Danger: Will you laugh in the face of it?

Oh yes.  There will be swashbuckling.

  I lay on the floor of my poor quality hotel room.  I have an AK-47 in my arms, and I'm pointing it at the door.  I wait.  The sound of automatic sub-machine gun comes from the room below me, and the rounds hit the ceiling.  I know this because I feel the reverberation on my chest.

--

  A coworker and I are heading down the street in our rented Toyota Hilux junker SUV.  We stop by a camp, and head back using the same route we came.  A car door is hanging from a power line.  The remainder of the vehicle is charred through.  Whoever was in it is very, very dead.  They weren't far behind us, and they were a victim of a suicide bomber that was targeting westerners.  It could have been us.

--

  I wake up in a bunker, with my helmet and IBA on.  The mortar rounds are pounding down.  They stop, and I take a Blackhawk to another base, where I work into the wee hours on a communications problem.  Later the next day, with very little sleep and shoddy equipment, I am told that there is a suspicious truck near the parade grounds, where hundreds of people are watching an IA graduation, and that I am their only chance of getting in touch with medivac should the suspicious truck explode.

  And I'm just a lowly comm guy.  Imagine what the high speed guys must get to go through.

  The majority of contractors downrange will experience little danger.  There will be incoming rounds, but they will be on the other side of camp.  There will be suicide bombers at the gates, but they'll never make it anywhere near where your sleep.  There will be battles right outside the walls, but you will be fine in your Conex, protected by Hesco barriers and sandbags.  Some base dwelling workers do die, but the odds are very much in your favor.  Be prudent, and follow your God given instincts, and you will probably make it through A-O-K.

  Staying Safe

•   When the incoming alarm goes off, get into a bunker.  Everyone seems to become complacent after a few months.  The rounds can hit your area, and they will kill or maim you if they do.  Use risk management.  The inconvenience of suiting up and going to a bunker is nothing compared to losing your limbs.

•  Do what you're told.  You're likely not a badass.  If you are, you already know how to take care of yourself.  If there is someone ordering you around, and there are things blowing up, listen to what the guy is telling you.  It may save your life.

• Convoy only when you must.  Wear earplugs when you convoy.  IEDs can take away your hearing, if not your life.

• If something is coming down near you, if you can hear or see the object falling, hit the ground, cover your face with your hands, and keep your mouth open.  This last bit may save your eardrums from the effects of a pressure wave.

• Be nice to local nationals.  This may end up saving your life.

The intangible advantages

  Contracting overseas can be boring.  It can be dangerous.  It can pay well, or it can leave you wishing you had never taken the job.  I've been in each of these situations.  The money is quickly forgotten, the hard times are as well, and what you're left with are intangible advantages of contracting -- things that you would have never experienced in the States, and probably not even as a GS overseas.  Your experiences will live as long as your memory will hold them, and you can recount them to yourself and others for as long as you live.

  On example of my own such experiences happened on the roof of a building at an undisclosed location in Iraq.  The city was all around us, no buffer zone, each building had a birds eye view of where I was working on the roof, and a car blew up a few blocks away.  Snipers be damned, I had work to do with a satellite system, and so I did it.  One of the highlights of that adventure was the remains of a US bomb that had destroyed the building that I was working on top of, way back during the first Gulf War.

Warped roof of a concrete building.  One of at least four precision bomb holes.

The bombs bust through the roof, and detonate at a certain altitude.

View of the surrounding area, base and town.

Pieces of a Boeing JDAM guidance system.  There were many more.

A brief guide to deployment

You've landed a job, and you're going downrange for the first time. You're unsure of what's going to happen, and how you should prepare. Read on, and you'll soon be ready and confident!

Pre-deployment

Don't make any purchases until you're absolutely sure you've got the job. Certainty doesn't exist just because you've signed an offer letter. Relative certainty exists once the company has bought you a plane ticket. Once you have the ticket, begin saying goodbye to your family and friends, and begin buying gear.

Don't go overboard with gear. If you show up outfitted like Rambo you're going to look, and feel, like an idiot. I've seen KBR guys in theater with ridiculous, Mad Max based fantasies at work. Mohawks, pirate shirts, expensive tactical gear. Understand this: you are working a fairly normal job, in a fairly boring environment. Unless you are operating independently, CRC and your company will provide you with most of what you need. Aside from that, I recommend purchasing a good backpack, and possibly some threads.  Blackhawk has good backpacks. Get something conservative. You don't want to look like you're playing SEAL. You do not want to be the object of ridicule.

