Yesterday a friend of mine who runs a small security company here in Iraq emailed me. He is standing up a protection detail and wanted my opinion on tactics and equipment running the roads of Iraq; Tactics, SOP's, hard car or soft? I have been giving it some thought and here is where I am at.I am willing to speculate I’m as well traveled in Iraq as anyone I’ve met. I’ve been just about everywhere between Kuwait and Iran, all points in between. And I’ve traveled every way possible.
I’ve gone in military convoy up armored hummers at 40MPH. I’ve run the Fallujah Baghdad gauntlet in a 15 truck convoy, thin skinned white F350's. I’ve rolled all over in blacked out Pajeros in local dress. Diplomatic convoys with armored suburbans and helo cover.
CSA is the least caring and the worst paying here. Lessons learned from bitter experience:
Your medical plan is via a company called VanBuren, and they don't like to pay. So it's all out of pocket first then you have to fight with the dealer to get paid.
Housing you get a talk up of a shared apartment, in the real side is you get stuck in a 3BR apartment, and the #3 gets' the maids quarters. The furnature is used junk.
Rent a cars, you get told you share with one other, sometimes as many as five on a car.
When you request your wage statement, the fees for the car and housing are on it, and the cars are not distribuited fairly. They are paying a lot for crap. If you complane to hr you become a target for pay back.
Talk with the managment who is hiring you, and get the details in writing, accecpt nothing less. These people are skin flints. Is the furnishing new or old? How many days you get a rental car? Clear standards on how raises are approved and proper counceling in getting pay raises. Anual increase is about 3%
Work 48 hour work week is a normal week. Thursday is 1.25 Time and friday is 1.5 time (CSA Weekend)
Leave is collected, even though on the contract it states you get 192 hours, so you have to earn it first. Make sure on your first day you have the 192 hours up front.
If you decide to leave and give 30 days notice that you get all bonus earned up to that time. You will see vaugeness in the contract and the story on the ground, mgt will adjust things to their advantage.
Most of the upper managment receive their slot not on merit by nepotism.
The company is there to make money, and you don't rate high on the social scale.
KBR truck drivers are quitting as fast as they can get to Kuwait. There is a back up at the out process desk at Camp Doha. They don't take well to being captured and killed. Heck some of the ITT team are more than worried about it. These are tough dudes and I respect their nerve.Want to bet the next bunch of truck drivers comes from the third world where life is a lot cheaper? There are plenty here already. You should see the assembly yard in the evenings. It's a little UN of third world types. Some in turbans, some in long robes, and those long shirts the Arab's are fond of. The trucks become campers for this kind of work.
Heck I scared my former commo LT here. Asked him to listen into the CB radio chatter around here. Damm little of it was in English. Some of those trucks are tall enough with sightlines to call in directed fire. Perhaps I will remind my current commo LT about this possibility and get the drivers to shut off the radios when in camp.
As for commo, Threya sat phones are common here.
The cell phone system has not made it to here yet. Seems bad guys tend to trash un attended stations. Such is life.
Near other bases, cell phones are the tool of choice when convoys get attacked. Very similar to the U boat situation off the US coast during WWII. From the moment they leave the yard, its a high stakes game of tag.
One driver told me a story of a convoy that was attacked. The lead truck had its tires blown out. A snatch team of bad guys pulled the driver from his truck. Seems another driver further back, pulled out of line and ran over the snatch team, then picked up the stricken driver. Good thinking dude!
It's all family relations here. One cousin calls another and the trucks are taken. If they are lucky the drivers are left with water and their shoes. Hijackings are a real business. Seems some locals are taking trucks and storing them to use later for their own businesses. Damaged tucks are stripped clean down to the sheet metal. This is not a hobby, but business.
Notice how the government will issue weapons but said nothing about vehicles. This base has some 'up armor' Humvee but not enough if this document is accurate. I know the MP's like the Up Armor because it will keep them alive if someone shoots or blows off an IED near them. Standard Humvee will swiss cheese. Fortunately I have yet to witness any of that. Saw one with a bullet hole near a tail light once, that hardly counts except to the crew.
The mechanics next door have a hard job of fixing the broken Humvees. As civilians we are used to part failures. Got to see a four wheel drive transfer case that was trashed when a bomb sent a fragment through its case. This isnt your normal 4x4 repair shop.
Good news air cover is back. I see a lot of armed choppers every day. Apaches, Kiowa, black hawks, and a lot more 'fast movers'. We even have a crew of Air Force 'forward air controllers' here. Since they are kind of spooky in nature, I don't take their photos without approval.
