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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on April 22, 2008 at 4:08pm

On this very website there is a jobs link. On the jobs link there is a company called Wackenhut which has jobs available for overseas deployment in Iraq and Afghanastan. Wouldn't be too bad if you and the wife went together, especially since you would make a combined 240k+ tax free. Ugh makes me sick to think of making that much money :) hope it helps, good luck

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Permalink Reply by Joe on April 22, 2008 at 4:51pm

Actually only about the first $84K is tax free, so everything after $168K we would pay taxes on. Oh darn.

I have actually seen that add on this site. I have also looked into KBR and also CSA. I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with any of these or any others to try.

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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on April 24, 2008 at 12:37pm

I wish I could go, the allure of money is always good plus the career building experience. Unfortunately in life I took things a little backwards. I have 3 kids and have been a roofer since 1999. It took until this year for me to open my eyes and realize I wasn't putting anything towards a retirement (not making enough to) and I had to start working harder to make a firefighting career a potential reality.

I wish you good luck, I hope you and the wife both get hired. I am sure it will be a rewarding experience and will also give you both stories to tell for a lifetime.

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Permalink Reply by D.C. Sterbenz on April 24, 2008 at 1:03pm

I am not 100% sure but on firehouse.com they also have an area for employment. I would check there.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Borton on May 20, 2008 at 11:10am

You still thinking about overseas work? I have been doing alot of research lately, and been spending alot of time lately talking by email to guys in Iraq. It has given me more info than I could have imagined. Also, on firehouse.com in the forums, there is a thread entitled overseas firefighting. It is like 160 pages long and full of great info. I can pass the info that I have along or you can contact alot of the guys that are already over there. My feedback has been this:
- A ton of money. It is about 9K per month.
- WSI (Wackenhut) works 6 or 7 - 16hours days . Nothing else to do there really.
- KBR works either 24 or 48 on and 24 off. About the same $.
- It gets freakin hot. 130 degrees in July and August. And remember, you are wearing a flak vest under your gear!
- Firefighting (when it happens) is ON BASE. The guys I have spoken with said there are very few fires though. One guy said he had 2 fires in 10 months. Depends on the base you are assigned to.
- The advice I have been given by many is this: Do not go overseas to get firefighting experience. You can take classes and gain some certs. It is all about the money and to see something different.
- Also, you get R&R. Every 120 days, you get 10 days off to travel.
- Remember, if you do not like it, you can leave. I heard of a couple of guys that wanted to do EMS overthere, and found out that as FF's you don't do that. They were back on a plane home within 8 hours.
- Bottom line is, do not do stupid things, and you will most likely be fine. Just think of where your retirement account could be after 3 years over there !!
- I would be happy to send you some emails from people that are there right now. Let me know. - Matt

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Permalink Reply by Joe on May 20, 2008 at 3:32pm

I would very much like you to send me that list of people. As far as your points, it is about the same as I have found out. I too have done a lot of research and have made some good contacts with KBR and WSI.

I am being told that the living conditions and assignment locations are much better with WSI as they are mostly on larger instillations, where as KBR has a lot of the smaller "out posts". Can you confirm any of this?

Please send any info to me at: joelombardi@ intrstar.net I would be happy to return the favor.

Joe

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Permalink Reply by Robert on May 20, 2008 at 8:30pm

Look up Both CSA and LSI. these are a couple good companys for overseas contracts. I am currently employed at Camber Corporation as a DOD contractor. But Am not overseas and not doing Firefighting or Ems jobs. But I have had several offers from the aforementioned companys. Do a search online for overseas contractors. I have seen jobs listed for anywhere from 85,000 up to 250,000.00 for a one year stint. Most companys offer a option to extend for more time. I am not sure of the option to deploy together but I am sure that these companys would work with you. Also be mindfull that anything after 90,000.00 is taxed by the United States government.

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Permalink Reply by Robert on May 20, 2008 at 8:32pm

You do get 10 days off to travel. Keep in mind that that ten days also includes travel time to and from your destination. Anything after that and you will get docked pay.

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Permalink Reply by Joe on May 21, 2008 at 5:47pm

Thank you for the input, but CSA does not pay nearly as much as WSI or KBR. Jobs with CSA pay about $85K where as the same job at KBR or WSI would pay well over $100K.