As for threads, this depends. Your company may have a dress standard, so ask them. If they don't they will still be able to give you some recommendations. Talk to the guys downrange, where you will be working. Ask your site supervisor-to-be what equipment and clothing is necessary. 5.11 makes good tactical clothing. If this is going to suit your needs, then buy a some short sleeve shirts from them. Polos, or the tactical style shirts. Buy some 5-11 cargo pants.  Listen to me: buy at least one long sleeve shirt. You absolutely must have a long sleeve shirt on to ride in a helicopter, and even if you won't be doing that the shirt may come in handy during a cold night, or a dust storm.

I reiterate: ask your company what you'll need. Don't go overboard.

When you leave, bring at most two bags. Make them backpacks if you can. You're not going on vacation. Pack very lightly. CRC will give you 2 or 3 heavy duffel bags to carry with you, so keep that in mind. Get the APO / FPO address from your company and mail things to yourself before you leave. Keep it minimum; most of what you really need can be bought once you get downrange, from the PX.

Company Processing

There is a good chance you'll fly to your company's HQ before you deploy. If you do, you'll spend anywhere from a day, to a few weeks there. You may be there just to meet the front end guys, and do paperwork, or you may be there to train on some system or gear. The impression you make here will make a difference with how well you're taken care of once you're downrange. You'll depend on the guys you meet at HQ for things like equipment, vacation, and pay. So be nice!

CRC (CONUS Relocation Center)

CRC really sucks. I've been there I think four times. Contractors deploying to work with the DoD must go through training, and for most it is CRC. Contractors deploying with the State Department go to another location for similar processing. KBR and some other companies have their own processing with their companies and don't have to go through CRC.

Your CRC will probably be at Ft. Benning, GA. You will fly into Atlanta, rent a car, and drive a few hours to Ft. Benning. If your company is nice, you'll stay at a hotel near the base. If you are less lucky you will stay in the CRC barracks. I've done both. You get to sleep a little later in the barracks, but you get a lot more comfort in the hotel. I say that you get to sleep later in the barracks because the hotels are half an hour from the CRC enclave.

Here's what you do at CRC: you wait for half the day. Then you fill out some paperwork, pick up some gear, or have some medical tests done. Then you wait the rest of the day. You'll be outside a lot, so dress accordingly. Southern Georgia does get cold in the winter.

At CRC you will have an opportunity to have a will and power of attorney created, for free. Take advantage of this. Keep a copy of each, and send the originals to your parents. A will is very important. A power of attorney may or may not be necessary, depending on your situation. If you do decide to have a PoA written up, be extremely careful with who name in it, and what rights you give them. You don't want your lonely wife to drain your bank account for a trip to the Caribbean with your old best friend.

Transportation to Theater

Once you're 'go' with CRC you are legal to deploy. There are two ways to do this. You may take government transportation from CRC, or you may fly commercial. Government transportation flies out near Ft. Benning and is a commercial jet that is chartered by the government. It will take you to Qatar, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, or anywhere else other than your final destination. From there you will take a military plane such as a C-17 or C-130, or possibly another chartered commercial aircraft, to a major base in your destination country. If that's the base you'll be working at, great. If not, you'll take other fixed wing or helo flights until you're where you need to be. Flying commercial from CRC is about the same. Only the first leg of your trip is not on a government chartered airplane, but rather on a commercial flight.

Hopefully your point of contact is waiting for you at the PAX terminal or helo area. If not, you've been prudent enough to write down his DSN number, and you can give him a ring and wake him up.

Settling In

You can get cheap sheets, a blanket, a couple towels, and toiletries at the PX. While I'm on the topic, I will suggest that you put a roll of toilet paper in the bag you carry around with you. I've been stuck without TP before, and I'd really rather not discuss the alternatives.

Enjoy the next year of your life.

