I've been contacted by a couple of headhunters that found my resume` online.  They're wanting me to work on F-16s for a 'friendly' ME foreign government.  The companies are legit--I saw them several times at various locations throughout my career.  The pay is unbelievable and tax free....it's enough to pay off my house, buy a new truck and have enough left over to start a small business within one year.

I can handle the family separation and my wife is on board with the idea.  She understands that it's a one-last-time deal, and if we're smart about it, we'll never have to worry about money again--with my pension and a $10/hr job, we'll be living as well we are now (making pretty decent money for this area)


Do we have any flight line contractors who could give some advice or describe the life of a contractor?  Whenever something sounds too good to be true.....I'd like to hear from anyone who has been there--everything from daily operations to housing to emergency trips back to CONUS

Thanks

Define "worthwhile" in terms of money, energy spent, experience, time, etc.  

Worth is a relative word.

Sounds like one of those $200k tax free gigs that were big in Iraq for a while. As long as you are gonna be on a secured airbase and not driving convoys then I would say sounds like a good deal. Good way to get your house paid off and like you said, never have to worry about money again.

Or is this gonna be a "we can't tell you where we will station you until you get hired", they might want to send you to airbases about to get overrun by ISIS to fix up a few F16's for flights out of the AO...

I have no personal experience with it but I know a couple of guys that considered the contracting route. Two guys in my department and my neighbor. One did it, leaving a Lt position to do it for a year. My neighbor considered a separation leaving the Coast Guard for a ship protection contract, his wife did not want him to so he re-upped. And another co-worker said he has looked into it as an option if he decided to leave, not sure what area..

The only thing I heard one of them say is that pay delays are an issue with some agencies...

Legitimate question, and it's hard to answer with specifics....but I'll try.

1)  I'm sick and tired of working for someone else.  If I do a good job, it keeps the boss from climbing my back--I make plenty of money at this job, so I'm not complaining about my wage....I'm definitely not hurting, but I'm not getting ahead like I had hoped.  

2)  The job market in SC isn't what anyone would call 'robust' so I'm not going to get anything better than what I've already got without relocating.

3)  I look at my mortgage statement and it crushes me to realize that I'll be paying on this house for another 20 years.  I can't sell my house for anywhere near what I paid for it--and I didn't overpay....we just don't have any growth in this area and nobody is buying unless it's a steal.

Taking a contractor position is a quick way to get out from under the mortgage and the need to work on somebody else's terms.   I remember my USAF deployments and they weren't bad.  There was the typical stupid rules/regulations, but nothing that got my panties in a wad.  The only issue I ever saw was that we never had enough people to do the job right--scheduled maintenance always sucked up several hours/day, and the jets were breaking every flight so it was pretty much a guaranteed 12 hr shift every day.  We'd usually get 1 day off each week.  Granted, there wasn't a lot to do while on locked down on base, so the long duty days were a blessing in disguise by keeping us from being bored.

What is the typical daily work load?
What kind of expenses would I be looking at if the base isn't a US coalition facility?
What kind of security can I expect to see in Belad or Abu Dhabi?
Is housing typically on post or off?
If you've contracted before, would you do it again?

Yeah, these are things I'm been wondering about.  Thanks for the insight--definitely something to ask about.

You need to read in to what the contract does and does not entail.  Sounds weird, but work through it with food, transportation, security, equipment/ tools, pay, leaves/ vacations, emergencies, communication... everything you need to perform the work needed at a very different location.

Everything from internet connectivity, toilets, living spaces, all o fit.

Quoted this time because Urbanredneck got in before I finished my reply last time.

Sound advice--thank you.  I'll work these items into my list of questions to ask.

Not tax free per se. Tax free up to 98k and to meet this obligation you will be required to be out of the country for over 330 days.

Pay is generally quoted in annual figures because it sounds awesome but one needs to break it down to really get to the nitty gritty. How much you really take home is based on how they break it down.

Most of the time you will get an hourly rate and a "plus up" to equal to hardship pay and hazardous duty pay up to so many hours say like 60 hours then anything over that you will receive a flat rate which would be equal to your base pay. Most of the time you will be working 80 hrs a week. I've worked upwards to 112. Some companies try to give you a high per diem rate to defer from the tax free status that Hazardous Duty pay receives and is figured into your annual salary. As civiliians we do not qualify for hardship pay or Haz-Duty pay so the high per diem rate compensates for this. When traveling you would receive flat hourly rate pay, and companies will set your paid leave accrual by your hours worked. The companies I've worked for allowed you to earn 2 weeks every 4 months generally. One is allowed to and encouraged to visit destinations outside of the US. Several companies I worked for allowed for LWOP, many people would take a few days in Dubai, Qatar, or elsewhere where it is less restrictive. Holiday pay varied. Some you got double time others nothing. End of Contract bonuses are a nice benefit to recieve and it encourages many do finish a year and reup for the next.

