Private firms' perks, pay lure soldiers back to Iraq

By Chris Brummitt
The Associated Press

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Daniels has applied online for construction work with Washington, D.C.'s military contractor in Iraq — Kellogg, Brown & Root — eyeing a job he says will pay more than twice his current salary of around $1,700 a month.

"That's where I am going. It's where I need to be," said Daniels, of Wilmington, Del. "I know I can't stay in the Army. It doesn't pay enough."

Daniels is one of many soldiers at this military base being lured back to Iraq when their term of service ends — not by re-enlisting but by taking up work with companies contracted by the Pentagon.

To an extent unprecedented in previous conflicts, the United States has outsourced much of the logistical and operational support for its occupation of Iraq to companies to ease the burden on its stretched armed forces.

KBR — whose corporate parent, Halliburton, was formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney — is the biggest private employer in Iraq, with some 15,000 workers in the country and neighboring Kuwait. That work force is more than the 11,000 troops deployed by Britain, the largest U.S. coalition partner.

Besides higher pay, soldiers, reservists and retired officers are attracted by perks like tax-free salaries, better living conditions and regular home leaves — a major draw for soldiers as one-year deployments become the norm.

Alongside jobs in cafeterias, construction, engineering and communications, demand is high for armed security guards. Iraq is awash with ex-soldiers from around the world working for private security firms.

Former British, American and Nepali soldiers guard U.S. engineers, visiting VIPs and State Department workers, and escort trucks and convoys traveling the country.

"It's a great opportunity ... to make your money and run," said Ellis Monk, a former Army Ranger from Huntsville, Ala., who works for one of the leading security firms, DynCorp.

Contractors for U.S. companies also operate missile-defense batteries, pilot unmanned aerial vehicles and analyze intelligence data.
 
At the base in Tikrit, civilian contractors in work boots and baseball caps cruise the well-manicured streets.

The KBR Web site lists thousands of vacancies. KBR regional spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said more jobs were likely as the company takes over more tasks from the military.

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