Employment In Iraq

During my employment in Iraq, I worked with some Filipinos. I had one who was a hard worker.

I have also worked with several Iraqis. While working in Baqubah, I had two Iraqi locals assigned to my section. They were honest hard workers. I really enjoyed working with them. Hasem and Kasem were their names.

Say what you will, but these Iraqis were brave. They continued to come to the base to work despite threats of decapitation from the insurgents. We did lose eighteen local Iraqis one day when insurgents attacked our front gate. Only one soldier was killed. Things were shut down for about a week but after a week they all came back.

Hasem was the first one to work with me. I arrived in Baqubah for my first assignment of employment in Iraq about the same time he started working on the labor crew. I asked the labor foreman for some help and he assigned Hasem to me. The first thing I noticed was his shoes. He was wearing dress shoes to work in. So during lunch that day I went to the PX and bought him a pair of shoes. He was really appreciative.

A few weeks later Kasem was assigned to me. The three of us did a lot of work together. We built a good working relationship. When I first arrived at Baqubah, we had two 20 ft connexes with some supplies in them. When I left eighteen months later, we had 150 connexes full of supplies, equipment and materials.

As we grew, we needed more help. The labor foreman sent me two Nepalese. They were hard workers as well, but there was a problem. The Iraqis said they would not work with the Nepalese and vice versa.

We fixed that! The five of us--the two Iraqis and the two Nepalese, and I worked hard together. We dodged mortars together. We survived the heat. The 40 foot connexes can get up to 180 degrees Fahrenheit inside. We accomplished a lot of things during my time in Iraq. When I left my employment in Iraq, in Baqubah to be exact, these four guys were the best of buddies. They held hands and would put their arms around each other.

Now if you are an American reading this, you are probably thinking they are “gay.” This is not so. A lot of men in the Middle East show their friendship like this. I have even seen some lying in bed together. This is part of their culture. They think nothing of it.

And after leading and training by example, the time would come when they considered it an insult to them if I went out there to help them. They insisted that I sit in the air conditioned office and find something else to do. There was always some paperwork for me to do or a nap to take.

One day in Kuwait I needed to go out to the company warehouse with a load of materials we had purchased to QC (Quality Control) it. The warehouse driver told me to wait a minute. What he was doing was getting someone to drive me out in an air conditioned car since his truck did not have A/C. I told him it was okay. I could handle the heat.

Another time, the company driver pulled up to get gas. He left the car running. I asked him why he was not turning it off. He told me he left it on so I could stay cool. I said it was okay and that we needed to turn it off. I have seen videos of what happens when someone does not turn the car off while fueling.

But this respect was earned. They knew I was a hard worker. I had sweated with them and showed them I was not afraid to get out and help them. I had helped them load up several trucks and showed them several ways to get more on a truck.

I have worked with a lot of different people. The main ingredient in building a successful team during employment in Iraq, even with a communication gap, is to lead by example and to always be respectful and courteous to them. If you do this, they will follow you to hell and back.

One last thing! During employment in Iraq or anywhere else, yelling at someone in English who does not understand English is not going to help them understand the language any better.

It seems so obvious but do you know how many American guys would get out there and yell at the top of their lungs to our non-American workers? It would just amaze you if you could see a video of it. The workers are more confused and upset when this happens. This causes them to do even less.