Hello everyone:

I'm cleared to go, just sitting around now waiting to fly out.

The wait could be weeks, but my state-side accomodation are nice and I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

This time I have a one-year contract, I have to take two R&R breaks out of country and I can divide my 30-days 'vacation' time into thirds.

Best wishes to all.

 

Have a safe trip Dave.

 

Good luck to ya Dave! Safe travels

 

Hello Everyone:

I arrived in country Monday April 16th. after spending the weekend in Dubai, UAE waiting for the flinal flight.

Spent almost a week at a transient camp facility before getting to this Forward Operating Base.
I was told about 5000 employees a month were passing through the transient camp, this includes new-hires, those coming & going on R&R, and those leaving employment. I was in a very large 'circus' style tent that I figured could hold about a 100 bunkbeds. That tent is scheduled to be replaced, but until then the leaks due to the seasonal rains are soaking many mattresses and is some places no bunkbeds were set as the leakage was deamed too much.

Now that I'm at a Forward Operating Base (FOB), I'm fortunate in that I have a private room in an Alaska Tent, while others live in these tents in an open bay bunkbed arrangement. My room is simple, about 7' high plywood walls with open tops, a bunkbed so I can store stuff on the upper bed, a latteral file cabinet as my dresser, a plastic three-drawer on casters as a night table, and a small lockable cabinet for valuables.

Four of us have a bunkroom in the back of this tent, the front of the tent is the office where I work. In comparison others around here have their office in their room, so their bunkbed is behind a sheet as a curtain and their desk is between their bed and the door.

Its a couple hundred yards walk to the Dining Facility (DFAC), about a hundred to the shower facility and decent toilets (port-a-johns are interspersed), laundry is a short hike. Considering when I was in-country back in 2010, I have better sleeping quarters but a much greater hike to everything else; the food here is better than at the transient camp but not as good as back then.

Afghanistan is already winding down. I'm told that the DFAC will close down early this Summer and my group will be one of the last to leave later this Summer. I'm told my job is in high demand and so I'll be reassigned, that suggests that many may be released before their year is up due to 'lack of work.' When I arrived in-country we were briefed that we came onboard at the end of the hiring phase, that going forward recruitment would drop off.

On the news yesterday I read that Afghanistan and the U.S. have aggreed to a security pack that picks up from 2014 to 2024. Iirc the US will maintain a few bases here and not involve itself locally nor use Afghanistan as a launching point, I figure that mean the U.S. stays here to protect Afghanistan from whatever external threats that may arise. I suppose that my job would continue on but at a lower total compensation as I'm presuming that by then the country would be reclassified as less hazardous.

Compared to my job the last time I was over here, this is as dream job.

My work day is 13 hours straight hours, with an hours time to go eat versus 10 hours stretched across the 24-hour day. I still have time to get other things done too thus my off time is not booked up with too much other stuff that I need to take care of.

I spend the majority of my time in the air conditioned office because the equipment outside doesn't need much attending to. I work the night shift and so I'm about in sync with family hours back home, just as I'm posting now.

Now that I'm settled in, I'll try to get back to more frequently.

Best wishes to everyone

 

no room service?

 

Hello Aaron:

Tell me about it.

Sensable military rules actually.

No food in berthing areas, they don't even want food mailed to you.

Food attracks mice, 40 have been trapped around this tent since whenever someone started counting.

Mice attrack snakes, most of which are venomous.

So far this year only one soldier and one contractor have suffered snake bites.

Likely the contractor was sent home at no pay to recuperate and maybe return to work.

 

It's the weekend

Here in Afghanistan, every day is a work day.

We actually make less on our 'weekend' (last two days of the payroll week).

This is because of the way my company pays us.

When I worked aviation contracts state-side I noticed that for a particular job skill the overall prevailing wage is about the same country wide, but the taxable wages versus per diem wages on an hourly basis varies.

The higher the per diem in an area then the lower the 'basic hourly rate' and when added together mostly comes out the same.

Ovetime was all taxable and had a multiplier.

The company I'm working for this time does it as follows:

We only get 'uplift' (i.e. paid for the situation over here) for the first five days of the work week and then only for the first eight hours of those work day.

The remaining four hours of the regular work day is at the base hourly rate (no uplift) which is recorded as overtime hours for accounting purposes but there is no OT multiplier like time and a half.

The last two 12-hour days of the payroll week are booked as overtime, and without any 'uplift' and without any OT multiplier.

The 'killer' wages accumulate simply because of all the hours worked plus the expatriot tax advange taken toghether affords one a greater take-home pay.

