Author Topic: Wow....I Can Go To Bagdad! (Read 1226 times)

BamBams · « **on:** February 10, 2005, 06:03:01 AM »

Hah! I just got a call from the unemployment office wanting to know if I'd be interested in working in Bagdad.......this could get *very* interesting!

Graybeard · « **Reply #1 on:** February 10, 2005, 10:42:58 AM »

Remember this:

Just because you can - DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD!

jh45gun · « **Reply #2 on:** February 10, 2005, 10:51:40 AM »

Just remember if you would which I think is a dumb idea wear a steel neck sized collar!!!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:

BamBams · « **Reply #3 on:** February 10, 2005, 11:11:41 AM »

It's pretty tempting guys. They are offering about $90,000 a year, tax free, for this position. The hard part would be leaving my kids behind for a year. I dunno. I'm going to think about this long and hard.

whodowl · « **Reply #4 on:** February 10, 2005, 11:13:44 AM »

don't do it. GW is taking it to them. If they bring it here.......well

Major · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2005, 11:15:07 AM »

There is no was I would take the chance of getting myself killed for just $90,000. I am worth much more that that to me.

Leftoverdj · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2005, 12:02:54 PM »

Doing what, BamBam?

I'm unattached and job hunting.

BamBams · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2005, 12:12:28 PM »

Major, I've taken that risk before for far less money. 13 years in the military as an enlisted guy.

Quality Assurance Manager is the position, however it requires a military background, 3 years minimum experience in QA, security clearance, physical, blah blah blah. The way the man described it to me, it would be the next best thing to being back on active duty.

Dali Llama · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2005, 12:23:53 PM »

Quote from: BamBams

it would be the next best thing to being back on active duty.

Why not reenlist and do the latter, ask Dali Llama? :?

BamBams · « **Reply #9 on:** February 10, 2005, 12:25:55 PM »

If I could, I'd have already done it and let another young fella stay home with his family.

Dali Llama · « **Reply #10 on:** February 10, 2005, 12:36:47 PM »

Quote from: BamBams

If I could, I'd have already done it

:?

Major · « **Reply #11 on:** February 10, 2005, 02:04:30 PM »

BamBams,

Then I guess as long as you have both eyes wide open and you have the background, then you should go for it. One last thing, do you get a computer so you can stay in touch with all us here at Graybeards that stay behind?

Also, can you pack so you can return fire if need be? :excuseme: or :blaster:

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #12 on:** February 10, 2005, 02:58:16 PM »

Bams, I really don't wanna see you on the TV screen as the next hostage being held by them scumbags. You really don't owe yourself to them. You'll have two fatherless children if that happens. So what's more important; family and your loved ones or a possible $90k/yr and a possible death warrant? Just don't seem right.

RemingtonDave · « **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2005, 03:09:45 PM »

I looked into going to work in Iraq as well.
The application said, "...you will be subject to random gunfire and attacks by mortar, rocket-propelled grenade and Improvised Explosive Devices."
It then went on to describe the various bugs, enormous spiders and other vermin that live there.
It also stated that if killed by chemical attack, I agree that my body will be cremated before being returned to the U.S.
All-in-all, it was a fascinating read.
I found all this on the KBR website, a division of Haliburton.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2005, 03:27:58 PM »

Quote from: RemingtonDave

I looked into going to work in Iraq as well.
The application said, "...you will be subject to random gunfire and attacks by mortar, rocket-propelled grenade and Improvised Explosive Devices."
It then went on to describe the various bugs, enormous spiders and other vermin that live there.
It also stated that if killed by chemical attack, I agree that my body will be cremated before being returned to the U.S.
All-in-all, it was a fascinating read.
I found all this on the KBR website, a division of Haliburton.

And like that's worth $90k? I think NOT :x

BamBams · « **Reply #15 on:** February 10, 2005, 03:30:49 PM »

Well, I've thought it over, and decided that this isn't the best time for me to go there. I simply cannot live with the thought of missing out on my kids high school years. They need me more here than anywhere else, and money isn't everything.

Now if the kids were older, I'd probably do it in a heartbeat!

RemingtonDave · « **Reply #16 on:** February 10, 2005, 03:32:13 PM »

No, it's not worth it now. At least not at my age, but 20 years ago? I'da gone in a heartbeat.
BT, not that it matters, but I believe the first 72,000 is tax free.

chuckles · « **Reply #17 on:** February 10, 2005, 03:58:54 PM »

Remington Dave wrote:

Quote

No, it's not worth it now. At least not at my age, but 20 years ago? I'da gone in a heartbeat

And 20 years ago, that was some serious pay.

Heck, it's not bad now but not in Iraq!

