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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?"
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.
I'd consider that your "malaise" problem might be greater in a war zone. Your freedom of movement is constrained; you're limited to corporate-cartoon-kitsch America; and you're surrounded by an alien culture that (for safety reasons) you are unable to freely immerse yourself within.
If you were a dude that liked to save money and read books in your spare time, then it might be a good thing. But if you've got malaise now, just imagine what you'd get in Afghanistan.
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.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
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.
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). :(
"Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
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...
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.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Working in a war zone is not for everyone. The money is great, the weather is terrible, the hours are almost as bad as the weather, and not everyone can handle the stress of the occasional rocket hitting the FOB (Forward Operating Base). The good news is that you will probably never leave the FOB except to get in and out of country, so you are almost as safe as in the US. When I worked at Camp Victory, the joke was that it was safer there than Detroit, but I don't know if that was true. The biggest cause of death was traffic accidents, so it could have been true. Keep in mind that it's one thing to know that intellectually, but another thing to experience it.
Iraq is being spun down, so you will get to miss out on 130F heat (only 110 at night!), the most bizarre rainy season I've ever seen (the mud is unbelievable), and dust storms must be experienced to be believed. I've only spent a few weeks total in Afghanistan, but my impression is that Khandahar was like Iraq but a little milder and with mountains. Bagram is even milder and seemed like a decent place to be.
The facilities will vary wildly depending on where you live. Major bases like Khandahar and Bagram have very good facilities, but smaller bases will be much more primitive. The food is surprisingly good but the internet even worse than you think it will be.
Bring a durable laptop, preferable with a large screen. This will probably be your only computer. You will make good money, so don't focus on price and just get the best one you can. Not every place can have a TV, I had to use a USB TV-in to hook up my XBox to my laptop, which worked surprisingly well. Don't bring anything you truly care about, as the dust ruins everything. When I came back I opened up both my laptop and XBox and they were so caked with dust I'm surprised the 1st gen XBox survived (it had heat problems in the best of situations). Find the lightest, coolest shirts you can, cargo pants, good sturdy boots, and a good pair of sunglasses. I also found a large, floppy hat to be useful. I looked like a dork, but I was a cool dork whose head was always in the shade.
If you have ever been in the military or worked for them, then you know a little of what to expect. If not, then be prepared for a very different office experience than exists anywhere else. Even if you are familiar with the military culture, a war zone is unlike anything else. Everyone is armed and there is a level of intensity that doesn't exist here in the states. It's very different, but I have found that people can get used to almost anything and even a war zone can become eventually become routine. The days will drag on forever, but the weeks will fly by.
The money is great, but you only make it while over there. I suggest getting some investment advice, set up a plan, and follow it. That is what I did, but unfortunately 2007 wasn't the best year for throwing over a hundred thousand dollars at the stock market. Even the best plan can be sabotaged by poor timing. Even with the bad stock market, I'm still looking at cutting several years off my retirement age.
Consider the tax benefits of staying a whole year. 330 days out of the US, and your first $85,000 (guess, I don't know what it currently is) is tax free. Less than 330 days, you don't get the tax break. Some shady or misinformed tax preparers have been known to try to pro-rate the break, but I've known a few people who got in trouble with the IRS for this.
I mentioned the stress of constant attack, but it bears repeating. I still jump when I hear a dumpster lid shut (it sounds spookily like a mortar hitting), and I've been home for four years now. Just relax, and remind yourself that you are inside the wire, the bad guys are outside it, and treat those soldiers and marines who go out on patrol with the respect they deserve.
Good luck! You are considering something that very, very few people will ever have the opportunity to do. I think of my time as an adventure and I'm very glad I went. If you have a security clearance, getting over there should be easy, but I'm not sure how things look if you don't.