Working Overseas : Personal Experiences
A conversation with IT contractor Justin Porto in Iraq
As an information technology contractor in Iraq, Justin Porto endures ambushes and mortar attacks as he works with the country’s government to rebuild its communications and IT infrastructure. An employee of MPRI, a division of L-3 Communications Inc., the retired lieutenant colonel is about six months into a one-year stint under a State Department contract.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Working Overseas : Insurance Issues
Injured contractors sometimes caught in legal wrangle for disability compensation
For some injured workers returning from Iraq, seeking disability compensation through insurance companies is a battle they did not anticipate. Claims filed under the federal law providing that injured workers be compensated have risen from 804 in 2003 to 5,749 last year.
Thursday, November 29, 2007

Working Overseas : Money & Taxes
How to get your free credit report while overseas
If you’re an American serving outside the United States, don’t plan on going online to get your congressionally mandated free annual credit report.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Working Overseas : Money & Taxes
Blackwater provides information on employment status of contractors
Chairman Waxman has released a new thirteen page letter alleging that Blackwater cannot treat its personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan as "independent contractors," and contends that they must be treated as employees for IRS purposes. The Chairman's contention is incorrect.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Working Overseas : Money & Taxes
Extension of Deadlines - Combat Zone Service
These items offer guidance on the tax relief provided for U.S. military and support personnel involved in military operations in a combat zone.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Working Overseas : Money & Taxes
Non-Filers of US Tax Returns: How to Remedy the Situation (And Get Back on Good Terms with the IRS)
Most Americans working overseas are aware that $85,700 (in 2007) of foreign earned income can be excluded from US tax if certain residency requirements are met. It may not be so obvious, however, that every year a federal tax return should be filed reporting that income.
Monday, October 15, 2007

Working Overseas : Money & Taxes
Overseas Exemption Should Increase For 2008
Americans working abroad may be able to shield more of their pay from US taxes next year.
Friday, September 28, 2007

Working Overseas : Personal Experiences
In Afghanistan, trainer sees a different war
In early 2006, Andrew Schmidt, who grew up in southwestern Minnesota, found his police career wanting and his domestic life in turmoil. The divorced father of one desperately needed to get away and take a break somewhere. Some folks might have thought Cancun. Schmidt chose Kabul and a dusty, one-room mud-brick home routinely invaded by camel spiders.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Working Overseas : Physical & Mental Health
DoD Contractor Medical Care May Be Privatized
With large numbers of wounded and sick civilian contractors severely straining the U.S. military's hospitals and clinics across Iraq, the U.S. military is considering encouraging the creation of a parallel privately-run medical care system for the 129,000 contractors on the Pentagon payroll in Iraq.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Working Overseas : Insurance Issues
Defence Contract Workers Fall Through Insurance Cracks
New statistics from the United States Department of Labour offer greater insight into the number of defence contractors killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, but questions remain about compensation for injured or dead contract workers and their families.
Thursday, August 16, 2007

Working Overseas : Personal Experiences
Helping establish police programs in Afghanistan
Working for Dyncorp, John Finn explained the focus of the mission is on the training of new recruits and the mentoring of a police force, whose "officers" are called "soldiers." This includes teaching leadership, staffing procedures, proper arrest procedures, self defense, hand cuffing tactics, and business operations.
Monday, August 6, 2007

Working Overseas : Personal Experiences
Mother says U.S. has forgotten contractor son held in Colombia
Overshadowed by Iraq war, the plight of the hostages — who are low-profile civilian contractors rather than active-duty military personnel — seems to be forgotten in America amid the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which began a month after the three men were taken hostage.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Working Overseas : Personal Experiences
A contractor's story from Iraq
The reason I took this job in Iraq was denial: Look, I’m still working. I haven’t been relegated to making bird houses in the basement yet. I’ve got a job, how could I be old? Also, I needed the money. So I found perhaps the single employer who would hire a retiree my age (66) at a decent salary: KBR.
Monday, July 30, 2007

Working Overseas : Physical & Mental Health
Service Civilians and the Wounds of War
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan strain the U.S. military, the Pentagon is sending civilian workers into war zones to provide critical support to the troops, raising questions about their status and treatment. Many fill vital roles in Iraq, but medical care can be spotty.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Working Overseas : Physical & Mental Health
The Psychological Toll on Contractors in Iraq
A recent article in the New York Times highlighted the psychological plight of contractors working in Iraq. In particular, there is evidence to suggest that a high percentage of contractors may be suffering from conditions such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Major Depression and Substance Abuse.
Monday, July 16, 2007

Working Overseas : Work Conditions
Kiwis find pay not worth risk
Former New Zealand soldiers are leaving Iraq as pay and conditions worsen, a security expert says. The standard rate for a "shooter" – a gun-carrying contractor – now 170 ($NZ438) a day, down from a high of 340 a day.
Saturday, July 14, 2007

Working Overseas : Insurance Issues
Private contractors returning from Iraq won't receive veterans benefits but might need them
There will be a different welcome home for the thousands of workers who provide services in Iraq under contracts held by private security companies. These soldiers for hire will not be eligible for veterans benefits, public or private.
Saturday, July 7, 2007

Working Overseas : Physical & Mental Health
After Iraq, Contractors Face Mental Health Issues
Contractors who have worked in Iraq are returning home with the same kinds of combat-related mental health problems that afflict American military personnel, according to contractors, industry officials and mental health experts.
Friday, July 6, 2007

Working Overseas : Personal Experiences
Dyncorp IPLO: Vermont man talks about Iraq experience
Stuart Ashley and his fellow DynCorp employees served in Iraq as liaisons with local police departments, training Iraqi personnel in procedures and tactics. Ashley spent six months in Iraq, starting in September.
Monday, July 2, 2007

Working Overseas : Personal Experiences
Hardiman: Murtha Should Reconsider Iraq Contractor Criticism
An op-ed by Michael Hardiman, a contractor who served in Iraq, on the role of security contractors in Iraq.
Thursday, June 28, 2007