Working in a war zone p1 - Military Transition - Military Times EDGE

As a Marine sergeant, James Rios served as an imagery analyst in Iraq. He found himself back in Iraq doing the same work for General Atomics after leaving the Corps in January 2008. The difference? He now earns a much higher wage.

Rios is among thousands of U.S. citizens working as civilian contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan — nearly 30,000 in Iraq and more than 9,300 in Afghanistan as of late 2009. And those jobs can pay extremely well.

That was a strong draw for former Airman First Class Keith Cook, an electronics field service engineer with CSMI, a technical field-support company.

“Contractors earn five to six times what an E-3 or an E-4 makes,” Cook said. And it’s not unusual for a contractor — particularly someone with a security clearance — to earn $150,000 or more. “The danger of the area affects pay, just like any industry,” Cook said.

But the money wasn’t the only draw. “The majority of us are patriotic and want to help support the mission. We still get to serve, and we still get that camaraderie,” said Cook, who also has worked for other contractors, building U.S. embassies around the world, since leaving the Air Force in 1995. “And it looks good on a résumé. If you can handle working daily in a war zone, the daily stress level in the U.S. is no comparison.”

Contracted employees can find themselves working in all sorts of conditions — from remote desert locations to an office in Baghdad’s Green Zone. Big companies such as KBR or Xe (formerly Blackwater Worldwide) often have their own compounds apart from troops, but that doesn’t mean the quarters are any nicer.

“We generally live in the same conditions as the troops we support,” Cook said. “If they’re in hooches, so are we. If tents are all that’s available, then we’re in tents. The military treats us pretty well. Really what we’re there for is to take care of them.”

Of course, there are differences. You’ll pay higher taxes as a contractor, and you may not experience the same level of camaraderie with the troops as you did when you were one.

In the military, your combat pay is likely tax-free. For a contractor — or any civilian — it’s not. However, if you’re working anywhere overseas for 330 days or more in 12 months, the first $80,000 is tax-free, according to the IRS’ Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. Because most contracts are a year in length, this exclusion often applies.

Once you’re over there, you may find you don’t have much authority over the military personnel, “even if you are equivalent to an officer,” Rios said.

A possible drawback to working as a contractor is that you probably won’t be earning retirement contributions from your employer, Cook said. An absolute benefit: “If there’s a family emergency or something like that, we can get on an airplane tomorrow.”

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Getting hired

Military veterans have a huge edge in war-zone hiring. Here’s what our sources say you need to do to land the job:

• Get the essentials — passport, medical records — in order.

Before you can redeploy overseas, you must obtain a civilian passport. This can be done while still in the service on most bases, often at a discount. Make sure your medical and dental records are up to date. Most contract jobs will require you to pass a physical. Emergency-essential personnel may be required to have all inoculations, including anthrax, up to date.

• Make a list of all of your technical skills.

When you’re a year or more away from the end of your service, write down all of the technical skills you’ve learned in the military. Use everyday language, and prepare an explanation of your skills in layman’s terms — free of military acronyms.

• Get your certifications up to date.

You may need to start on this well before your final day in uniform.

• Start figuring out what jobs you’re qualified to do.

Visit Web sites such as ClearanceJobs.com and IntelligenceCareers.com to see what’s available and what the qualifications are.

• Make connections while you’re still in uniform.

It’s no coincidence that contractors often work in the same field, using the same equipment, as they did in the service. Many once served alongside contractors and learned enough before leaving the military to get a head start on their civilian career.

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Job snapshot

A list of jobs posted on the AllIraqJobs.com, ClearanceJobs.com and Monster.com, by industry as of January.

• Construction

Construction manager

Various engineer positions

• Telecommunications

Field service engineer

IT specialist

• Security

Personal security detail

K-9 handler

• Logistics

Supply chain specialist

Logistics coordinator