

Ask HN: Would you go to Iraq for a year and be paid $200k? - spoiledtechie

Before I start, I wanted to say I have been apart of this community for over 3 years now and greatly trust the amount of thought and time taken in giving opinions here, so that is why I am asking on this forum.<p>I know this is sort of off topic, but I am a coder out of the Washington, DC area and I am about to be offered a job to go to IRAQ for 1 year at a pay of around $200k.<p>I am wondering, if offered, should I actually take it?  I enjoy my job here and have actually just been transferred here about 4 months ago.<p>200k is a lot of money, I would be able to pay off all my student loans which equals about 80k and have some left over to invest in and maybe take another year off for setting up my own software project.  I would also take the time off there to code and really focus on a project or two that I always wanted to get off the ground.<p>On another note, I truly live to experience.  I love new experiences and this would truly be a once in a lifetime experience, so do I do it?<p>I can be debt free and sit and code hard for 1 year and push out something amazing also while enjoying the time in a greatly different country than what I am used to.<p>I do appreciate the responses!
======
rdl
I am a defense contractor; I've worked in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, etc.
since about 2004.

1) $200k is pretty weak, even for today (it's gone downhill overall). If you
can get a secret (basically, us citizen and not a felon), and have decent tech
skills, you should be at $200-350k.

2) It's not tax free. The FIRST ~$85k is tax-exempt, which saves you about
18k. You then pay taxes at the normal 27-36% rates above that. My win s that I
don't have an apartment back in the US, so my only expenses while here are car
payment, storage, and server colo.

3) Big difference in quality of life throughout the country -- if you're on
base at Balad or Victory it's basically like living in a small town in the US.
If you're out in a Bn or smaller unit on an iraqi army base, or out in the
city, it's a lot different. I've done a variety.

4) If you've never been in the military or had contact with it, I'd do it for
a year just for the experience -- it's actually something I think everyone
should do for a couple years.

The biggest downsides for me:

1) I gained about 20 pounds last year in Afghanistan living on Bagram, due to
the shitty but high-calorie carb-laden food.

2) Generally, working for government is the anti-startup. You are specifically
instructed not to take any initiative, everything is more concerned about
process than results, etc. Actual combat is different, but there is no real
combat in Iraq or Kuwait now, and in Afghanistan it is unlikely a contractor
involved in direct combat support would be posting like this on hackernews.
(If I could get a job where I got to put bullets into bad guys 12-24h/day, I'd
do it for $20k/yr, but aside from joining a government agency or the military,
it would be difficult to find a contractor in 2010 who does this ...
blackwater/triple canopy/etc. etc back in 2003-2005 were about the only ones)

3) There is no firm end date. I did this for 6 months just to see what it
would be like, and have wasted about 4 of the past 5 years in the sandbox. I'm
planning to leave in a few months to work on a startup of my own in the USA
again (maybe YC 2010 Summer!), using some of my experiences from here, but
it's totally possible to keep doing this indefinitely.

4) The war is definitely winding down, so pay, upward mobility, etc. continue
to decrease

5) People in the defense industry are NOT like startup people -- there are
huge amounts of fraud, backstabbing, incompetence, etc. Startup deals for $50m
can be done on a handshake; here you need lawyers, contracts, audits, etc. or
you will get fucked.

~~~
johnyzee
Upvoted for the information, but your fantasy of "putting bullets into bad
guys" while working for the U.S. army is pretty sickening. Outside of
military, nationalist propaganda, you are most likely fighting someone who is
defending his home country against invasion and occupation. The 'good guys,
bad guys' thing is a little uneducated. Sorry for the interlude.

~~~
pclark
I imagine your perspective changes a lot if you're out there on the ground.

~~~
bad_user
For the invaders, it's mostly their choice to be out there on the ground ...
for the defenders, it's not ... so maybe people in the army should understand
if the natives are a little pissed off. After all, those bombs they've sent
probably killed a lot of innocent people.

