Now Ye're Talking - to a worker on a US Military Airbase

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

Ericdravancrow wrote: »

Where are the UFO's hidden?

In plain sight.

seamus

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA wrote: »

One thing I learned about drones since being here is that each flight is actually controlled by people here and also by operators in the States.
People here on the base control the take off, then they hand over the controls to an operator Stateside, who then hands back over for the operator here to control the landing.

Interesting. Probably operation and jurisdictional; someone local will have closer to real-time control so will be better able to react if something goes wrong during takeoff/landing, whereas someone stateside will have a noticeable lag.
And also the local guy cannot be held legally responsible for the drone's actions while he's not in control of it.

_Tombstone_

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA wrote: »

One thing to note about those guys is, it's generally understood that when you buy from them you are indirectly funding the war against yourself due to their links to Taliban.

Who makes the Talibans weapons??

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

seamus wrote: »

Interesting. Probably operation and jurisdictional; someone local will have closer to real-time control so will be better able to react if something goes wrong during takeoff/landing, whereas someone stateside will have a noticeable lag.

That's exactly it.
There's a delay of a few seconds for the guys Stateside so it's safer to handle the take off and landing locally as they have real time control over the drones.

On a side note; I've watched the drones take off and land here quite a bit and they're actually much larger than I expected. I thought they'd be tiny but they're absolutely not. And they're loud too.

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

Who makes the Talibans weapons??

No idea who they purchase them from.
I know they steal some when they push back coalition forces and weapons get left behind.
There's also weapons left behind from the Russians.
Apart from that I have no idea where they buy them from.
But they tax the locals who work on base which helps fund them.

1hnr79jr65

Did you volunteer for your role's location or were you assigned?

How do you feel about the "war" there, do you think its a just occupation of another countries territory?

johnnyskeleton

How do you feel, as an Irish person, being part of the US miltary industrial complex?

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

Did you volunteer for your role's location or were you assigned?

How do you feel about the "war" there, do you think its a just occupation of another countries territory?

I volunteered for the position. It gave me the opportunity to earn more money here than I could back home in Ireland.

I'm not sure how I feel about the war here tbh.
There are times when I look around and wonder what we're all actually doing here.
Then I remember that they can't just pull out of the country like they did with Iraq.
But let's call a spade a spade here. This country is a mess. The locals I've spoke to are kind of happy we're here. The Afghan forces are happy we're here too. If the coalition forces pulled out of Afghanistan tomorrow, the country would fall back into the hands of the Taliban and the locals are terrified of that. No matter what people read online, the Taliban are far from simple freedom fighters. They're animals.
I've seen firsthand, the fear on people's faces here when the Taliban is mentioned.

livedadream

some basics?

where do you sleep?
whats the daily schedule like if any?
food? good bad indifferent?
internet access?
whats wage difference between there and home?
do you pay irish or american taxes?
do you see/hear live fire?

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

How do you feel, as an Irish person, being part of the US miltary industrial complex?

It's just another job to me. And tbh I love this job.
I don't know how long I'll do it for as it's tough being away from my family for long periods but I still love it nonetheless.

If you're asking do I think a bit deeper about it from time to time, then yeah sometimes I do.
Sometimes I wonder what it's all about and what are the motives behind it all. But then I remember I'm a tiny tiny cog in the wheel and I just get on with my job.

I've been asked on occasion do I feel guilty about essentially profiting from war. And the answer to that is no. Not even slightly. Wars happen. They always have and always will.
I hope that doesn't make me a bad person but it's just how I look at the situation!

Tzardine

By reading the posts I think I know what you do. I did it myself in Iraq / Kuwait in 2008. So I have two questions.

1. How big is your pog collection.
2. Can you explain how this works ?

ted1

Do the Americans really think that they are serving and protecting their country?

How does fighting a war in the dessert protect their country other than building themselves up for the eventually retaliation on their own soil

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

livedadream wrote: »

some basics?

where do you sleep?
whats the daily schedule like if any?
food? good bad indifferent?
internet access?
whats wage difference between there and home?
do you pay irish or american taxes?
do you see/hear live fire?

