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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?"
You won't find many positions unless you have security clearance already. Companies do not want to pay for the cost of a background investigation, hence their preference for former government (military) employees.
Is it common to request work in a warzone? Are those requests ever fulfilled? I'd expect some extreme security checks, since other than specifying exactly which warzone you want to go to, there's not much more of a spy-like activity you could take.
If I were running a war, as a general policy, if someone wants to work somewhere, my answer would be, "No, and by the way, follow the nice man with the sunken knuckles into that extremely bare room." Either that, or "Oh yeah absolutely" and then bugging the everloving crap out of everything you do for the rest of your life.
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I'm a Major in the National Guard, a Signal Officer currently deployed to Afghanistan. That whole thing about getting kidnapped is B.S. All of the contractors here fly on the same helicopters that we do, or drive in the same convoys that we do. They get the same security and eat in the same DFACs. The only real difference is that they don't go around armed, unless they're the Law Enforcement Professionals (LEPs) or security contractors.
For the most part they stay on the Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) just like those of us not actually out on a mission. They work six months and go home on leave (I can't remember if it's 2 weeks or a month). It's all in their contract.
When I finished my Iraq tour, I was offered $250k per year to take over managing the I.T. section at a major Iraqi FOB. I was bone-weary from the deployment and just wanted to go home, so I didn't take them up on it. One of my soldiers here was offered $125k to come back and work in the I.T. department at BAF after the tour. She's still thinking about it.
Ignore most of the B.S. that's being posted here, they have zero idea what they're talking about. The pay is high, as is the security. The downside is the hours that you work. 12-18 hour days, with no days off is the norm. It gets to you after awhile.
Believe it or not, one of the things that really gets to you over here is the lack of GREEN. At least the FOBs I've been to, I am SICK and TIRED of sand and gravel, tan and grey. My wife emails me pictures of our lawn so i have something green to look at...
The precedent from the Nuremberg trials is that if you participate in the military aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq, this makes you a war criminal. Indeed the Nuremberg defense that you are following superior orders doesn't even apply because you are going there voluntarily.
And while I don't believe you will be held accountable for your crimes in a court of law, I see no compelling reason for you to do this. It is dangerous. As others have said you can work in plenty of countries. You can also find many lines of work like financial planning that only require minimal additional training and certification.
So my advice is there are plenty of other better opportunities to pursue, and you would be wrong for doing it. So your proposed plan of action is completely illogical.
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Yeah, a friend just got back from spending most of the last two years in Afghanistan.
Apparently the rocket attacks and periodic deaths on the base were really exciting.
He said pretty much after someone got killed 75 feet from where he was standing, if he heard the warning sirens he'd hit the deck even if he was in the latrine -- he figured crap washed off, but dead didn't. One of his co-workers rattled off the number of rocket attacks, suicide bombers, and other nasties that happened while he was there -- it didn't sound like a recruiting pitch to me.
He did get well paid, but I think he's pretty glad it's over now. They call it 'danger pay' for a reason.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I am actually pretty interested in this. I have been looking in Southeast Asia but I am having a hard time finding job postings... any recommendations? I only speak English and Spanish (which I assume is useless there), is that a problem in finding a job there?
English would do you well in Singapore and the Philippines. Also in Tokyo or Seoul. Spanish would also come in handy in the Philippines as a lot of the Tagalog vocabulary is based/borrowed from Castillian. Spanish and English (and/or Portuguese and English) would also come in handy for many Japanese companies that do business in Latin America. My wife (she is Japanese) used to work for a Japanese company that did a ton of business in Latin America (and a lot of its business was conducted in said languages.)
From an IT perspective, English would help you a lot. And if you want to explore business opportunities, Spanish might prove an invaluable asset depending where you go.