Big money still lures workers to war zones

By ANDREW BUNCOMBE

HOUSTON - Wilson Menefee's face was beaming with the broadest of smiles. Minutes earlier he had been offered a job as a forklift operator paying five times his current wage. The year-long contract would allow him to pay off any debts, help out his mother and put aside some money for his two sons.

The only possible drawback was the job's location: Iraq.

"I'm not bothered [by the danger] - nothing bothers me," said Menefee, grinning. "The chances of something happening are the same here. I could step out of the door and get hit by a bus."

Menefee, 50, is one of hundreds of Americans eagerly applying every week for what must be some of the most dangerous jobs in the world - supporting US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The vast majority of these people are not careless thrill-seekers, nor are they attracted simply by the large wages that these jobs offer.

Rather, they are lured by what they and their families could do with that money and how they could use it to clear debts, help pay for their children's education and turn their lives around.

They know the dangers that come with the prospect of making these big wages - dozens of US-employed contractors have been killed in Iraq and two are still missing. On Monday, five foreign contractors, among them two private security specialists, were killed in Iraq, where they were working on the country's electricity infrastructure.

Yet with decent jobs scarce and with unemployment in the US - currently 5.6 per cent - at one of the highest levels in years, every one of those applying for jobs is making a calculated gamble they will not be among the statistics.

For the vast majority, the road to Iraq starts at the sort of recruitment fair in Houston, Texas, where Menefee was provisionally offered a position on Saturday morning.

Organised by Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a subsidiary of oil services giant Halliburton, these fairs are held across America to recruit people to support the 145,000 US troops in Iraq - cooking their meals, doing their laundry, delivering supplies and a thousand other such jobs.

KBR employs about 24,000 people in Iraq for these tasks, 11,000 of them from the US. The majority of KBR's US recruits come from the southern states, and the company makes a point of holding job fairs where there is known to be a large military, or former military, population. In many cases, new recruits get just a week of training.

By 8am on Saturday, 100 people, most of them men, had lined up at a Houston hotel and were filling in forms and handing them to the KBR recruiters.

In a nearby ballroom, stirring music was being piped from speakers while images of KBR's tent camps in Iraq were projected on to a large screen.

"I can tell you up front this is not for everybody. We lose between 30 and 50 per cent of the people to whom we make a contingent offer," said Chris Ward, a KBR recruiter who gave a candid, hour-long introduction as to what new employees could expect if selected.

"How many people have been to the Middle East? It's not like Houston. It's not like west Texas." The heat and the dust would be their worst enemies, Ward explained.

"I have heard of 150, 155 degrees in summer [68C]. It's hot," he said. "And if there are dust storms, it's very dusty. Everything is tanned. We have lost 39 [people], tragically. We'd rather it was zero. Will there be more? Probably. It's a war zone."

Aside from the heat and the dust and the danger of being killed or kidnapped, KBR employees are expected to endure an exhausting schedule, working seven days a week for at least 12 hours a day, with time off every four months. "We eat, we sleep and we work," he said.

"That's it." In return, depending on position, contractors could earn up to US$100,000 ($160,000) a year, US$80,000 of it tax free. KBR would also offer medical coverage, insurance worth US$25,000 and 10 days off every four months, with US$860 in travel expenses.

Jackie Ford, a 48-year-old who worked as a construction inspector for a Houston company, attended the job fair with his son, Michael, 26, who was also applying for a job.

The recruiters had told him to fill in some more forms, explained Ford, but before he could accept any offer he would have to discuss the matter with his wife, Terry.

"I just called her to tell her what they told me," he said. "She wants to know the details. She encouraged me to come and find out. Then we will make a collective decision." And how did Mr Ford feel about letting his son go to Iraq? "I would let him make his own decision."

Despite the obvious dangers - about which KBR was very upfront - the company says it is having little trouble persuading people to go. Even to those who know from experience how badly wrong things can go, this comes as little surprise.

Thomas Hamill, a farmer from Mississippi, was kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq on April 9 while working as a truck driver. He escaped on May 2 and was picked up by American troops. He said he would consider returning.

Speaking from his home in Macon, he said: "I'm not surprised that [there are people] willing to go. It's just ordinary people getting up and doing what needs to be done."

From Menefee's perspective, his contract could not start soon enough. His job as a forklift operator at a Houston factory was paying US$1,200 a month. In Iraq, the recruiters had told him, he could be making US$6,500. "They could ship me out tomorrow if they wanted to."

Support team

* Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a subsidiary of the oil services giant, Halliburton, employs about 24,000 contractors in Iraq, 11,000 of them from the US.

* They support the 145,000 US troops by cooking their meals, doing laundry and transporting supplies.

* In many cases, new recruits get just one week of training.

- INDEPENDENT

Herald Feature: Iraq