Housing

The housing differs slightly from base to base but for the most part, we live in shipping containers that have been kitted out in a very basic fashion. Typically there's 2 to a room. There's lino on the floor, plywood on the walls and two beds. That's pretty much it.
All the rooms do have electricity and air conditioning too. If you want a TV you have to buy that yourself but that's pretty easy. Amazon ships here quite quickly.
If you're just going to be staying at a certain base for a few days and then moving on, you'll be housed in a transient building. This is a big concrete building similar to what you'd imagine army barracks are like. Big rooms with bunk beds and each room sleeps about 30 people.

Schedule

Most people here work 7 days a week and pretty long hours. It helps the time pass quickly.
Personally I work 7 days a week. 10 - 12 hours per day.

Food

The food is fairly decent actually.
The DFAC is open 24hrs. (DFAC = Dining Facility. The military loves acronyms)
You get breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Plus you can go in whenever you like during the day and get sandwiches, soup, fruit, salad or whatever you want.
Food changes from day to day.
There's different stations you go to so you can get whatever you want. All types of cereals, fruit, omelettes, etc for breakfast.
For lunch and dinner there's a big selection and can vary from burgers, to ribs, steak, veggies, pizza, wings, salads, noodles....the list goes on. Everyone is well fed.
Plus all meals are totally free.

On a large base like Bagram you also have Subway and Pizza Hut. You have to pay for these if you decide not to eat in the DFAC.

Then there's the main supermarket. It's called the PX. You can get everything in there that you can get in a local supermarket at home. Food, magazines, cigarettes, laptops, hygiene products etc.

Internet

The Internet is fairly bad but we get by.
There's one company you can go with so they charge ridiculous prices. The fastest plan they offer (4mb) will cost you $170 per month. And it's sketchy at best.

Wages

You can earn a lot of money out here if you have desirable skills.
I know some of the electricians here on base and they earn about $10k per month.
IT guys can earn about $20k per month from what I've heard.
Helicopter pilots who fly for the private companies here earn about $25k per month.

My job at home would earn me approx. 35k a year. Out here doing the same job earns a lot more. It depends on bonuses etc but I can earn between $70k to $150k in a year.

Taxes

I don't pay Irish or American taxes.
Because I'm out of Ireland a certain number of days per year I'm not eligible to pay tax in Ireland.
So the job is tax free. With free housing, free food, free gym etc etc. It's a pretty good deal.

Live Fire?

Yes.
We're constantly under attack from the Taliban.
They fire rockets into the base all the time. Sometimes multiple times in one day.
This is the hard part of the job. People get killed during attacks and it can happen at any time day or night. And it does. A lot.
We have massive guns on the base called C-RAM's. These are supposed to shoot down incoming rockets but they don't always work and buildings get hit, people get injured or killed.

When we have incoming fire, an alarm goes off and we all take cover. The alarm sounds like this......


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IpMu3xgio9o


The lights in the sky you see in that video are the C-RAM rounds trying to shoot the rocket down.

That alarm still makes my hair stand up.

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

Tzardine wrote: »

By reading the posts I think I know what you do. I did it myself in Iraq / Kuwait in 2008. So I have two questions.

1. How big is your pog collection.
2. Can you explain how this works ?

If you do know what I do I'd appreciate it if you didn't "out" me

My pog collection is fcuking massive by the way.

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

ted1 wrote: »

Do the Americans really think that they are serving and protecting their country?

How does fighting a war in the dessert protect their country other than building themselves up for the eventually retaliation on their own soil

Some do, some don't.
For a lot of them it's just a job.

As for the second part of your question, I don't know. And I'm not going to even try and justify or explain this whole situation.

Tzardine

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA wrote: »

If you do know what I do I'd appreciate it if you didn't "out" me

My pog collection is fcuking massive by the way.

No worry about that at all.

Stay safe

CINCLANTFLT

No questions from me - just a thank you for taking the time to answer questions and allow us to understand a little about what people are doing day to day out there...

justshane

Did your role require you to have a degree/trade? if so did it take long to achieve enough experience to go to Afghanistan? Stay safe.

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

justshane wrote: »

Did your role require you to have a degree/trade? if so did it take long to achieve enough experience to go to Afghanistan? Stay safe.

