He may have gotten the impression from driving old deuce and 1/2's?

 

Never said that there wasn't any heat. Also said that there was a possible civil war. Glad to hear that there is A/C, but is that in a military tractor?

 

Every single Truck we had in Iraq had A/C and they worked fine.When it was 130+ outside and we got it down to 90 inside it felt cool.
Never had any "Flies" in the Desert But we had Mosquito's at Camp near the Rivers.

 

KBR is being sued heavily for dispatching convoys into hostile areas that they knew weren't safe at the time of dispatch.

 

yeah they are-For what happened in '04 when I was there.
Sometimes things don't go according to plan in War Zones.

 

I am curently in the army with 3rd ID I have been to iraq 2 times, here's the deal. KBR, Eagle group, hali burton ect ect ect all drive civilian trucks how ever they were not american trucks they were trucks brought over from India and other countrys closer to Iraq, they had A/C, no radio's no CB's they have to use special hand held twoways to avoid IED's. Ok theres the creature comforts when I was there in OIF 3 (Dec 2005-Jan 2006) my Job was to escort KBR out side the wire, I sat in a Hummvee with 1/2" Steel armor all around me, or when I was sitting Gun I still had armor but I wasnt completely covered, KBR However only had wire mesh around there glass to stop big stuff, and they hung body armor the stuff used by cops on thier doors to help stop stuff that way. I escorted KBR wreckers out, we went out to pick up thier stuff that had already been hit, or broke down, driving the trucks they were they broke down all the time, So imagine sitting in Iraq on the side of the road for 3 to 10 hours waiting on Soldiers to escort a wrecker out to get you, you broke down no A/C, and no room to get into one of the trucks in your convoy cause you all have A-drivers. Then you have IED's you will see stuff that will haunt you forever, I have see american civilans I had talked to earlier that day torn in two cause it blew up right under thier seat. All they wanted was the American dream a nice car for thier daughter or something like that, well thier wife got 200,000 life insurance, but no Hubby.
Just something to think about.
Otto

 

Each Mercedes DID have Radios and We all carried Motorola Radios for Comm. My Crew NEVER broke Down and with ALL the Crews there was no problems with Mercedes Reliability-Only problems were an Occasional Tire Blow out.
The reason for the Lawsuit was for the '04 Ambush when we took over alot of the Military Weapons against the Terrorists.
EVERYBODY on my Crew was Ex-Military which was the case with most crews.
I think our KIA is something around 600-700 now and I lost quite a few Buddies.
Most of us Didn't go over for Strictly the Money-It was a cause that we all believed in-Still do.

Have no idea where in the World you got the Idea that KIA's family got $200,000-The actual amount is $50,000 + Compensation to surviving family for Life.

 

I was Guessing on the 200,000 that was what the soldiers were getting, so I assumed sorry I normally dont do that, now the army getts 250,000 for life. Most of the trucks that were used where I was were not Mercedes, those were mainly in Kuwait both times I was in Iraq. The trucks I saw the most were some odd off the was Indian trucks, then again mercedes being what they are I wouldnt have seen them on missions to much cause most of the time we escorted the wrecker it was for a break down.
I never mentioned any lawsuit, nor was I aware of any law suit against KBR. I only have 2 months left in the Army so I really dont follow the news any more. And so you know I am not getting out of the Amry because I did my 3 years and can not wait to go to school on uncle sam, I have been in for over 9 years, and 13 deployments I know about commitment and deication to America, the reason I am geting out is because in the 7 years of my oldest son's life I was never home, I missed all but 2 birthdays and 1 x-mas, and I am sorry but at this point in my life my kids gotta come first. Inaddition I did not say every civilian is over there for the money I said they were there for the American dream, be it money, or love of Country, however when I asked some one from one of the companys why they were there the answer I usually got was "The American Dream"

 

I'm currently in Bagram, Afghanistan, and from what I've seen here, it's not as bad as what some of you describe in Iraq. Never been to Iraq, so I can't say how it is, but this is how it is over here.

Most KBR truck drivers on Bagram don't leave the installation. Bagram is currently the safest spot in Afghanistan for an american, as there isn't much violence around this area. As many of you know, the farther south you go in Afghanistan, the worse it gets. Down towards Kandahar, it gets pretty bad, and I wouldn't choose to work there. Obvoiusly, a KBR employee wouldn't have too much choice over that, but consider this.

If you have a CDL with a passenger endorsement, you can be a bus driver. The "buses" they have here are small toyota 25 passenger buses that aren't much longer than a full size pickup. They still get paid over $80,000 a year, and they wouldn't leave the base. THAT would, in my opinion, be a safer choice if you are concerned about that. BTW, every vehicle I've ever seen over here has good air conditioning!

BUT, keep in mind, over here(not sure about Iraq), KBR employees work 12 hour days, 7 days a week, with 4 vacations in a year. They are run hard and from what I hear, it's easy to lose your job. Also, I've been told that KBR employees can decide to quit and go home at any time, but if they leave before the end of their contract, they lose their tax benefit.

Anyone that has any experience with KBR please correct me, I don't pretend to know everything about it. If you don't mind working hard and being away from family, it seems like a great way to save money!

 

We were outside the "Wire" 24/7/365 and on Missions in the Sunni Triangle every single day. My crew and division hauled JP8 and the Terrorists knew that if you stopped the Fuel Convoys you pretty much stopped the Military thus we were ambushed often. Military hauled a very small percentage of Fuel and Supplies hauled. We hauled the vast majority of it.