Any civilian contractors in afghan, non military.
 

My former co is hiring for civilian work in afghan, 80% uplift in pay, 7-12's, o/t = 1.5x , 10% haz duty pay, No tax

Prolly clear $400k for a 1 yr stint

Not sure the job scope., but it's not drving trucks or anything like that, engineering work.

Opinions?

What do you normally do? What kind of engineering work? Most likely all you will be doing is base operations.

Uh duh. Do it

Z would probably pay for them to take you for a while :lol

This.



(z)

What kind of engineering? My brother is looking for a job like that, he just got his degree in mechanical engineering and is working for a company called schlumberger.

Other than that it looks like a good deal

I don't know much about engineering operations in Afghanistan, but I do know that civilian engineer contractors in Iraq generally stayed on the base and out of harm's way, unless they were directly involved with construction outside the wire.

My first instinct is just to say find out more info on exactly what to expect (with $400k being thrown at you... my guess is you will spend a lot of time outside the wire)... but definitely consider it. That's a very positive line of work to be in out there, you get to help a lot of people, and you work with a pretty broad range of contractors, civilian and military alike. But it will probably be pretty frustrating too. :) Good luck either way...

Let's blow up bridges so we can hire engineers at 400k a year to design new ones!

Typical Government at work. lol

Such BS all the money being wasted there........No attempts even made to negotiate, they just throw money at new hires even when a lot of them would have taken the job for less

Shut the fuck up dickhead

Damn... I wish I had any skills worth 400k. I'd work under imminent threat of volcanic destruction for that kind of money.

I don't know about this particular contract, but I am willing to bet it is cheaper than using active military.

Remember, the US Govt has been using civilian contractors since pre Civil War.

alot of it has to do w/ the O/T, i used a $40/hr base, and thats not alot for my line of work, we're called designers vs actual engineers.

anyway, $40/hr x 1.8 = $72 (base) x 40hrs = $2880
O/T = 72 x 1.5 = $108/hr x 44 hrs = $4752
= 7632/ wk x 52 = $396864
+ haz duty pay, not sure how thats factored in.

ed

From what I recall you're not in a lot of debt, but the chance to build a bigger nest egg is hard to pass up.

Consider though that you are giving up a year of life with your kids and all the milestones they will pass during that time. If you are able to do that, you will be fine. But if that will weigh heavily on you, no amount of money can compensate.

If you're looking for a thrilling opportunity it sounds like you found one! Good luck with your decision.

I wouldn't give up a year with my kid for three times that amount of money.

I think I would totally agree.

The lure of that kind of cash and the financial stability it brings is strong, but I seriously doubt I'd be able to do it willingly.

That's erasure of all debt and a paid off house for most of us. For the price of that year you could potentially spend far more time with them since you'd only be on the hook for annual taxes.

I volunteered to go back (which apparently won't happen now cause the state can't make up its mind on shit) for a measly possible best of 60k :2cents:

Its not like you'd come back after a year and never have to work again. The money gets spent, you keep working....and you never get back the year you lost with your kid.

Kids need their Dad.

That's not at all what I said. You go, you pay your shit off smart and you can scale back the amount of work you do for more time with the family. Kids are tough and can deal with a lot of shit

Maybe. But I doubt it. Having more money means your possessions are more expensive, which means you keep working the same amount you were before to maintain the new status quo.

I'd do it if they paid me enough in that year to retire. But if I still have to work 40+ when I come back then its not worth it.

My best friend and his sister have a "warrior" father. Lifelong Army, built like a gorilla, loves to kill foreigners in the name of freedom...all that stuff. He left for a year twice while they were growing up. They were seriously screwed up and undisciplined kids. Maybe its because their Dad was gone...maybe not. I'm not taking the chance with my kiddo.

That's just me though, maybe Ed likes "stuff" more than I do and its worth it for him and his family. I'm not saying he's fucking his life up, just sayin' I wouldn't do it.

This is very true, and something I had meant to address with my first post, but got sidetracked.