If my residency was in a non-income tax state I'd be even better off.

The base wages on an hourly basis are real low compared to what a similar skill would be paid in Connecticut.

I might make more back in Connecticut than say working in the gulf coast states with the nicer situation there, and with that the government doesn't afford the employers to pay as much up-lift.

We only get paid well because the government's contract with the employer stipulates the rates commensurate with the overall situation.

These up-lift rates are uniform across the country, when I go on MRE's I don't get additional compensation.

Such it is.

 

Hello:

I found a couple on the net.

Delaram District

Forward Operating Base Delaram

Best wishes to all.

 

Hello:

I'm minus a filling

Hopefully I can get a temporary filling when I get to the main base

Otherwise I anticipate they'll fly me at least to Dubai

 

That seems like a bad place to lose and/or need dental work. I could be wrong, but I feel like being stateside would bring better quality dental work.

Good luck!!!

 

Ya definitely the wrong place.

Before we come over we have to have a panoramic x-ray and a cert by the dentist that the teeth / dental work 'looks' like its good for a year to come.

Eh such it is.

At least it occured coincident with heading back to the main base.

As far as doctoring goes, I'm told Dubai has a good rep.

As for insurance, should I have selected dental (I can't recall), overseas there are no pre-pays & no deductibles to meet, but you have to pay up front and then file for reimbursement.

Whereas stateside I'd still have to pay all out of pocket as the deductable is hugh.

 

Call it what ya want, Divine intervention works for me.

I was told to go to the company's clinic right after I get back to the main base.

Get to the base mid morning, sick call by one posting was at 2 in the afternoon.

Took the shuttle over and get to sick call and there I get the run around.

First its the wrong tent, this tent is for annual medical renewals.

I'm led over to a building where I'm promptly thrown out.

Sorry they say, the 2pm posting is in error, innoculations are now and sick call is at 4 pm.

No I can't hang around, I have to come back later.

I then asked to you attend to dental issues, and they said nope.

I ask what are you going to do about my tooth later that you coulding do now.

Nothing they replied, so I said great and your telling me to come back later for Nothing!

They call the shuttle to make a special trip to pick me up.

I'm told of a private practice dental office on base and I get dropped off there about 2:30.

They said I have the best insurance options, and they have an opening at 4 pm.

The dentist checks me out, gives me good news that my lower tooth is intact and its a simple job of giving me a new permanent filling while I'm there.

The dentist says, plan on a crown when you get the chance.

I paid $99 cash out of a ~$600 bill.

I was told the clinic is expensive for the services they do provide, but that's much cheaper than the free flight to Dubai after which you put yourself up at your expense until you get patched up and sequenced in for the free flight back.

So, no more crunching with that tooth!

 

Hello from Afghanistan.

The facility I worked at here is shutdown.

The crew has been disbanded.

I don't know when I'm moving on, nor my final destination.

Be in touch as I can.

 

Hello from Afghanistan.

I was suppose to fly out of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) on Sunday July 15th.

Ended up flying out the following Sunday the 22nd.

Had a week to share the bunkroom with my site manager, and had a few chats.

Low visibility at the layover resulted in some guys having to overnight there, and flying to a different field on the following day for another overnight stay before they got to their destination.

I lucked out, I was able to continue on much later in the day and finally get to my destination, Kandahar.

While the others from my crew had specific destinations with facilities, I did not.

So when I got to Kandahar I went straight to the central offices to find out more.

After checking their reassignments, they said there are no more openings for my position in Afghanistan, and had me talk to the manager.

Because I still have a DoD clearance available (within two years of last use) the manager asked for my resume to email off to Qatar.

Monday night the Site Mamager for Qatar calls me to explore how I would best fit within his organization and says he could use me for my electical trouble shooting skills.

At $5 per minute that was the most expensive and shortest interview I've ever had.

He was only calling from Qatar to Afghanistan, but the satellite routes the call back through the United States to get to me.

So now I wait.

Tuesday morning I was moved out of the Kandahar transient berthing to the tents for the Prime Power group here.

Starting at midnight tonight I'll be back to my old shift, san an exclusive computer to use.

The crew here figure they have about a month left before they too shutdown their facility.

The facility shuts down as soon as a central generating station comes on line and its operated by another company with employees from Asia.

They don't have any indicators as to what follows for them.

Nor do I have any guarantee that I'm heading to Qatar, much less when nor what the position / earnings might be?

I'm thankful that the head of my group here is reaching out for me.

 

Good luck out there Dave. Hopefully you can continue being employed for the foreseeable future.