~~~
pclark
I imagine your perspective changes a lot if you're out there on the ground.

~~~
plinkplonk
"I imagine your perspective changes a lot if you're out there on the ground."

Very true, when your country is invaded and your friends and family
shot/raped/jailed/killed by the invader's mercenaries, your perspective
probably changes very fast!

Anyone getting in actual combat will experience perspective change no matter
which side he is on I guess.

It is a bit harder for the rest of the world to sympathize with the invaders
than with people defending their own homes and country. Just imagine _your_
country invaded by a self righteous army trying to "uplift" you. I actually
like the Unites States a lot, have lived there and so on, but if the USA were
to invade my country you can be sure I'd fight back too. Americans would, if
they were invaded instead of being the invaders.

~~~
isleyaardvark
We aren't there to "uplift" them. We're there to stop safe havens for
terrorist groups from being set up by the Taliban, a group that was formed in
and supported by Pakistan.

If America was taken over by a group that violated human rights like the
Taliban, that was refused to even be recognized as the legitimate government
by the overwhelming majority of nations in the world, and was the subject of
binding UN sanctions, yes I would sympathize with the invaders. But that's
just me.

~~~
plinkplonk
" We're there to stop safe havens for terrorist groups from being set up by
the Taliban, a group that was formed in and supported by Pakistan."

I was talking about Iraq, not Afghanistan. The topic is about hackers going to
Iraq. Nice trick of deflection.

Why are you in Iraq again? Persuading the American public that the invasion of
Iraq was a response to 9/11 is the greatest con game in history.

As as to the Taliban, they are holed up in Pakistan (and Somalia, and Yemen)
these days . Will you be invading those countries too?

~~~
isleyaardvark
rdl's post that started this thread discussed contracting in Afghanistan, and
replies to that post discussed overseas deployments in a general sense. In
fact the "bullets in the bad guys" comment that set off this thread comes in
rdl's point 2 about combat going on in Afghanistan and not Iraq. It wasn't a
trick or deflection. My comments about the Taliban also go for Saddam and his
Ba'ath party.

------
rdl
On security in 2010:

1) Afghanistan can still be dangerous. The risk for a trigger puller/door
kicker is very high, but for an IT contractor it's about the same as riding a
motorcycle 50-100mi/day in Seattle.

2) Iraq is actually safer (on base, for IT contractors) than living in a lot
of big but not especially nice cities. The biggest risk is honestly chronic
health conditions (like a heart attack) or people having
emotional/relationship/etc. issues and self-inflicted injury.

3) Kuwait is INSANE. Specifically, driving off-base is insane. I drive about
2-3h/day between US bases, and see one obviously-fatal motor vehicle accident
on the highways every day. The only time in my life I've ever done CPR and
treated arterial bleeding (I'm an IT guy, not a doctor!) was responding to a
Kuwaiti on Kuwaiti vehicle accident a couple years ago. I'd say the risk is
about the same as riding 50-100 miles/day on a motorcycle, drunk, in a not-
especially-motorcycle-friendly city.

4) Qatar is like Kuwait only safer.

5) Bahrain is safer than Kuwait and fun, except on Thursday/Friday when lots
of drunk Saudi weekend guys show up, turning it into Kuwait-level danger.

There are lots of reasons to do or not do this, but safety is basically not an
issue (except if you're driving between bases in Kuwait, which people don't
really do)

------
rdl
Also, people here do not realize:

An IT contractor (presumably for ITT, at that low salary) is working at a
helpdesk on a big base. The contact with locals is almost zero. You'll
encounter a lot of interesting third country nationals (filipinos, indians,
etc.) working on base, but that's about it. Mainly, you will be dealing with
other Americans (military or contractor.

It's basically the most boring helpdesk job possible in a boring environment.

The "contact with local culture" is "local vendor sets up a shop on base
selling overpriced carpets and camel figurines".

If you just want contact with an exotic culture, go backpacking in
India/Nepal/Indonesia/etc.

The only reason for defense contracting in 2010 is money, and "seeing what the
military is like up close" (I thought it was much more homogenous and
omnipotent than it turned out to be. I'm not sure if I like it more or less
now)

------
jdietrich
I'm really rather keen on having my head attached to my body, so I would have
to say no. I bet Ken Bigley thought he was on to a nice little earner, right
up until al-Zarqawi's men came through the door.