Also CSA, while basically an American company, maintains the fact that they are based in the Cayman Islands. This causes the employees to lose any rights or privileges they would have under US labor laws, may effect how much and to whom they pay taxes, and effects the availability of benefits for the employee and also any dependents that may remain at home in the US.

As far as the taxes go, actually only about the first $83,900 is tax free, and in order to qualify you must be outside the US for no less than 330 days in a 365 day period. This is interesting because, you cannot remain "in country" (be it Iraq, Kuwait, etc), for more than "X" amount of time (I think it is 120 days for Iraq). If you do, you would be considered a resident and thus subject to that countries tax and other regulations. The way most companies avoid this, is make the employee leave the country for a period of time every 4 months or so. WSI will pay 100% of your airfare back to your "point of origin" in the US, or they will pay up to $500 round trip to go anywhere else in the world. So, a lot of guys go on little mini vacations to Europe or other destinations.

Thanks to everyone that has offered advice and input. We have done most of the research, so now I think we are looking for first hand accounts and info from people that have done it. Mostly info on the differences between KBR and WSI.

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Permalink Reply by mark howder on July 18, 2008 at 12:03pm

I would appreciate any help that you could pass on to me. Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by FETC on July 18, 2008 at 4:38pm

I know I guy who did a one year contract to the Marshall Islands as a firefighter. Sounded great, big pay, fishing, surfing, etc. He worked 6 -24 hour days straight /with 1 off. All at straight time. Add up those hours and you are getting paid the same as me, without the increased hazard.

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Permalink Reply by Xterrasaint on August 28, 2008 at 8:37am

Hey Fellas, As a firefighter here in Kuwait ( 2 1/2 years now) I can tell you first hand that all of the $$$ figures you have heard are dead wrong. They may have been true at one time, but mostly are wrong. I have friends that came from/went to Iraq with both KBR and WSI. For the longest time they were making more $$$ than we were.It has reversed now and has been in our favor for some time now.

Having said that... the $$$ is not everything. I know, I know. When I was stateside working for a municipality I heard about the $ and the tax free status and the allure of a foreign and exotic adventure. All of this is mostly true, however as far a firefighting experience goes........ nill.
Sure, we get calls here that you'll never experience in the states. EX: fire in an M1A2 Abrahms Main Battle Tank, unexpended buried explosive ordinance that likes to detonate after it finally surfaces, off base MVA responses for vehicle that have struck a herd of camels ( don't laugh...it happens. And if you think a deer causes a lot of damage you haven't seen anything until you see what a camel can do to a car traveling in excess of 120 KMH.) Overall, however, we have a slower tempo of calls than even your most remote small departments in the states. At the headquarters base, we'll average about four to six calls per day, but they're general fire alarms triggered by dust (sand) or cleaning products.The rest of the calls are medicals for a knee injury at the gym or dehydration.
You will NOT gain any experience here. Does it look good on a resume? Hard to say. I have been trying to get back with a municipality for over a year now.( Left Indiana to come here and now reside in Colorado) Not that any of us can just walk onto a job, but obviously what is on my resume from here is not enough to have landed a job stateside as of yet.
I have read some of the posts regarding certifications. It is true that you can gain educational certifications here, and relatively quickly. However, we have some employees that are certified out the yin yang ( as high as fire officer four, HAZMAT Tech, and multiple driver/operator certs but can't dress themselves their gear when we do get a call). Also, a lot of these individuals have all the certifications on paper and zero experience to back it all up.None.
To sum it all up, I'll close with this thought. Ask yourself if it is worth the dollar amount to be separated from your families, in a foreign country subject to their laws and customs, and working for a company that,lets face it, is only looking out for their own best interests. There are no unions here, or any type of legal representation. I'm sure you have all read about the defrauding and war-profiteering charges. That is for another discussion entirely. It goes on with EVERY contract company over here. None are any better than the others. There are perks and benefits with each company...and it seems the grass is always greener on the other side.Oh...no grass here. Well, sand then.
If any of you need any more information so as to make a better informed decision, please don't hesitate to contact me. I promise that I won't bash my company or any others, but will give you an honest, no BS assessment of my experience here.
"You may not always get what you want, and you may not always want what you get."

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