My kids are 4 and 2 now... and I really wish I hadn't been deployed when they were so young. With my ex having remarried, they are both now very confused as to who the "real" mommy is. I know Ed won't have that problem, but my oldest was also angry at me for being gone for so long, and still has problems with letting go when she has to go back to her dad's. It's gotten better since I've been home, but she's even told me she doesn't want me to go back to Iraq. :lol:

Things like Skype make it easier... but that is assuming wherever he goes doesn't just have internet, but bandwidth enough to handle video chat. Ours was intermittent at best (glorified dial-up), and this was in Iraq in 2010. Iraq is considerably more built up than most areas of Afghanistan, even though we've been in the latter conflict for longer.

All I can say to you Ed... if you decide to go... pray like hell you don't end up in the Korengal. :)

We are talking about Ed here though. :lmao:

Jokes. ;)

Good luck with the decision.

I don't know a single Joe that makes $400k on active duty. Like Dave said, average E-5/E-6 is gonna make between $50k and $70k depending on BAH and dependants.
So, I can get 8 joes working for the same money as one civilian contractor, and i can work those 8 joes 16 hour + days and not pay them any differently. I don't get how contractors can be cheaper if we already have trained soldiers capable of doing the same job...

Military doesn't really grab a lot of engineers though. Every job fair I went to, they were begging for us to enlist and they didn't really grab that many of us. It's hard to get qualified engineers to come out unless they are paid extremely well for it, like say 400k, lol.

I'm in that boat as well.

There is the advantage (to the govt) of the guard.
They have people that are engineers on the civilian side that can carry that knowledge and experience over to their deployments.

You still won't have a lot there either. A good qualified engineer won't be in the guard because they will clear enough cash at home just as an engineer, unless they are bored and want to go play weekend warrior. To get those engineering vets, you need to throw a lot of dough at them. There is engineering contractors that can stay at home and clear a couple hundred K just going around hitting 7 days a week work doing nothing but plant outages.

Differences between ND and TN...
And depends on the type of engineer you are talking about too.

EE/ME/civil are easy to come by.
Nuke... not so much, but we have less demand for them.

Not enough money if you ask me. What kind of benefits do you get? Medical for your family? Vacation? Free life insurance? 401K/pension? Paid sick time/personal business? Free cell phone with unlimited international calling to call your family? Furnished air fare for 1 or 2 trips home during the year? Tuition reimbursement?

On that I'd do it... but like Dave, I've signed up to do more for less already.

Ftr I've done three years over there and still volunteered. Id like to do afghanistan before my hitch runs out in '12

Same...

Unless we were on the verge of homelessness and starvation, time with kids and family is more valuable than extra money.

400K would be nice but in the end it only gets spent on extra "stuff"

You are absolutely correct, however, it is cheaper/eaiser for the Govt to hire contractors for non combat functions. Example, say you give a contractor X amount of money to get the job done...it will cost the military XX amount.

Keep in mind, when the Govt/Military does this, they are essentially making that contractor responsible for getting into/out of theatre, training, medical and other "bennies".

Now, you have to look no further than, let's take a look at state-side commisaries for example. Who transports the food? Or makes the food? It is "contracted" out. The Military does not can/raise/milk/bottle...ect their own goods. It is the same when you go into theatre.

:bonk:You both must be out of your mind. I was in the Army for 8.5 years and got out so that I could be with my family. However, that being said the fact that a years sallary like that earned by spending a year away from the family would line us up so perfectly. Be able to 1) pay off the house 2) pay off the cars 3) put a good chunk of cash away for both kids' college fund 4) do the remodeling to the house to make it what I want and have it finished proffessionally. All for the low price of ONE YEAR?!?!???!?!?!:rockwoot:

If you think that there are that many milestones in just one year, then you probably think that the sun rises and sets in your kids' ass.:asshat:

Wake up an smell the CAISH. Its a great experience and it really makes you appreciate the things when you get back home. Nothing puts life into perspective more than being over in the desert seeing how God aweful those people have it.

