Offered a job in Afghanistan! Do I go?!
Discussion
petop said:
Chinese w
ehouse....all gone now. With more American "good living" military influence now in the main bases there has been a good clear out. There are still women out there both civilian and military but they can afford to be choosy.....just wait until you fly through Dubai and you will see the women who worked in the mythical wehouse have moved there.....allegedly!
Saying that though, i shared a office for a bit in Kabul with a ex Hungarian Grand Prix Grid Girl (2016/2015).....my ego ill admit did take a boost when i walked into the packed out dining facility with her!
I'm surprised that the wehouse....all gone now. With more American "good living" military influence now in the main bases there has been a good clear out. There are still women out there both civilian and military but they can afford to be choosy.....just wait until you fly through Dubai and you will see the women who worked in the mythical wehouse have moved there.....allegedly! Saying that though, i shared a office for a bit in Kabul with a ex Hungarian Grand Prix Grid Girl (2016/2015).....my ego ill admit did take a boost when i walked into the packed out dining facility with her!
ehouse was closed down; it was a great source of int for our Chinese and Russian friends. In fact, I'm not surprised it was closed down!! It's nice to have a profession which can take you to some amazing places - and there will always be knocking shops!!selym said:
I'm surprised that the wehouse was closed down; it was a great source of int for our Chinese and Russian friends. In fact, I'm not surprised it was closed down!! It's nice to have a profession which can take you to some amazing places - and there will always be knocking shops!!
Don't think OP is equipped to work in a knocking shop and I can think of better jobs to see the world! ehouse was closed down; it was a great source of int for our Chinese and Russian friends. In fact, I'm not surprised it was closed down!! It's nice to have a profession which can take you to some amazing places - and there will always be knocking shops!!Flooble said:
selym said:
I'm surprised that the wehouse was closed down; it was a great source of int for our Chinese and Russian friends. In fact, I'm not surprised it was closed down!! It's nice to have a profession which can take you to some amazing places - and there will always be knocking shops!!
Don't think OP is equipped to work in a knocking shop and I can think of better jobs to see the world! ehouse was closed down; it was a great source of int for our Chinese and Russian friends. In fact, I'm not surprised it was closed down!! It's nice to have a profession which can take you to some amazing places - and there will always be knocking shops!!Kccv23highliftcam said:
MC Bodge said:
ben_h100 said:
Definitely true. When I was there the blokes on the support/IT contracts had been there for years. Keeping the wife flush/happy with the extra money. One bloke lived in Canada and only went back a couple of times a year.
I've met engineering contractors like that.Some didn't bother going home very often.
Most were on their 2nd or 3rd (often Thai or eastern European) wife, paying for the wives and the their various offspring.
Living in cheap digs, working long hours abroad to pay for their dependents to live in nice houses that they rarely saw.....It seemed a strange life to me.
petop said:
Having just left Afghanistan in June this year after 5 years out there working for NATO (not as a contractor but a NATO agency) i can give you some thoughts on what to expect. I missed the start of this thread by a few days as i am now with the UK MOD down the Falklands which has worse bloody internet than i did in Afghanistan......bitter at the moment is a understatement!
Anyway here goes....
If you are on a NATO contract, working actually for NATO you will be with NCIA, NSPA or NATO in HQ RS in Kabul. If you are based in Kabul you could be at HQ RS in the Green Zone as they call it. This is where the headquarters is and is made up of the NATO nations with the US taking primacy. But you will see Brits, Turks, Aussies and whoever else sends a odd handful of troops to support ops. Its safe enough to have a nice garden in the middle of it and rarely do you get rocket attacked but you do hear plenty of nearby bombs etc. They become the norm, trust me.
Elsewhere in Kabul you can be at the Airport or otherwise known as HKIA (Hamid Karzai International Airport). This is run by the Turks (useless!) and you will see Brits, Germans, US and now Portuguese military. This does get rocket attacked now and then and i have good video of Taliban launching rockets from the constantly never-built firing points....sorry i mean flats that overlook the base! But you will need to fly into HKIA to get to HQ RS using military helicopters as road movement between the airport and HQ RS stopped ages ago. The literally have mil helicopters like buses taking people to and from the 2 bases. The food in both is pretty good, the accom in HQ RS is tight to say the least but in HKIA you will be in each NATO agencies own compound which are single man rooms. Certainly in the NSPA compound you have en-suite not sure for NCIA.