Housing will generally be in a housing compound and transportation will be provided. It is encouraged that you stay in the compounds. You sometimes have a choice and can use your own money and the money that the compnay provides to secure yourself housing and a vehicle. I know people in Kuwait and Qatar who have done this. Doing that one loses the security living in a US compound.

I haven't worked in Saudi but know several who have and they have quirky laws and Religious Police. Friday's are family days so you are generally encouraged to stay at home or risk getting harassed by the RP. I was told by an aquaintence that while sitting at a table in a restaurant alone waiters arrived and placed a screen between the occupied table and an empty table then a Saudi Family sat at that table. Weeks run Sun-Thurs but it wont matter as you will be working.

The best thing is to get into a routine, plan your R&R, take R&R, watch the bank balance grow. Don't be one of the guys who returnes on 1st R&R and show off pictures of your 60k BMW you just bought and cannot drive. Secure a good CPA that understands overseas contractors.

That's some pretty good and very specific info--thank you very much.  

I love this place for resources like this guy.  Nothing really replaces having a voice of experience for hard-to-reach subjects and spaces.

fas2c, thanks for piping up man.

Just trying to help. Most times you learn as you go and it helps to have a voice of experience.

Also bear in mind that all contracts are different. I worked on one contract where I knew and worked with everyone previously and was in contact with them prior to signing my contract. Everything was the same but a small detail in the benfits exempted me to buy company blocks stock at reduced prices and the ability to take advantage of fleet vehicle pricing. Also health and dental was different. Now I knew what everyone else was making going in but I was blind to the benefits then was pissed that I was excluded. Had I known I could have made some changes prior, but after speaking w/ HR they told me I would have to wait until I renegotiated my contract. I assumed we would be the same, I assumed wrong.

Good luck.

Just to add to great info: Understand the fine print; make sure you know how and if they can alter your contact. I have seen personally some terrible things happen to peoples pay and it is not always the company's fault. An example would be limiting the hours you can work to below 84 hours a week; another would be losing HAZ and Family Sep pay (all of which I have seen happen and only one was due to a shady company move)

I've been contracting for about 5 years with 3 different companies in roughly the same line of work, it can be awesome but it wears you out, my op tempo is higher than most SOF guys I know. I'm gone a min of 6 months a year, and some years it's as many as 9 months away. It's no way to keep a family, so if you do it, do it for the short term, like a year to a year and a half, then GTFO and go live your life. prior to this I was in the Navy for about 10 years.

I contracted with L-3 Vertex from 05-06 in Iraq.  Something that is never mentioned is after you return and do your taxes for that year is be prepared to be audited by the IRS.

Their computers flagged me for tax year 2005 because of my income earned over seas or in another country and the difference in pay between 2004 and 2005.

Thankfully, I like to take pictures of the places I have been and have always done so even while in active duty during the early 90's.  

I sent the IRS pictures of the aircraft that flew me over to Kuwait (World Airways MD-11) and the tent I stayed in.  The trailers I slept in at Taji, Iraq and the return tickets of the flight I returned home on (British Airways)  

One month later I received a letter from the IRS stating that everything was now good to go.  

I've been contracting since 2003. I got fucked up so bad in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2012 that I was in a coma for 45 days and my heart stopped twice. It has been 3 solid years of recovery and rehabilitation and missing my old line of work and way of life. I finally got cleared by the doctors two weeks ago and I am headed back on another contract - to Kabul this time - in just a few days.

So, is it worth it? Hell fucking yes.

ATACORION is right. You will be most likely be working 80 hour weeks and living in austere conditions, or at least your standard of living will be dropping considerably. I'm not sure where you are going or who you are going with - all of that matters a great deal when you start talking about your standard of living. Some have it better than others, and it just depends on the contract.

As far as what it does to a family...it can be devastating or the best thing in the world.

My first wife of 5 years bit the dust about a year into me being gone, around mid 2004. I lost everything but got it all back plus some because I was just making insane money. I stayed single and working over there until 2011 when I got married to a woman that I fell in love with and trust beyond all doubt. We had only been married 7 months when I went down hard in Kandahar, like I said earlier. I was barely above the invalid level when I got home to her, she had to feed me, move me, exercise me, clean my tracheotomy...hell, even wipe my ass. She stood by me. She worked double overtime to make sure the bills got paid. I just gave her Durable Power of Attorney because, even if she did decide to split on this upcoming contract and take everything we have, she fucking deserves every bit of it and more. But she won't.

http://havokjournal.com/culture/its-a-pirates-life-for-me-jumping-on-the-contracting-boat/