I'm just a clueless civvie, but it seems to me that the insurgency in Iraq is
becoming more indiscriminate and that the risks to all westerners there are
largely similar, regardless of what they are there to do. IEDs and mortars
don't distinguish between military and civilian targets. The kidnapper
actively seek out civilians.

Other posters with far more relevant experience than I seem to think that you
won't really have any contact with the locals and spend most of your time
doing grunt work, so it doesn't seem to me like there are many intangible
benefits beyond being able to say that you've worked in a warzone. If you want
a great cultural experience, surely you'd be better off going to places where
you don't have to travel in a convoy of armoured cars? Travel is tremendously
cheap at the moment and there are plenty of opportunities to work your way
around, especially as a young, educated American - half the world is willing
to offer you a Working Holiday visa. If you don't fancy teaching English,
tending a bar or picking fruit, you could tote a laptop and freelance.

Think about longer-term earning potential. What would you learn in Iraq that
would make you attractive to civilian employers? What opportunities would that
entry on your CV open up? What would be the value of a year's experience as a
junior developer at a bank, for instance?

If you're typical of the average HN reader, you could do far better. I can't
begin to estimate the value created by the average startup founder in their
first year, but I'm guessing that it's a hell of a lot more than $200k. It's
never been cheaper to startup and never easier to reach ramen profitability.
There's never been more angel money and never more VCs willing to make small,
early-stage investments.

The opportunity you have strikes me as a boring, dangerous dead-end for not
very much money. As a recent graduate, I'd be far more concerned about
building up long-term equity than about making quick cash. I expect that your
student debt must feel like a massive burden, but relative to your career
earning potential it's chump change. Think long term, think about what you can
build up for yourself.

------
thesethings
Pretend the salary is the same in both places, and judge the decision just on
the experience factor. (I say this because for a variety of reasons, you could
make that much money in the States as a reasonably curious, skilled person.
You read Hacker News after all :D You know all about salary ranges,
entrepreneurship, affiliate programs, Parrot Books, and Adsense. I'm not
saying we all make 200K, we just all know about opportunities... :D ).

So... unless it's desperate, debt or any kind of financial incentive is
probably a bad reason to pick any job under such unique conditions. That said,
if the experience is compelling, then listen to that part of your heart.

Good luck. Let us know what you choose.

~~~
philwelch
"Pretend the salary is the same in both places, and judge the decision just on
the experience factor. I say this because for a variety of reasons, you could
make that much money in the States as a reasonably curious, skilled person."

200K for one year in Iraq might actually be significantly more than 200K for
one year in California, for instance, depending on cost of living. I can't
imagine actually buying anything in Iraq would cost much (or be that
compelling of an option), so if room and board is either cheap or included
with the job, you might save a lot of the 200K.

~~~
thesethings
You bring up a great point, possible differences in expenses. I bet you're
right, it's not just a normal gig/set-up.

That said, I don't change my main idea or advice: To remove the compensation
as a reason to do this.

It's such a unique job (to put it mildly). And the fact that if one is
undergoing extreme conditions either way, one can greatly increase their
income with other strategies, I still think this should be a non-financial
decision, and purely a lifestyle/values/learning/risk one.

~~~
BearOfNH
_one can greatly increase their income with other strategies_

Of course those "other strategies" have a different risk profile. You might be
right about not considering income, but then you should also ignore risks. All
of them.

If I were in the same position, I would go for it ... or something vaguely
similar (like, say, Kwajalein radar support). But then, I never was a party
animal.

------
Zarathu
Yes. Very solid yes.

You don't see much of this in the media, but Iraq is a stunningly beautiful
country. There's a lot that you can learn from the people there (and certainly
much they could learn from you), and the Arabic language is nothing short of
remarkable.

Diving head-first into another culture is one of the few educations that the
Internet and college cannot fully convey via text. You won't regret it.

