Halliburton Iraq

Halliburton Iraq, also known as KBR (Kellogg, Brown, and Root), is big business for the company once run by Vice President Dick Cheney.

I worked for Halliburton Iraq for eighteen months. I will try to tell you how it works with this company. I have friends who are still with KBR and they say it is pretty much the same as it was several years ago.

Recently, KBR lost part of the LogCap Contract in Iraq. However, they did keep the transportation portion of it. It looks like they also picked up more contracts in Afghanistan.

When looking for a job with KBR, go to their website: KBR.com and register. When you see a job you like, pick out the keywords and make sure those keywords are in your resume. Chances are a computer will scan the resume and look for the keywords. If it does not see the keywords, your application will never be chosen to be looked at by a recruiter.

If they are interested in you, a recruiter will call you at home on the phone and interview you. They will hire you on the phone as well.

Once you are hired to work for Halliburton Iraq, you will be flown to Houston. Once you are in Houston, they will tell you to catch a shuttle to the in-processing area. There they will serve meals (they are horrible!) and start your in-processing.

Now I got there a little after 6 pm on a Sunday evening. The shuttle service dropped us off at the convention center and left. Apparently the drivers got off at 6 pm.

So we went inside to eat and the eating facilities were closed. They stopped serving at 6 pm. I knew what hotel I was staying at. I could see it from the convention center--it was about a 1/2 mile walk. So with no phone, no money and no ride I walked to the hotel carrying my luggage.

Now if possible if you have a job, do not quit it--maybe just take time off--the hiring process will take about two weeks--during this time you do not get any pay. They will provide you room and horrible food. You will have to pay to wash your own clothes at a laundromat.

So the next day we started. The first thing they did was to take about 200 of us to a center to in-process for medical. We stood out in the cold (December) for about four hours waiting to get in. Once in the building, we went to a lot of different stations for this, that and the other.

When I was done it was about 5 pm. We sat at a table eating pizza. Every once in a while they would call someone to a nearby office. When the person came out he/she would be upset and some would even be crying. They did not pass the medical portion. They were going home. If they had quit a job to take this one, then they really had a problem--no job.

The next day we went to get our passport for Halliburton Iraq. Once again, we stood outside for hours. I do not remember the sequence but we then went through various stations at the in-processing center.

Somewhere along the way we took a psychological test. The thing that KBR stresses is safety and team work. It is better to finish a project behind schedule with no accidents than to finish one on time with accidents.

The next morning, we gathered in the assembly area (this we did twice a day. There were about 600 of us there at any given time) and this time there were police in attendance. They started reading names. As these people went forward they were given bad news. They had failed the psychological test and were going home. Some were very angry. I guess that is why the police were there.

Then we attended various orientation classes. This lasted a couple of days--then came NBC training. We had to put on a suit and I thought I was going to freak because I am claustrophobic to a degree.

This was day five or six and in-processing was done for Halliburton Iraq. I was all set to go. So everyday, twice a day for six more days I would go and attend the two meetings to find out when I was leaving to work for Halliburton Iraq.

Finally I was assigned a flight leaving on January 13 so I was in Houston for 17 days without pay. They gave us each $500 cash for spending money and took us to the airport.

I flew to DeGaulle Airport in Paris. I was amazed at the concourse we were walking in. It was tubular and seemed to have nothing holding it up. A week later I heard that part of it actually collapsed. I guess not much was holding it up after all.

We landed in Dubai and the KBR people met us there and got us to the hotel where we stayed for two days. The rooms had two beds and we were assigned a roommate.

Then we boarded a flight to go to Baghdad. I do not know how the airport is today but in January of 2004 it was in sad shape. The last time I was there in 2005, they had made many improvements.

From the Baghdad airport they took us to Camp Victory to stay for the night. The next day we were back catching a plane to Anaconda. A lot for a job with Halliburton Iraq.

Now due to the risk, when a plane takes off in Iraq, it flies in a tight circle until it is way up high out of rocket range and then it heads for its destination.

When landing it gets down in a hurry. A lot quicker than the casual descent one takes on a normal flight. If unprepared you can find yourself suddenly quite uncomfortable. I would recommend not eating the morning of your flight.

The heat is intense in the spring, summer and fall. If you are from Texas or Arizona you may think you are prepared for it but you are not--it is bad. Sometimes the A/C does not work on the planes--and it is like an oven in there.

So when traveling, limit how much you eat--but take plenty of water. When traveling you will probably not find any cold water or ice on the way. Try to freeze a couple of your own bottles of water to take with you. You will also want a towel with you to wipe the sweat off. It comes in handy.

Working with Halliburton Iraq as an American, you will probably be responsible for overseeing two or three Local Nationals or Third Country Nationals in accomplishing your job. The main thing to remember is to always be as helpful as you can to other people.

If you are driving and you see someone walking, stop and offer them a ride. If you see someone struggling with a load, give them a hand. This also applies to the LNs and TCNs. Try to make things better for the people coming behind you.

Halliburton Iraq aka KBR offers a host of jobs. You can find these on their website KBRjobs.com.

Good luck on your job search with Halliburton Iraq.

Go to Jobs in Iraq for a list of more companies hiring for Iraq and Afghanistan. It was sad to learn that yet another life has been taken through electrocution in Iraq. Several weeks ago, a third country national was electrocuted to death while in the shower here in Afghanistan. So far, 16 people, most while showering, have died on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan by way of electrocution during this war.

It is easy to blame Halliburton Iraq since they are the main contract holder for facilities work in Iraq. However, it is not entirely their fault.

In order to maintain its contracts and in order for DynCorp to get the new Log Cap contract, these companies have had to lower their prices. In order to lower their prices, they have had to remove American workers and substitute them with workers from other countries and even Iraq and Afghan locals to do facilities work.

Halliburton Iraq has spent millions of dollars for materials to fix faulty wiring. However, by getting rid of the American worker and replacing him with a substandard worker, lives have been put at risk to save a few bucks. There is a reason why the American worker overseas commands such a large salary--he knows what he is doing.

While working at Baqubah, we used to spend thousands of dollars going into new buildings and fixing the shoddy wiring done by Iraqis. Now in order to do this, it had to be approved by the military. Sometimes the extra expense was not approved especially when a new building is involved since it is supposed to be up to code.

So before we climb all over Halliburton, let's write our congressional leaders and tell them to put Americans back into the military base workforce in Iraq.

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