The other place you could be is Kandahar where i was. Now this is a totally different kettle of fish and if you are IT then i dont think you will be going there as NCIA stopped going there when the US took over the base in 2016. Doubt also you will be NSPA as they dont send IT people there permanently. But just in case...
Kandahar is now run by the US with about 5000 military and Contractors there. Its massive to say the least. Its little America with any trace of the Brits being there a few years ago well and truly gone. Even to the point that the decent UK accom and canteen were abandoned as they were 240v and the US Contractors wont touch it unless it 110!!!
Kandahar or KAF as its known does get rocketed every now and then and you get used to it. Since the US started in the past year putting more and more aircraft there, they also put in some fun sounding and looking anti-missile defences. Think very big Gatling guns that spray bullets everywhere! The accom is pretty good for Afghanistan but the food is terrible, its US style poorly cooked.
Living as a civilian in a military base can get a lot of getting used to. On the US bases they are more contractor friendly than other nations. In fact i would say the Brits can be the worse but its easier if you were ex-mil going over than a new green civilian starting.
The time away from home you may well get used to but those back at home sometimes cant. I did 3 months on, 1 month off but that wasnt concrete and in fact my last stint i did close to 12 months on.
Im afraid some people earlier on are quoting pretty high expectations of salary and ill explain why.
Go back 5-10 years ago and pop star wages were available. In fact when i first started i was on $14,000 a month. This was when countries were spending a lot of their military budget on Afghanistan. When that started drying up the salaries went down. Also if you are working as a NATO employee even in Afghanistan there are set wages so 1k a day you are living in dreamland....stay in UK if you want that.
As a bog standard Consultant NATO IT guy i would be surprised if you are on more than 7-8k a month Sterling. If you are employed as a NATO International Civilian (NIC) you can get slightly more but you cannot stay more than 6 months of every 18 in Afghanistan. You get good money when you deploy out there but then you have to return to Europe where you get rubbish money but admittedly tax free. I hasten to add if you are a NIC the 90 day rule does not apply and you are considered tax free by HMRC but as a Consultant the 90 day rules applies.
The only people now on pop star wages are US Contractors, US citizens. This is because 80% of the contracts now are supporting US and under the LOGCAP (Google it) program they predominantly use US companies (DYNCORP or FLUOR for example) to provide support and if you are IT then you would need US clearance which means US citizen. They pay well with such an example i knew a US IT guy running a fuel management system who was on $190,000 a year to wait for a phone call to fix it or do low level maintenance using his laptop!
After all that would i suggest you go....yes. But only because it will soon all go over to the US and jobs will be harder and harder to get on. But seriously think about what you are going for.
Based on this review I would do it, it will be bloody hard but its a foot in the door and once in a lifetime opportunity which you may never get again.Anyway here goes....
If you are on a NATO contract, working actually for NATO you will be with NCIA, NSPA or NATO in HQ RS in Kabul. If you are based in Kabul you could be at HQ RS in the Green Zone as they call it. This is where the headquarters is and is made up of the NATO nations with the US taking primacy. But you will see Brits, Turks, Aussies and whoever else sends a odd handful of troops to support ops. Its safe enough to have a nice garden in the middle of it and rarely do you get rocket attacked but you do hear plenty of nearby bombs etc. They become the norm, trust me.
Elsewhere in Kabul you can be at the Airport or otherwise known as HKIA (Hamid Karzai International Airport). This is run by the Turks (useless!) and you will see Brits, Germans, US and now Portuguese military. This does get rocket attacked now and then and i have good video of Taliban launching rockets from the constantly never-built firing points....sorry i mean flats that overlook the base! But you will need to fly into HKIA to get to HQ RS using military helicopters as road movement between the airport and HQ RS stopped ages ago. The literally have mil helicopters like buses taking people to and from the 2 bases. The food in both is pretty good, the accom in HQ RS is tight to say the least but in HKIA you will be in each NATO agencies own compound which are single man rooms. Certainly in the NSPA compound you have en-suite not sure for NCIA.
