Steve's Big Adventure
 

Steve accepted a position for one year in Afghanistan working as an electrician. Work has been very spotty for him in the last year, including six months unemployed. He'll work on a US military base, won't be allowed to leave the base except on military aircraft. He gets leave every 90 days, so a couple times a year I can fly somewhere and meet him (ha - let the snu snu begin!).

This is going to be quite an adventure for him. He leaves tomorrow morning.

angela

Exciting, does he get hazardous duty pay. Sounds like quite an experience.

Wishing him good luck and you peace through the coming year.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Best of luck to you both.

Good luck to both of you.

Having been unemployed for awhile, I've thought about something along those lines...

sta;u safe; stie/ge!@@@

Death by snu snu!

Best of luck to Steve with this gig, tell him to keep his head down base or no base.

Even though you probably keep Steve plenty busy Angela, he must feel good about going back to work and pulling in some decent coin.
I hope he has an uneventful journey and stay.

good luck steve, keep safe.
angela, he'll be back before you know it, and with a hat full of bucks.

If they are paying these guys like they are some of the mechanics... It will be worth the year out....

Good luck, Just think of it as working at the beach (without the water, babes, beer, volleyball)
How does one get lined up with one of those jobs?

Thanks guys! Took him to the airport this morning and stayed until he went through security. It felt pretty weird, usually he's the one taking me to the airport. This is the first time he's travelled without me and oh baby, what a trip!

Steve got picked up by a company called Fluor. It was an on-line application on their website. He actually applied 6 or 8 months ago but missed that round of hiring. Then in August, all of a sudden a bunch of jobs "opened" up for him on their website (indicating QUALIFIED) so he resubmitted. He accepted a hire offer a few weeks ago and then everything went in a panic rush. Originally, he was to depart in mid-late November. Then they called on a Sunday and said BE HERE SOONER...

He'll spend a few days in Greenville SC doing some company paperwork, security training (already has his clearance), and "cultural sensitivity" training. They're going to teach him how to not be a prick - LOL! Good luck with that one!

Got a couple of car projects that I'll do while he is gone, but a few others will just sit and wait for him to come back. I can do things like put engines in, wire the cars, get them running and sorted, but the body and paint is Steve's area. I will try to paint our son's car. That will be my first paint job. I figure since it's only a 97 Subaru, not a big deal if I do a less than stellar job. The PO painted it with a roller so I'm sure I can do better than that. ;)

angela

My wife and I have done two one year rotations...we were married a month before I shipped out for the first PGW.

A few tips:

Write each other, a lot. Little things mean the most. Write, Angela, all the silly, vapid details become important. Tell him you love him every day.

You will both be different as the year goes by, not better or worse, just different.

Pictures. Take them, send them.

If you can, go see him...find a place you both have wanted to visit, meet him there. Coming home in the middle of a tour is hard. It seems like a good idea, but it isn't.

I don't know you, but I think you are uniquely qualified to make this work.

My best to you and Steve.

Put me down for that part.

Wow! What an opportunity. A year will go by quicker then you think. Best of luck to both of you. Tell Steve to stay safe.

Hopefully, it works out well. I've got a few buddies that went and worked for Halliburton/KBR. At least in their cases, they made a ton of money. I think it worked out to be 2 years pay in about a year.

All of the above but make sure that he has computer access (buy a laptop if needed) and get on skype with the video phone. You can talk every day or two and see each other and that helps.

Tell him NOT to go off base, period. I know its fun to play around (did when I was there but it was a few years ago and not as "sporty" as it is now) but they in most cases do not want us there.

Also believe its 330 days a year out of the country and his earnings are tax free. Keep an eye on that. Any other questions email or PM me directly. May still have one friend still on Bagram...

Joe A

Werd...

Many moons ago. I worked in the sandbox..

I worked in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, Kenya, UAE, etc...

To help with the pain of being separated, I sent her a plane ticket every time I had R&R.. She and I had a bunch of great vacations that really helped our states of mind..

Not much to do in the Seychelles.. but it was a nice week together..

She mentioned she had not been back it Ireland in awhile... we met and spent a week in Dublin..

This was before Skype and the internet..

What Paul said, well maybe not exactly, because the webcam thing is even better, but there is something about having a letter, perhaps because you can hold it in your hand.

Try not to hurt him too badly, when you see him in three months.

Well, let's just say after 90 days absence, he better eat his Wheaties. I consider it my feminine duty to return him to work EXHAUSTED, but with a very big smile! ;)

Looks like Bagram for starters. We bought a computer for him before he left, with a webcam, and set up Skype. Did our first Skype call last night. He's in Greenville SC right now for orientation/training. He'll head to Bagram in about a week.

Turns out he packed way, way too much stuff. My husband does not do the backpack vacations. He has FOUR PAIR of shoes and NINE pair of jeans in his luggage. Yes, he'll be there for a year, but whatever you bring, you are going to have to drag/carry across the rocks wherever you go, when you're tired, possibly in the dark, maybe even while you're in a hurry. He went through the list of stuff he is shipping back home. I'll forward it to where he's working when he needs it.

Seychelles? Hmmm....

angela