if you could earn 4 years earnings in 6 months

paddyrg

Remember there's a *reason* they have to pay so high - I work overseas sometimes (not in active warzones) and it is TOUGH on your family life, tougher than you think. If you multiply that with being in a warzone and how much stress your kids face seeing Afghanistan on TV, etc., you decide if it is worthwhile.

Also remember as a contractor (probably have to set up your own ltd company?), you will not get holiday pay, pension, sick pay etc. Ltd company contracts you estimate that 50% of the headline rate is going to be absorbed with NI and those other costs employers usually pay for you.

It may be worthwhile (only you will know), but bear the above in mind.

Hammyman

brutus1983 wrote: »

but theres a catch youve got to give up your current job and the bigger catch is youve got to spend the next 6 months in afganistan would you?

i had a phonecall last night from an old friend whos heading out there next week and the firm hes working for is looking for more people and hes said he will put in a good word for me my missis wont be to happy as were expecting again as i havent told her yet but ill be gone at the time of the birth

No. Why? I served in the Gulf War - similar kind of terrain. The only time I would want to go into a war zone would be armed. You won't be allowed to be. With 10,000's of British Troops being injured by IEDs, you stand a very very good chance of being a casualty of one yourself. Yet you won't get the care and payout the British Forces get. Expect your employer to ditch you if something does happen. If the worst does happen, civilian life insurance doesn't cover you in war zones so they won't pay out leaving your family to struggle on on benefits.

And it is a crap existence. It is really really really crap. You live in crap accommodation with flaky electricity, temperatures in excess of 40C in the shade in the daytime, freezing cold at night - it can actually snow sometimes. The sand gets absolutely everywhere. It is quite a miserable existence unless you are the most optimistic person on this earth. Even the pay won't really seem worth it in the end.

Being shot at is the biggest high you'll ever have but thats with the ability to shoot back. Without that, it'll be nothing more than a trouser filling moment as you try to get away, which - if you're in a convoy - you may not be able to do.

If you think its going to be all glory and like the war films or the Call of Duty game you play on your Xbox, it isn't. It will be crap and mundane with plenty of time to do nothing but stew over how you're missing the first words, steps etc of your new baby and wondering if the wife is shagging the neighbour. Its surprising how much genuine friendships she has with male friends will wind you up when you're stuck several thousand miles away with little contact for 6 months.

Would I go? Probably. But then again, I've got the T-shirt, I'm ex-forces and have had the training, can cope with seeing first hand close up people with limbs missing and blood pouring out of them, my wife earns more than I do, I've spent time away from home so can cope with the mind games you play with yourself and my kids are getting on now.

You will find most of those who are coping quite happily out there are all ex-forces - I bet your mate out there is. You will find most of those who aren't coping haven't had anything to do with the forces. Many end up going home after a few weeks, some only after a few days.

Hammyman

heretolearn wrote: »

As long as I'm not in serious risk of getting shot (although you have to accept there is some risk whatever you are doing), absolutely I would!

Its not being shot you need to worry about. It is IEDs, roadside bombs. And there are tons and tons and tons of them with thousands of British soldiers and civilians being injured by them. They go off with one hell of a bang. A golfball sized lump of plastic explosive is enough to lift a 1 tonne concrete filled metal box 3ft in the air, putting a large hole in the ground at the same time and most IEDs have a lot more than that in them. Many of them are laced with nails, screws, ball bearings which spew out shrapnel in all directions that cuts through the metal of non-armoured vehicles with no problem.

honeypop

Thank you Hammyman, I hope your posts stop people thinking of this sort of thing lightly (ie only seeing the pound signs!).

Some people considering this type of work in Afganistan and similar think that because they won't be 'fighting' then there is no risk. But you will be a target no matter what you are doing out there.

Single people with no responsibilities back home may well be suited to it , but no-one else (even some ex-Forces people aren't suited to it).

[Deleted User]

This link might shed some reality on it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_contractor_deaths_in_Iraq
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_contractor_deaths_in_Afghanistan

I'm quite glad my old IT firm lost a contract for the RAF in Afghanistan...

Liz_M

Aside from the fact it could be dangerous etc, I would be thinking about how easy it would be to get work again when you get back. You have a job now, but will it be easy to get one as good in 6 months? I don't know what you do so I guess if it's something easy to get and you hate it anyway that doesn't matter as much, but it's getting harder and harder to find work so if you have a half decent job I'd say don't give it up! You might earn 4 years wages in 6 months but if you have to live off that for a couple of years while looking for work it might not sound as attractive.

brutus1983

id be out there working as an electrician if i decide to go

my mate whos heading out there is ex reme so is accustomed to it

claire16c

If I was your wife i would already be going mental at just the thought of you doing something like that. 'not too happy' wouldnt even be close.

