If you had a terminal illness it might be worth considering for say 3 months then spend the last 6 months spending the money you earnt.
Unless you get hit by a car tomorrow? Or contract cancer within the next 6 months/year/10 years.. No, i wouldnt. My mum would kill me even before i left the country. Yea, laugh.. you think im joking??
I have a friend who was in the Navy as a MP and was a local policeman. He just back from Iraq after a year training their new police force. He is married and has three kids, the draw was part duty (residual effect of his service in the Navy) and the $100K tax free pay. I don't see how he did it honestly. I agree, if single, a definate opportunity but not if you have a family or even long term partner. My uncle is a retired Army General. He has been in Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait since the beginning of the war. He is part of some private sector advisory group that consists of retired military officers that assist governments during times like this. Before this, he was in Bosnia for over a year. His wife absolutely hates it. He gets paid very well for the work but he doesn't exactly need money. I think you need to have some stronger motive beyond money to do something like this, be it helping humanity, civic duty, whatever floats your boat or you will be sitting in a militarily protected apartment complex at night wondering what the hell you are doing there.
Yeah, and then you could say "damn, if I was in Iraq right now, I wouldn't be hit by this car". Funny how thinking about the future is
I'm hoping to join the army next year and could well be posted to Iraq. Doesn't really bother me though. If I had the opportunity to work there not through the army, I would seriously consider it.
the way I see it is thus: Work there for 6-12 months. Come back. No more debt. Deposit on a house. Car. Start own business. *n
Westerner has to worry about insurgents. Iraqi has to worry about insurgents and occupying forces. ... *n PS: I don't look arabic.
I would hazard a guess that most of the people that would consider this type of job are ex-military. I see the videos of my brothers over there and wish I hadn't gotten out of the Army. It sounds weird, but when you practice war for 10 years but never see it, it can be disappointing. I still consider it, especially when I know that my family will be well supported if I did die.
It the IT guys get 60-90k how much do the soldiers get? They must come back absolutely loaded. I'm not sure if I would take a job like this. I would probably be more worried about living so far away from my family and friends in a crappy country of dust and ruins than about a mortar landing on my head.
Surely they wouldn't get as much? (army pay is good, but not that good) A: There's more soldiers than I.T guys. B: They *have* to go there. But usually people who serve careers in the Army especially something a little more specialist I.E Marines will come out of it quite well off. My local landlord is an ex Marine and has bought two pubs with the money.
I'm an Amreican and I live in the UAE. After the first gulf war my dad was asked to go and defuse land mines that were placed around oilwells in Kuwait. It seems that they used all old russian mines and there was a shortage of experienced guys (my dad was a combat engineer for 25+ years and did this sort of thing all the time in the 'Nam). BIG BUCKS! I can say honestly that I am safer here then I ever was in the US. but this isnt Iraq. If you are seriously considering this ASK A LOT of questions about your security arrangments. When I lived in Beruit, I knew all of the routes to the Airport and had enough cash to bribe/buy a ticket out. I knew who was a christian and who was a sunni/shia. I also knew where the local hezbolah guy lived and always said hi to him in the mornings. I also have H&R insurance. Ask about where you will live, who you will be interacting with, what the extraction senerios are. All that crazy stuff you don't think about untill you live in a war zone. Learn the language and be smart. The bad guys aren't labled. On a side note- most of the iraqi intelingence corps now live in Ahbu Dabi. And most of the sept 11th money flowed through Dubai. They don't bite the hand that feeds them.
Someday In the near future the area will be much more secure. If you waited a year or two the pay may go down a bit, but you may be able to pay less for security. Too many guns pointed in too many directions for me right now!
