Working In Iraq - Attractive Despite The Risk?

By Oswald Eppers

Under the LOGCAP program, the contractor is responsible for providing a “full spectrum” of services to U.S. troops in the field, including dining facilities, living quarters, base camp operations and maintenance, facilities management, transportation and distribution of supplies, water and ice, laundry and bath, airfield operations, detainee camp construction, and firefighting [1]. “LOGCAP” is an acronym for “Logistics Civil Augmentation Program.”

Now, the LOGCAP program enters in phase IV and The Army awarded a contract worth up to $150 billion to feed, house and provide other services to U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, spreading among three companies work that recently had been linked to a single, controversial contractor: Halliburton.

According to an article published in the Washington Post [2], Fluor Intercontinental of Greenville, S.C., DynCorp International of Fort Worth and KBR of Houston were chosen from among a half-dozen competitors. Each company's part of the contract is worth up to $5 billion a year and can be extended for up to nine more years. The contract award was a particular victory for KBR, Halliburton's former contracting arm, after the firm was accused of misdeeds under the past contract, one contracting expert said.

"This is potentially the biggest battlefield services contract that any company is going to win for the remainder of this decade," Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, a defense research organization in Arlington.

Background of the LOGCAP Program

The U.S. Army continually seeks to increase its combat potential within programmed resource allocations. This occasionally requires pursuit of external sources to provide adequate logistics support for the force [1].

LOGCAP is a U.S. Army initiative for peacetime planning for the use of civilian contractors in wartime and other contingencies. These contractors will perform selected services to support U.S. forces in support of Department of Defense (DoD) missions. Use of contractors in a theater of operations allows the release of military units for other missions or to fill support shortfalls. This program provides the Army with additional means to adequately support the current and programmed forces.

According to the Army Material Command [1], LOGCAP is primarily designed for use in areas where no bilateral or multilateral agreements exist. However, LOGCAP may provide additional support in areas with formal Host Nation Support (HNS) agreements, where other contractors are involved, or where peacetime support contracts exist. LOGCAP is also available during Continental United States (CONUS) mobilizations to assist the CONUS support base and help units get ready for war.

LOGCAP is a Department of the Army Program which includes all pre-planned logistics and engineering/construction oriented contingency contracts actually awarded and peacetime contracts which include contingency clauses that:

• Leverage civilian corporate resources as logistics services support and engineering/construction support multipliers (Civilian Resources)

• Provide a rapid and responsive contract capability which augments US Forces capability by meeting logistics and engineering/construction requirements (Rapid and Responsive Contract Capability).

• Focus on prioritized peacetime contingency planning for augmentation logistics and engineering/construction services as determined by the customer (Prioritized Peacetime Contingency Planning).

Working in Iraq

There is still a lot of interest to work in Iraq, despite the danger. Salaries are much higher than in the US and the opportunity to make a little fortune in one or two years of service is hard to resist. An experienced worker easily makes $80.000 to $100.000 a year and for experts in one of the required technical-administrative fields, amounts of $25.000 a month (!) are no exception. In most cases, housing and meals are free and if you work more than 330 days overseas, income is excluded from United States taxes [3].

Job seekers can apply online for Iraq employment. The 2ajobguide for instance is supporting the U.S. Armed Forces by providing staff for the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) in Iraq [4]. The work primarily involves vehicle and other equipment maintenance, as well as some logistical work. If you want to check out your chances to get such a challenging job, take a proactive approach and send your resume and a brief cover letter to this hiring agency by e-mail. You can be sure that your documents will be reviewed very carefully in order to find the best fit according to your experience and background.

Job listings for countries like Iraq, Afghanistan or Kuwait can be found also by typing the country name in an “all-in-one” human resources bank like Indeed [5]. Current listings include Iraq defense contractor, intelligence, communications, and administrative openings.

Literature

[1] Introduction to the LOGCAP program, United States Army brochure, Army Material Command, 2007

[2] Washington Post, Army Splits Award Among 3 Firms. Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, June 28, 2007; Page A08

[3] IRS Guidelines, Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad

[4] Staffing in Iraq - Top paid job opportunities

[5] All-in-one US Job Search Engine


About the Author:

Oswald J. Eppers, PhD is manager of the consulting firm
E&R InterConsult and founder of the Two-Approach Guidefor easy and effective Job Searching and Career Assessment. He has more than 10 years experience as freelance consultant in the field of outsourcing, environmental and quality management.

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