashdot already. One died (statistically very very unlikely but the real world does not care about statistics). :(

Jealousy

[vlm]

Expect jealousy from the non-contractor types, like enlisted soldiers. I was in their boots (admittedly stateside) and we treated the contractors with exactly the required level of professionalism and otherwise not a droplet more as we hated them for doing our jobs for "ten times the pay" (actually it was probably only twice, but no reasoning with jealousy) ... Its a difficult workplace environment. If you make 10x what a grunt makes, expect them to really onload on you if you make a microscopic mistake. Also expect to listen politely and agreeably like a bartender, about how they are stuck there for years whereas you could theoretically stand up, walk out and leave; 19 year old soldiers don't understand the whole concept of "contract" and "having to pay the mortgage back home" and "having to pay for food and medical care" very well, so they really do think you can do that...

On the other hand, in a warzone, maybe there is more camaraderie?

The most important thing you can do to make friends, is figure out what the grunts are not easily able to do and then "help them out" in a way that gets no one in trouble, untraceable, is more or less legal or at least "blind eye" situation, and makes you friends. Back in the day, civilian contractors were "expected" to provide us with warez for our personal laptops in the pre-wide public availability of internet access (note personal laptop in Army speak, is like "personal weapons", things you own and paid for and use solely in your downtime, not personal as in merely army issued "work laptop", it would be dumb to mess with army issued hardware). Also they were expected to provide us with alcohol for all party reasons, not sure how well that works overseas in Islamic countries, but the "rich contractors" were expected to buy us rounds at the bar, not the other way around. On the other hand don't do anything stupid with serial number items or or using classified rated hardware to run unclassified level software. Also be aware of certain army traditions, like you'd share ammo with your buddy if he was out, or you'd share food if he had none, or you'd share medical supplies if he had a sucking chest wound, so expect near violent response if you don't share your mp3 files with anyone who asks, thats just kinda how it is in the Army. Same with pr0n jpegs and movie files. Also paperback books. If there is a paperback book in your possession, and you are not currently reading it, its a major social error to not instantly hand it to someone who wants to read it, so don't bring your signed 1st edition copy of LOTR or something and expect to hoard it until you return home, unless you do literally read it over and over the whole time.

Re:Jealousy

[Strider-]

On the other hand, in a warzone, maybe there is more camaraderie?

In my case, at least, that was my experience. Back in 2006, I spent 3 months bouncing around Iraq and Afghanistan fixing and upgrading satcoms gear for PAO shops all over the place. It really was an excellent experience for me, as the soldiers and marines I worked with really did seem to appreciate my presence. On more than a few occasions, I got invited out to unit barbecues etc... (and yes, I always made sure to bring something to the party, even if it was just a case of coke from the PX). The real key is that I was more or less immersed with the troops, living with them, and eating with them. I wasn't working for one of the big contracting firms, so I was living in the transient tents just like they were.

Re:Nuremberg precedent: you will be a war criminal

[MLease]

In order to be a war criminal, one has to actually, y'know, commit a war crime. Merely working for or serving in the military, even if the overall action is deemed illegal, doesn't meet that standard. You referenced the Nuremberg trials; you should familiarize yourself with the Nuremberg principles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Principles), paying particular attention to Principle VI and to the ruling from the Canadian Federal Court near the end of the article. The only one of the elements of Principle VI that could possibly apply would be the "Crimes against Peace", if we grant that the actions in Afghanistan and Iraq were illegal under international law (and that is not a given; I personally disapproved of US involvement in Iraq, and had mixed feelings about Afghanistan, but I don't think it's entirely clear that either was manifestly illegal). The Canadian ruling states, "An individual must be involved at the policy-making level to be culpable for a crime against peace ... the ordinary foot soldier is not expected to make his or her own personal assessment as to the legality of a conflict. Similarly, such an individual cannot be held criminally responsible for fighting in support of an illegal war, assuming that his or her personal war-time conduct is otherwise proper."

Not every soldier or civilian auxiliary who participates in a war that is determined to be against international law can or will be held liable for war crimes.