~~~
davidw
The only culture he would be 'diving head-first into' is the US military
culture; my guess is that his contact with the country would be somewhat
limited, for obvious reasons. If you want to really experience a local
culture, there are probably better countries for that, where you can
concentrate on getting to know the people and culture and not worrying.

------
setori88
Shan't tell you what to do mate, but after seeing a family member go out there
and get his leg blown off, I highly suggest you to avoid this kind of
environment. Keep your mind focussed on what you are doing, and not avoiding
bullets, incoming shells, kidnapping, etc.

~~~
setori88
not to mention, should you get injured can your family afford the time and
money to cater for your disabilities?

------
organicgrant
I think you've already decided. Do it.

~~~
setori88
I honestly think those who clicked up, have no direct or indirect experience
of war. If you had the slightest iota of experience you would be writing a
comment like this.

War could possibly be the most crude type of expression a human being can
display. If you wish to experience such experiences, by all means head on out
and do it. For those cooped up in school, playing video games, a war zone is
not a form of gap year, lets go holiday in France effort.

If you into startups, head on out to China, where you will be blown away at
the types of experiences and connections you can make. Life is much cheaper
out there, connections made can set you up for life, learn a new language with
a most powerful form of abstraction. I am pretty sure the chance of making
decent business connections, in a once beautiful country that was Iraq now
turned cess pit by corporate greed is pretty slim.

It is possible; if you wish to set yourself up as a most brilliant
entrepreneur for single handedly transforming Iraq into a haven with your
innovations, the world stoop before you, those odds are hard.

A place like China is far more advantageous for you, and if you want it... it
can be dangerous too.

~~~
ErrantX
I have indirect experience.

He should really consider going; it is probably a once in a lifetime
experience and extremely sobering.

------
carpdiem
In the wise words of Marilyn Monroe, "Ever notice that 'what the hell' is
always the right decision?"

------
waffenklang
I'd do it if I wouldn't have a family here and realise: one year. what is one
year? its about to be nothing and in the end maybe you like this country get
contacts there and more opportunities for more jobs, projects, whatever. And
about the risk. Scientists found out that the risk of dying on a heart attack
increases about 50% if you are spending more than 5 hours per day in front of
a computer or tv, so what are 3% compared to 50%? Offices equal all over the
world.

One year for debt free living and extra money? Yes, you can.

edit: but please keep us informed and upload pictures :D

------
richcollins
You can make $150 an hour doing software consulting in San Francisco. Thats
240k a year assuming you can bill 40 full weeks a year.

~~~
sage_joch
This thread is making me feel very poor.

~~~
clistctrl
to be fair, in San Fransisco its not going to go as far as it would in other
parts of the country.

~~~
richcollins
No, but the absolute amount that you clear is still way more.

~~~
dnsworks
$240k in SF would mean :

$20k/year in rent for a 1-bedroom apartment $19k/year in California state
taxes $110k/year in Federal taxes \--- $91k for hookers and blow

$200k in Iraq would mean: \- $53k/year in Federal taxes \- $0/year in state
taxes \- $0/year in housing charges \-------------- $147k to spend on hookers
and blow

At the end of the year, Iraq would give you an extra $56k to spend on 8-balls
and being a VIP at the Emperor's club.

------
colinplamondon
If there's a 3% chance of a mortar landing near you, is that worth it? Honest
question. A lot of folks would risk their life for a 3% chance at any
significant amount of money. Personally, I wouldn't- I would rather keep my
'risks of dying' to things like mugging (.05%/day), bus crashes (.005%/day),
and dying in a nuclear holocaust (.00005%/day).

Just a matter of how much risk you're cool with.

~~~
setori88
strange how first hand stories, speak of 3 shells coming into a gym where
people are training, along a straight line, luckily my brother, leaped behind
sandbags and just prayed that the fourth one didn't come down on top of him.

it didn't come in, but people died.

3% chance, more like 3 shells at a go.

------
blim
Money is a huge incentive especially early in your career. It will absolutely
be a once in a life time experience, that said it may be your last experience
in this lifetime.