The role I'm in doesn't require a degree or trade. Just experience in the particular field. There's no minimum number of years experience needed. Just as long as you're good at what you do. As far as I know, the company I work for requires you to be at least 25 before being stationed in Afghanistan.

My advice to anyone would be, if you ever get an opportunity to go work in a place like this....take it.
If only just for the experience. If you're any way interested in the military you'll love it. It's by far the coolest job I've ever had.
I see all sorts of cool equipment, weapons, aircraft on a daily basis. As I type this there's an F16 roaring over my head.
I regularly get to fly in Black Hawk helicopters too. That can be scary when they open fire into a mountainside while you're flying though.
It's just such a cool place to be.

buggy beag

how big is the actual base?

6541

I work in IT and dream of foreign lands all the time. How does one go about getting contacts for work and job descriptions. Here is me dreaming again !

livedadream

where do you want those taytos sent too?

the irish dude of the internets
US Military Airbase
Afghanistan

look for the irish flag and youve got him...

1hnr79jr65

Thanks for previous answer for my own questions and other answers, seems fascinating the position and expereince you get.

I would assume based on your answers you are a civilian contractor?

If so do you get any sort of military training to help defend base, is that actually required or is there training more for personal safety?

Can you request such training?

1hnr79jr65

Stupid system double post.

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

buggy beag wrote: »

how big is the actual base?

Depends on which base you're talking about. The biggest the would be Bagram I think. At a guess, I'd say the perimeter road on the inside of the base would be about maybe 12km around. It's pretty big and houses well over 10,000 people there.

Edit: That guesstimate of the perimeter doesn't include the area where the prison is. The prison is strictly off limits for obvious reasons but it's a fairly big area down there.

Kandahar is pretty big too. In its heyday that was technically the busiest airport in the world with more flights than Heathrow. But it's a lot quieter nowadays.

Some of the smaller FOBs that I can't mention names of are really small and have a couple of hundred special forces troops and that's it.

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

6541 wrote: »

I work in IT and dream of foreign lands all the time. How does one go about getting contacts for work and job descriptions. Here is me dreaming again !

If you managed to get a job in IT here you'd be very well paid. Unfortunately I don't have any contacts in that area to give you but if you Google IT contracting jobs in Afghanistan you should get plenty of information. One of the main contracting companies here is called Fluor. You could try them but I think they mainly do trade based stuff like carpenters and electricians etc.

I'm not sure how it'd work with clearance etc but I'm sure if you have relevant skills you'll be needed here. It'd be well worth you looking into anyway.

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

Thanks for previous answer for my own questions and other answers, seems fascinating the position and expereince you get.

I would assume based on your answers you are a civilian contractor?

If so do you get any sort of military training to help defend base, is that actually required or is there training more for personal safety?

Can you request such training?

I'm happy to answer as many questions as you guys can throw at me.

You don't get any training if you're civilian. In the event of an emergency you do what you're told and that's it.
When rockets come in (like they did only an hour ago) you lie down and cover up. If you're still breathing and have all your limbs after about 30 seconds of the alarm going off.... you're good.
Then you wait for the "All Clear" alarm and go back about your business.

If you're civilian you also don't get a weapon unless you have clearance. You can apply for clearance but they won't allow it unless your job states you'll need it.
Plenty of civilians have weapons but they have the clearance to carry. All military carry their M4 rifles 24/7 anyway so if Taliban managed to storm the base, they wouldn't last long anyway.

muffler

Any regrets at all?

I work on a US Military Airbase, AMA

muffler wrote: »

Any regrets at all?

Honestly I just wish I did it sooner.
You see and experience so many things most people only see in movies and wish they could experience so it's fantastic in that regard.

I've a toddler at home and it's tough being away for long periods and missing things like birthdays and Christmas. But in the long run its worth it so it makes it all worthwhile.
Doing this as a single carefree man would be much easier and would make it more enjoyable.

Big Nasty

I just presumed you were single doing what you do. You obviously love it and are building a hefty nest egg for yourself. I'm married with a young child myself and there's no way in he'll I'd consider doing what you do now, nor would I be let.

How does your partner feel about it?