The other place you could be is Kandahar where i was. Now this is a totally different kettle of fish and if you are IT then i dont think you will be going there as NCIA stopped going there when the US took over the base in 2016. Doubt also you will be NSPA as they dont send IT people there permanently. But just in case...
Kandahar is now run by the US with about 5000 military and Contractors there. Its massive to say the least. Its little America with any trace of the Brits being there a few years ago well and truly gone. Even to the point that the decent UK accom and canteen were abandoned as they were 240v and the US Contractors wont touch it unless it 110!!!
Kandahar or KAF as its known does get rocketed every now and then and you get used to it. Since the US started in the past year putting more and more aircraft there, they also put in some fun sounding and looking anti-missile defences. Think very big Gatling guns that spray bullets everywhere! The accom is pretty good for Afghanistan but the food is terrible, its US style poorly cooked.
Living as a civilian in a military base can get a lot of getting used to. On the US bases they are more contractor friendly than other nations. In fact i would say the Brits can be the worse but its easier if you were ex-mil going over than a new green civilian starting.
The time away from home you may well get used to but those back at home sometimes cant. I did 3 months on, 1 month off but that wasnt concrete and in fact my last stint i did close to 12 months on.
Im afraid some people earlier on are quoting pretty high expectations of salary and ill explain why.
Go back 5-10 years ago and pop star wages were available. In fact when i first started i was on $14,000 a month. This was when countries were spending a lot of their military budget on Afghanistan. When that started drying up the salaries went down. Also if you are working as a NATO employee even in Afghanistan there are set wages so 1k a day you are living in dreamland....stay in UK if you want that.
As a bog standard Consultant NATO IT guy i would be surprised if you are on more than 7-8k a month Sterling. If you are employed as a NATO International Civilian (NIC) you can get slightly more but you cannot stay more than 6 months of every 18 in Afghanistan. You get good money when you deploy out there but then you have to return to Europe where you get rubbish money but admittedly tax free. I hasten to add if you are a NIC the 90 day rule does not apply and you are considered tax free by HMRC but as a Consultant the 90 day rules applies.
The only people now on pop star wages are US Contractors, US citizens. This is because 80% of the contracts now are supporting US and under the LOGCAP (Google it) program they predominantly use US companies (DYNCORP or FLUOR for example) to provide support and if you are IT then you would need US clearance which means US citizen. They pay well with such an example i knew a US IT guy running a fuel management system who was on $190,000 a year to wait for a phone call to fix it or do low level maintenance using his laptop!
After all that would i suggest you go....yes. But only because it will soon all go over to the US and jobs will be harder and harder to get on. But seriously think about what you are going for.
If the house sells in the interim may cause complications but speak to a solicitor or seek advise before you do anything
Sa Calobra said:
MC Bodge said:
I've met engineering contractors like that.
Some didn't bother going home very often.
Most were on their 2nd or 3rd (often Thai or eastern European) wife, paying for the wives and the their various offspring.
Living in cheap digs, working long hours abroad to pay for their dependents to live in nice houses that they rarely saw.....It seemed a strange life to me.
Well the OP is already looking after her cats, offered her his house. Some didn't bother going home very often.
Most were on their 2nd or 3rd (often Thai or eastern European) wife, paying for the wives and the their various offspring.
Living in cheap digs, working long hours abroad to pay for their dependents to live in nice houses that they rarely saw.....It seemed a strange life to me.
Now he's got to share a tight space with testerone-fueled men.
TroubledSoul said:
Hang on, I have three cats, one of which I had before I met her. Two of which are brothers that it would have been cruel to split so I kept them. I'm not looking after "her" cats at all. The house deposit money we used actually came from HER inheritance hence why when it sells I have only asked for enough to get myself a deposit on another place and not the half that I could take by law. We haven't had any kind of acrimony so why start now? Jesus, why do people want to stick the boot in so much on here to the point that you have to explain your entire life to a granular level?!
because it's PH 
I recently asked for a good location to take my ex on holiday and suddenly she was a money grabbing wench and I was a weak man for paying for her
Don't worry about it
wouldn't go to Afghanistan though
I'm having a very bad week and can't handle any extra stress!