You enjoy your job now and are only 4 months in. Do not discount the value of
local experience relative to foreign experience. Later in your career taking
experience abroad may be an asset depending on your role, but early on local
experience and the local contact network you build has a lot of value.

I suspect the hour or two a day you spend relaxing can be filled with starting
those projects you have "always wanted to get off the ground". It is far more
dangerous there than it appears on TV; private contractor casualties are NOT
public information. If it was elsewhere in the region like Dubai it'd be an
entirely different equation, but it is Iraq.

This link will give you an impression of the lifestyle of a tech guy in Iraq
<http://www.rezendi.com/travels/bbbb.html> "blood bullets ad bandwidth" be
aware that the situation has changed since this was published and the danger
is very real. If it seemed like you've been in that kind of environment before
I wouldn't have responded at all as you'd know the score, but it sounds like
you've never served in the military, or been in hot zones before, I urge you
to consider carefully.

~~~
rdl
Heh, that article was written about me by my friend Jon!

It's not really very realistic for 2010 working for a big contractor, in 2005
things were in flux and I ran my own tiny company.

~~~
blim
Man, I loved your story! You're probably the best guy to give our friend here
an informed opinion as a technical contractor. That was a completely different
level of returns and it was your company.

------
stse
After reading this thread, I'm just amazed how out of touch with reality a lot
of the people here seem. Iraq is a war zone, one of the most dangerous places
on the planet. Going there to experience the culture or the people is just
absurd. There's a reason why you'll make relatively much money. And it's not
because it's an awesome experience while you're there. Just the fact of being
confined to a military base for a year is going to affect your life
tremendously.

------
akamaka
My friend had a job that sent him there for a "tour" of many months, with
similar pay. It was boring at times, and he lived in a trailer on a base, but
he kept going back for more tours, so he definitely thought it was worth it.

------
mattwdelong
It's fairly easy to say that I would do it, especially without being in this
position.

Really, I think you would have to evaluate your current situation. Do you have
other job offers, or a current job? How do those jobs weigh in comparison? The
fact that you are asking us leads me to suggest that perhaps you want to go
and people are trying to convince you otherwise? If that be the case, then I
suggest you do what you want to do, screw what other people think - unless you
have significant others, or kids depending on you.

However, if you are solely interested in the money, but scared of going to
Iraq I really would advise against taking the offer. Going to a place like
Iraq for that much money seems like you would be getting yourself into a
situation you couldn't easily back out of. It would suck to live an entire
year in regret - especially in that part of the world.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck. Take our suggestions as a grain of
salt. You will have to live with your decision for an entire year..not us.

~~~
spoiledtechie
you are right on people telling me no and not to do it. Im looking for non
biased opinions..

------
metra
You're not giving us the alternatives. From how you've described it, the
opportunity sounds great.

 _But we don't know much about your current working situation._ From what you
have written, I assume that the other alternative you have pay (considerably?)
<$200K. We don't know anything else about your current job. Thus it's tough to
say NO because there's really only one choice that you've presented.

So without knowing much about your best alternatives, I'll leave you with this
piece of advice. When considering a new job, consider 1. the people, 2. the
position, 3. the salary and 4. the company. And place a big emphasis on
numbers 1 and 2 rather than 3 and 4.

Also, the other guys are right - it does sound like you're very excited. I'm
only hesitant to say "Go for it!" because I don't know anything about what
it's like in Iraq. I'm all for new experiences but I wouldn't be able to
recommend something I had no clue about.

~~~
lanstein
I'm not sure, there are jobs (at least in SV) that while not at that pay
level, are probably between your current pay and $200k, that would allow you
to be around very bright potential co-founders, and do not involve a non-zero
risk of being killed. But, as metra said, without knowing your current salary,
it's hard to give firm advice one way or the other. I also put considerable
emphasis on the caliber of the other developers I work with.

------
jawngee
Allow me to be the dissenter.

If you're doing this for the military or the government, I would urge you to
consider if your work is contributing to all of the wrong reasons why we (as a
country) are there, or if it's going to contribute to helping correct the
mistakes that got us there.