Post-deployment

The Army wants you to go back to CRC for a few days after you demob back to the States. I've done the return CRC once; it's not as bad as the deployment CRC. You're mostly there to turn in your gear. I've skipped the return CRC all but that one time, and I've never had an issue. Once I'm home I turn in my gear at the nearest base. I call their supply section to get the address and to make an appointment. If you go this route, you may need to give them a good excuse as to why you're turning in your gear there instead of going back through CRC. If you do not turn in your gear, you will eventually pay for its time depreciated value. CRC will not 'go' you for your next deployment until you've paid them for what you didn't return. Keep your CRC issued gear receipts, and the receipts from the supply office you turn your gear in to. Bring these receipts with you next time you go through CRC. Also, it might be tempting to just keep your gear and bring it with you next time you go through CRC for deployment. If you do this it is likely that CRC will hold you back a week so that you can go through demob CRC before deployment CRC. Ridiculous, yes, but that's CRC's motto.

More tips for staying safe

 The recent news that an American consultant was kidnapped in Lahore, Pakistan should remind us that vigilance is critical to survival.  Kidnappings of westerners are unfortunately not all that rare, and occur all over the world.  Contractors often do not have the strict security guidelines that military and government do, nor do we have the protection of the elaborate security and counterintelligence apparatuses that our customers enjoy.  Oftentimes it us up to us, the individual contractors, to keep ourselves safe.

You only get two eyes, two eardrums, two hands, and one life.  No matter where you are, it is a good idea to review your security situation from time to time.  It's with that idea in mind that I present another list of security tips for the overseas contractor.

• Have an alternate route out of your safehouse or hotel.  Preferably, have two alternate routes. 
• Always lock your door.  It is best to use your own padlock, if you can.  Even in 'friendly' countries, government security services will sometimes be interested to search through your things while you're away for the day.  And lock your door when you are in the room, too.  Same thing for your windows; make sure they're locked when they're not directly in your view.
• Try to get a room on the third or fourth floors.  Not so high that you can't escape should a fire break out, but not so low that someone can easily climb into your window.
• If you have curtains, keep them closed as often as you can.  They may protect you from shattering glass, should something explode.
• Register with the State Department if you are overseas independently.  It's always good for someone to know your whereabouts.
• Keep some money hidden in your room.  It would be good to have a form of I.D., preferably a passport, and a credit card hidden away as well.  Keep your credit card number, expiration date, and security code stored online somewhere.
• Never let anyone into your room that you don't know personally.  Room service can leave the tray at the door.
• Vary your route to and from work and other locations that you frequent.  Targeted attacks are often planned in advance, using information gleaned from observations of the target's behavior.  The more predictable you are, the easier you are to target.
• Take care to avoid isolated areas, especially at night.

Finally, you are your last line of security defense.  The Pakistanis guarding the kidnapped American's house let the attackers in, as they supposed that they were bringing them food in accordance with Ramadan  tradition.  I've caught our own guards in Afghanistan asleep.  You cannot count on others.  You can only count on yourself.  Never, ever let yourself become complacent.

Company provided training: the good, the bad, and the ugly

  As I mentioned in a previous post, training and certification classes are a must for the contractor who wishes to remain competitive and maintain upward mobility.  I also mentioned that the contractor would have to factor the cost of these courses into his net income, as he'd be paying for them himself.  This is not always the case, however, and employer provided training classes and reimbursement benefits for courses do exist.

  I don't want you walking into any situation without knowing all the facts.  Don't accept something without asking why it's being given to you.  That shiny, glittery project management class, that brilliant dazzling Microsoft certification course, are probably going to cost you, in terms of time if not in terms of money.

  Any time you accept an offer of training, read the fine print.  Your company may be requiring you to extend your contract, and if you quit before your new projected end date, you may owe them for the class.  And classes are expensive.  Education 'benefits' are so called because they 'benefit' the company just as much as they benefit you.  You get a resume bullet, they get more time out of you.

  The exception may be employer provided training on employer owned and/or operated technologies.  Going into a new job you may spend a few weeks to a couple of months at HQ learning the ins and outs of what you'll be doing.  I spent a few weeks in Socorro, New Mexico, learning a telescope system before heading elsewhere to maintain and operate one.  They (hopefully) won't ask you to pay for these classes.  If they do, your scam sense should be going off loudly.  What they may do is ask you to reimburse them for the hotel costs that you incurred while taking the class, if you terminate your contract early.

  If you don't know, ask.  And read everything you sign.