I remember that thread actually
Last night I had a fight with a bolt that's totally rounded and won't shift, which means my classic Impreza still has an exhaust which has sheared off at the downpipe flange and will have to be dealt with by a garage which pisses me off as I like doing things myself.
In addition to this I have to take my daily WRX STI for an MOT this afternoon which has been frantically rearranged due to the other car's issue. Just don't need it!
I remember that thread actually
Last night I had a fight with a bolt that's totally rounded and won't shift, which means my classic Impreza still has an exhaust which has sheared off at the downpipe flange and will have to be dealt with by a garage which pisses me off as I like doing things myself.
In addition to this I have to take my daily WRX STI for an MOT this afternoon which has been frantically rearranged due to the other car's issue. Just don't need it!
TroubledSoul said:
Hang on, I have three cats, one of which I had before I met her. Two of which are brothers that it would have been cruel to split so I kept them. I'm not looking after "her" cats at all. The house deposit money we used actually came from HER inheritance hence why when it sells I have only asked for enough to get myself a deposit on another place and not the half that I could take by law. We haven't had any kind of acrimony so why start now? Jesus, why do people want to stick the boot in so much on here to the point that you have to explain your entire life to a granular level?!
It was you that brought up the cats.The Selfish Gene said:
because it's PH
I recently asked for a good location to take my ex on holiday and suddenly she was a money grabbing wench and I was a weak man for paying for her
Don't worry about it
wouldn't go to Afghanistan though
Wasnt that the "ex" who was your de facto "not ex"?I recently asked for a good location to take my ex on holiday and suddenly she was a money grabbing wench and I was a weak man for paying for her
Don't worry about it
wouldn't go to Afghanistan though
I've done a bit out in Mons for NCIA and some of the guys there went routinely out to Afghan. Had a blast.
The one thing that it might do is open up a role in Mons/Brussels or the Hague. If you can get permie there it is 8k tax free for a techie A3 grade and everything you buy is pretty much tax free too.
And working there is like the public sector slowed down 10 times.
The one thing that it might do is open up a role in Mons/Brussels or the Hague. If you can get permie there it is 8k tax free for a techie A3 grade and everything you buy is pretty much tax free too.
And working there is like the public sector slowed down 10 times.
If it's clearance you're after then go take a contract in Telford, Cheltenham, Corsham, Farnborough etc. It'll pay more, you can often transfer the clearance to the next role, you won't be working daft hours and you'll be able to go outside when you're not in work (whether you'd want to in Telford is another question, but it won't be due to risk of having your head cut off).
GT03ROB said:
MC Bodge said:
The young lads presumably become the other types over time.
Heavy boozing, hookers and maintenance payments to (multiple) families.
Not all of us do!!Heavy boozing, hookers and maintenance payments to (multiple) families.
petop said:
GT03ROB said:
MC Bodge said:
The young lads presumably become the other types over time.
Heavy boozing, hookers and maintenance payments to (multiple) families.
Not all of us do!!Heavy boozing, hookers and maintenance payments to (multiple) families.
Nice car(s) ...... check
been with other half over 10 yrs ..... check
no maintenance payments from previous marriage ..... check
don't really drink .... ok maybe a bit, but we have a zero limit at work, fail & it's next flight home.
GT03ROB said:
petop said:
GT03ROB said:
MC Bodge said:
The young lads presumably become the other types over time.
Heavy boozing, hookers and maintenance payments to (multiple) families.
Not all of us do!!Heavy boozing, hookers and maintenance payments to (multiple) families.
Nice car(s) ...... check
been with other half over 10 yrs ..... check
no maintenance payments from previous marriage ..... check
don't really drink .... ok maybe a bit, but we have a zero limit at work, fail & it's next flight home.
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