My DH is ex reme and artillery, and when he used to go away, it was horrible. But at least like Hammyman said - he was armed. You wont be. You will be a walking target for 6 months for anyone who fancies it. You need to think about what would you do if you came back missing an arm, a leg etc - without any kind of payout. What job would you be doing then whilst you recover and your wife is pregnant, because that is a real possibility. You wont be able to get treatment in the way that the squaddies do when they come back in places like Headley court, youll be in a hospital or at home.

Also do you really think its a good idea to have your heavily pregnant wife at home sick to the stomach every day thinking about what could be happening to you?
My friends husband was in the reme and he was out in afgan for 6 months. He didnt even leave the base because of his job role, but she got quite ill at one point because she was so worried about him. so even if you come back fine - will your relationship and wife be ok?

Most guys i know who have been there, would do anything not to go there, for any money. And some others love it out there - but thats why they are in the army, and are army mad.

Hammyman

brutus1983 wrote: »

id be out there working as an electrician if i decide to go

Indeed. And some of the places you'll end up working are firebases, patrol bases and police stations - all places where you can come across IEDs on your journey to and from them. Being an electrician doesn't guarantee your safety.

my mate whos heading out there is ex reme so is accustomed to it

My point exactly. And when the brown stuff hits the fan, his years and £10,000's of training will automatically kick in and he'll go onto autopilot. You'll be running around like a headless chicken trying to find a hole to climb into.

I'm not trying to put you off. I'm merely trying to destroy any fantasy thoughts you may have about it so you take a proper objective look at what you are getting yourself into.

threemuttleys

Hammyman wrote: »

No. Why? I served in the Gulf War - similar kind of terrain. The only time I would want to go into a war zone would be armed. You won't be allowed to be. With 10,000's of British Troops being injured by IEDs, you stand a very very good chance of being a casualty of one yourself. Yet you won't get the care and payout the British Forces get. Expect your employer to ditch you if something does happen. If the worst does happen, civilian life insurance doesn't cover you in war zones so they won't pay out leaving your family to struggle on on benefits.

And it is a crap existence. It is really really really crap. You live in crap accommodation with flaky electricity, temperatures in excess of 40C in the shade in the daytime, freezing cold at night - it can actually snow sometimes. The sand gets absolutely everywhere. It is quite a miserable existence unless you are the most optimistic person on this earth. Even the pay won't really seem worth it in the end.

Being shot at is the biggest high you'll ever have but thats with the ability to shoot back. Without that, it'll be nothing more than a trouser filling moment as you try to get away, which - if you're in a convoy - you may not be able to do.

If you think its going to be all glory and like the war films or the Call of Duty game you play on your Xbox, it isn't. It will be crap and mundane with plenty of time to do nothing but stew over how you're missing the first words, steps etc of your new baby and wondering if the wife is shagging the neighbour. Its surprising how much genuine friendships she has with male friends will wind you up when you're stuck several thousand miles away with little contact for 6 months.

Would I go? Probably. But then again, I've got the T-shirt, I'm ex-forces and have had the training, can cope with seeing first hand close up people with limbs missing and blood pouring out of them, my wife earns more than I do, I've spent time away from home so can cope with the mind games you play with yourself and my kids are getting on now.

You will find most of those who are coping quite happily out there are all ex-forces - I bet your mate out there is. You will find most of those who aren't coping haven't had anything to do with the forces. Many end up going home after a few weeks, some only after a few days.

Hammyman wrote: »

Its not being shot you need to worry about. It is IEDs, roadside bombs. And there are tons and tons and tons of them with thousands of British soldiers and civilians being injured by them. They go off with one hell of a bang. A golfball sized lump of plastic explosive is enough to lift a 1 tonne concrete filled metal box 3ft in the air, putting a large hole in the ground at the same time and most IEDs have a lot more than that in them. Many of them are laced with nails, screws, ball bearings which spew out shrapnel in all directions that cuts through the metal of non-armoured vehicles with no problem.

Hammyman wrote: »

Indeed. And some of the places you'll end up working are firebases, patrol bases and police stations - all places where you can come across IEDs on your journey to and from them. Being an electrician doesn't guarantee your safety.



My point exactly. And when the brown stuff hits the fan, his years and £10,000's of training will automatically kick in and he'll go onto autopilot. You'll be running around like a headless chicken trying to find a hole to climb into.

I'm not trying to put you off. I'm merely trying to destroy any fantasy thoughts you may have about it so you take a proper objective look at what you are getting yourself into.

There speaks the voice of a Forces Man :beer:

My little bro is a very proud Royal Marine, and he has said that when he retires from the Corps, he may make himself a career out of being personal security (for VIP's etc)

I cant understand why someone with no experience of being in a dangerous country like Ganners, without being allowed to be armed, would literally put themselves in the firing line...Iraq (which I believe is now much calmer) yes, ok...but somewhere as volatile as Afghan...nooooooo!