My advice TAKE THE F'IN JOB

Not if you're responsible about it

It can pay off our house, car , student loans and our very little debt otherwise and still leave over $100k

$400k is really like making $650k before tax, that takes people many yrs to earn that kinda $

On return, I could get back into a erg. Engineering job and have no worries about employment, just save that $ towards retirement.

If it were $200-$250k i would need to be dire need to leave my kids, but w 400 I could pay off my house and become a greeter at wal mart.

Exactly, thank you. Between the vehicles, insurance and taxes my yearly expenses only total around 8k. I could work a total shit job and live better than a lot of people like that

Gonna goto job fair this weekend

Z already has the INS. For the kids and her
Vacation, I'm think 10 weeks on 2 off
I'm sure you could do a 401, but i'm going w ROTHs
Dunno about cell, but Skype is free
No returning home to not pay taxes, just meet in Europe or ?

Gotta stay off us soil for 365 days to circumvent taxes

Its 330 off US soil...aka wheels up date. So, you get two 10-12 day R&R's. Stay outta the US for 330 days, if you spend an extra day, 329, you will pay the full taxes for the year and not US Expat taxes (keep in mind you still pay taxes just on a reduced level) Confusing LOL

If Aghan is anything like Iraq, there is Wifi on site. If I remember it was like 100 a month for OK internet service at best. It was good enough to download itunes and such, but kinda slow.

Is this 400k a year ish for EEs too? If so I'll stay over there 5 years. LOL

If you do pay taxes for overseas work, the first (I think, now) 100k is tax free but you pay taxes on whatever you make over that. I think it was 75k or 80k when I was over in 2002 but I wasn't gone long enough to make that much, all mine was tax free. I was an E-4 at the time and with no taxes, hazardous duty pay etc I still made decent money, didn't hurt me compared to what I was making back home then.

He should be sticking with Schlumberger for a few years to get some seasoning under his belt. Schlumberger is a very large and reputable joint.

For me at this stage in my life and career, its not worth it.
If I were single it would probably be a different story.

So you do have to pay taxes, even if out of country for 330+?

Any idea on the rate?

And yes Paul, this is an extremely difficult decision

you know you and i do the same thing. hook me up dude, i'll go with you. seriously if the offer were made i'd be packed before they finished detailing the offer.

i do have to say though that both my sons are grown and out. it would be a harder choice if kids were involved. they are young and would probably recoup well, but................

If you do decide to go, make sure all your affairs are in order (will, life insurance policies, out of office message).

So you'd quit your job, head out and then look for a new job when you come back?

Did Ed ever find a job since getting laid off? I don't recall seeing any posts about it.

Yes, you do pay taxes. Not sure the rate, but it is considered US Expatriot and you need to be outside of the country for at least 330 days. This is Fed taxes, state taxes are entirely different.

For the chance to be financially free (at least mostly) I'd leap at it. Even if I had lil ones. One year to make the kinda money it'd take years to make at a regular job...and being able to pay everything off, yeah, in a heartbeat.

I thought he did

Yeah lee, i've been back to work for 2.5 mos now

Yes I'd have to quit and look for a new job when I got back

try looking on here

www.WorkAtFluor.com

How do you know you are gong to get the job? It is your former employer on top of the fact there must be a TON of candidates for these positions...probably willing to take less.

Oh there is no guarantee I'llget the job, this is a thread about what to expect

The electrical dept went from ~280 down to 50-60

About 15 people from elec. From my old job are at my current job
And another 7-8 are at at my job I had before my latest (2jobs ago)

They're paying an 80% uplift cuz nobody wants to go

If both you and Z agree this will help your family out in the long run and you can deal with not seeing your family for that long, sounds like you should pursue the opportunity.

I would agree. I hate being away from my kids but if I could set my family up like that I would really have to think about it. Or at least for the $70-80000 I hear a firefighter can make. For $400000 I don't feel I would have to think too long. $400000 would do so much for my family I would almost have to go. Money doesn't buy happiness but being debt free would.

James

So are you still considering this or what?