Is war really something you want to experience? Things are calm there now,
relative to a few years ago, but - imho - still is a pretty bad place for
American civilians.

Anyways, if it were me, it would more or less come down on the morality of
what I'm contributing to directly through my work. Yes, 200K is a lot of
money, but there isn't any reason, if you're good, that you won't eventually
be making that every 1.5-2 years in a metropolitan area like NYC.

This is all under the assumptions you'd be working for the US government.

~~~
cellis
I'm pretty sure these gigs are tax free for the first $80k.

------
Timothee
If it were me, I would not go. I would love to be paid $200k, but it's not a
life changing amount of money worth the risk I see associated with going
there. (if it were $500k+, it starts getting a bit different)

If you want to do it for the experience, that's one thing, though there are
many places in the world that are fairly safe without bearing the same risk at
the moment, and I'm sure spending one year in a completely different culture
will be a life-changing experience!

But if you want to do it for the money, this isn't a significant amount of
money in the long term.

But, of course, that's just my opinion. :)

------
patrickgzill
If you are going to be coding, I would think that you are not going to be in
too much danger - they aren't going to ship you out to places to install
things in the thick of battle, right?

I say go for it. IIRC the entirety of the $200K will be tax free.

While there, network amongst the people there (you should be able to make some
long term friends) and well, who knows where those contacts will lead
afterwards.

------
aaronblohowiak
Fortune favors the bold.

------
roundsquare
As long as it'd be safe, I'd go for it without hesitation. New place, fun
work, big accomplishment, lots of money and free time? I'm not sure what down
side you see, but it would need to be huge to turn this down.

~~~
spoiledtechie
my mind says yes, but my body says stay the fuck away, I dont wanna die. So
the question still remains and I definitely am looking for advice.

~~~
Zev
Doesn't DC have one of the highest murder rates in the country? Whats to stop
you from getting shot or into a bad car accident in Washington D.C.?

Point is, theres always going to be a risk, regardless of where you happen to
live. Might as well go somewhere interesting (and make a good bit of $ while
you're at it, in this case).

~~~
blasdel
I'm a DC native, born and raised. For starters, almost all that violence is
between subsistence drug dealers in areas of the city and PG County where the
poster is unlikely to even drive through. It doesn't involve the yuppies at
all, and it's a fraction of what it was in the mid nineties before
gentrification kicked into overdrive.

Furthermore, he said he was in "Washington DC area", which is code for the
wealthy suburbs where the vast majority of the population lives. Most work
there too: the only jobs in DC proper are in NGOs, lobbying, civil service,
and the service jobs to support them.

~~~
spoiledtechie
live in the fairfax area...

------
duncan_bayne
I'd certainly consider it if I didn't have a wife with her own career here in
Australia. If I had a student loan to pay off I'd be even keener.

One suggestion though: get a little bit of training in first (maybe from
Suarez International or a similar organisation).

I don't mean high-speed low-drag gunslinging ninja stuff (although their
vehicle gunfighting course _does_ look like fun). What I mean is advice on how
to keep yourself safe in a foreign, hostile environment. Precautions to take,
places to go and not to go ... that sort of thing.

------
albertsun
I'd do it. Living and working in Iraq would be an amazing and unique
experience, even without the high pay. Pick up an Arabic phrasebook while
you're on your way.

~~~
cousin_it
"Amazing and unique experience"? Have you no shame, you fucking Americans?

~~~
albertsun
I think it's pretty clear the answer to that is no.

------
melito
It depends on the job.

I don't have any problem going to a non luxurious part of the world thats
inhospitable. Not even for an extended period of time.

The only thing that would keep me from going are my 'opinions' about middle
east foreign policy.

If its a good opportunity don't not go because you're scared.

If you got a good thing going where you're at, no sense in leaving either.
Your call.

------
ciex
US coder gets sent to the middle east for a bunch of money

Reminds me of Ken Follett's 'On Wings of Eagles' - definitely a recommendation
if you're into thrillers! It's about a team of coders from EDS (now part of HP
I think) who get sent to Iran to work for the government and are then refused
to leave the country.

------
Magneus
I have to echo the sentiments of everyone else: as long as you'll be
(reasonably) safe, do it.

Having lived abroad myself (China), I can tell you that the experience will
broaden your mind. Keep an open outlook and heed albertsun's advice to learn
some Arabic and you'll have an amazing time.

------
hedgehog
Figure out where/what you'll be doing and what level of interesting work and
risk you'll be seeing. I went over in 2004 and it was definitely an exciting
time but I wasn't working on a base so YMMV. I liked the local food, I don't
know how I would fare on a year of mess hall fare.

------
olalonde
I would as long as I'm not used as a flesh shield ;) What kind of job would
you have there?