RemingtonDave · « **Reply #18 on:** February 10, 2005, 04:21:22 PM »

I remember now what the deal-breaker was, arms were forbidden.
An RPG through the windshield was one thing, but getting dragged away and having no way to defend oneself was unacceptable.

Dave

Eddie in Delta · « **Reply #19 on:** February 10, 2005, 07:05:46 PM »

I haven't been over there, but my dad has for the last year. I'm 18, and I have a lot of younger siblings. I'll be graduating in the next few months. One of my teachers was just activated for the second time. He'll be gone for 18 months.

My dad had his twenty years for retirement done when rumors of activation started milling around. He was never called to a combat area before, but stayed in anyway because he felt like somebody had to be in the Army, and it might as well be someone who knew what they're doing. He was asked (not ordered) if he would transfer to head a new team of engineers. He knew and understood that he didn't have to, that he could die and leave behind ten children and a good life, and at the very least miss my senior year. He accepted, leaving his battalion command (the whole battalion wasn't activated, and they wanted him over there; Dad's one of the few remaining professional engineers left in the Army), his family, and his life here in Utah.

Has it been hard? Not really. Why do I say that? Well, I figure you can either whine and moan about your predicament or you can get on with life and do the best you can. I come from a patriotic family. Anyone ever read "Once an Eagle?" That's us. We've been to other countries, and I don't want my kids to grow up in a place like Russia. (Ask me about the guy who was beat up by the Russian cops for selling phone cards- on the Russian news- sometime.)

Do people die? Yes, they do. Do most people die? No. This war does not even begin to compare with any war in history in regards to casualty rates, communication with home, creature comforts...

The question of whether to go over, in the military or otherwise, should be a personal one. My point is that some things are worth fighting for. I think our cause and the plight of the Iraqi people is a just one. The question should be answered after deliberation and, in my opinion, prayer. Just don't rule out going off the bat.

Good luck with your decision. I'm not telling you that you have to go, just my point of view.

Eddie

jh45gun · « **Reply #20 on:** February 10, 2005, 07:30:37 PM »

Eddie you are right some things are worth fighting for. In this case it is not the principle from what I see but a 90,000 dollar carrot hanging to tempt folks to work. There is no way in Gods green earth I would go to a war zone to work and have some one tell me you cannot carry a gun to protect your self that would clinch it right there. Jim

williamlayton · « **Reply #21 on:** February 10, 2005, 10:59:15 PM »

Folks, why do you think this carrot is hanging out there ?
I will start a flame here, not to start a flame, but it bugs me to the very core of my being.
KBR is making some very, very, very big bucks in this little part of the world, in this little piece of history that will only be a footnote in the larger scheme of things.
They are doing a job which, in the not too distant past, was performed by our own army. These folks are in fact a private army, a company of mercenaries. They will not even release the names or numbers of those already lost in their employ. They are not protecting themselves very well and the army is so underdeployed they cannot provide the support these folks need.
Now, my rantings are not without suggestions. The military of this nation has need of more folks, they can't recruit enough, can't retain enough. This military of ours is left to call up folks that were designed to be a home army, a National defense for this country.
My suggestion is one of two choices, either reinstate the draft, which I really think we should do in any case, or get the hay outta this part of the world.
Breath deeply, wheeze, cough, gotta go git a cig.
Blessings

BamBams · « **Reply #22 on:** February 11, 2005, 03:06:30 AM »

One thing I can say for sure is that my first reaction to this opportunity was "Wow, it would be just like old times." I guess the old soldier in us never really dies? Neither does a thirst for adventure and risk taking.

I've got to be practical though. My kids are my greatest responsibility, and they will surely need my love and protection right here at home. Yeah, they could survive without me, but they'd fare much better with me right here.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #23 on:** February 11, 2005, 09:49:48 AM »

Quote from: BamBams

Yeah, they could survive without me

Sure they could, but their lives would be really REALLY hard. And I don't think you want to see them go through that pain yet (how old are they?).
You'll miss graduations and weddings and grandchildren in the longrun, IF anything happened to you. I don't think it'd be worth $90,000. Now of course if you were in the military, well A) you really don't have a choice and B) this country is something worth dying for. Not $90,000.

BamBams · « **Reply #24 on:** February 11, 2005, 03:14:00 PM »

Fish:

I've got two girls who just started high school this year.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #25 on:** February 11, 2005, 04:06:46 PM »

My point exactly. I rest my case :wink:

magooch · « **Reply #26 on:** February 11, 2005, 04:17:35 PM »

I tell ya what Bam Bams, I wouldn't go to Iraq for $900,000 a year, even if there wasn't a war going on. There's a heck of a lot more to life than a few bucks and none of it concerns Iraq or any of the rest of that s***hole area. Look around man--you're in paradise. Only about 4 billion people would trade with you in the blink of an eye. The line of folks waiting to go to Iraq is considerably shorter.