~~~
spoiledtechie
the job would be installing comm stations...

------
plinkplonk
I would (got to Iraq for 200k a year), but then I am not American and so the
Iraqis probably don't hate me as much. OTOH if I am working with the American
Occupation, my nationality is probably a moot point for the Iraqi aiming a gun
at me.

------
ximeng
[http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100206/tts-uk-iraq-usa-
contrac...](http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100206/tts-uk-iraq-usa-contractor-
ca02f96.html)

Be careful if you go...

------
Zak
I'd do it just for the experience... and the extra money wouldn't hurt.

------
cellis
Hell yeah.

I say so now, but i wonder if I'd get over there and have to confront _Hurt
Locker_ -esque situations. I'm 22, so my risk tolerance may be above average.

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theprodigy
if this job entails working with the militaries technology (servers, networks,
etc) you should take it. A lot of the very smart network engineers and
programmers that I have met have worked in military; Iraq and DOD.

You are going to be dealing with some high tech environments in Iraq and will
get good experience and money in the process.

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ahk
IMO, 200k doesn't set you up for life, so it's not worth your life. One year
is quite a long time and things _will_ go wrong.

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jwb119
sounds like an interesting decision. best of luck.

one thing to keep in mind is that 200k probably means more like 100k after
taxes. that only leaves you about 20k overhead after you pay your student
loans. just something to think about.

~~~
fname
Usually the first $80k is tax-free for travels to Iraq/Afghanistan, after that
you get taxed at the "normal" rate.

~~~
cellis
A friend of mine did this kind of work. He worked for KBR as some kind of
contractor (in the green zone, out of the field). He said he grossed 216k in
one year, 80k tax free. He also said that because he was always in the same
location and working 12/hrs day, meals free, room free, he spent _very_ little
of what he earned. This was 2007, and he was ex-military, so mmv.

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democracy
don't go there mate, it's not worth it

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371c
would you sell your life for 200k?

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marknutter
Dear God no.

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mos1
There's going to be an election in March, and the results of it will help
determine what sort of place it will be for the foreseeable future.

It's clear that if the sunnis and the shiites can't share power politically,
that the levels of violence are likely to escalate. If they can, they'll
likely stay level or trend downward.

That said, if you're seriously considering it, I'd read some of the numerous
accounts from journalists and other non-combat professionals who have spent
time over there.

If after recognizing the possibility of changes in the security situation, the
dangers associated with working in Iraq (both physical and mental) you still
want to go.... go ahead.

But personally, I wouldn't even consider it. Making money isn't really that
hard, and there are countless interesting experiences I can have that don't
involve substantial risk of trauma.

That said, everybody's money threshold is different, and it's a lot easier to
say no to $200k as somebody who already lives comfortably and has a family to
take care of, than it would be to say it as somebody who isn't yet financially
comfortable, and whose passing would affect only parents, not wives/children.

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ajkirwin
Where can I find a job like that?

~~~
rdl
check out the big defense contractors:

ITT General Dynamics Dyncorp KBR/Halliburton L-3 General Atomics CACI

Basically, if you want to be doing something decent, make sure you can get at
least secret (not a felon, a US citizen), be vaguely professional and
competent (certs are a plus, like CISA/CISSP/CCDP), and familiar with the
technologies they want (it's a big crappy AD/MS network, but there's also a
lot of IP stuff).

