Which should I work for?

[AndyC]

Just a suggestion, you need to come to terms with this concept: TANSTAAFL.

There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. If you want to make a lot of money, you need to obtain experience in a field that's in high demand. Then work your way up.

I agree totally with Dave.

I don't know of any reputable company in Iraq who would hire someone with no prior military/police experience. I know of a few disreputable companies who would - but their guys seem to get dead a lot.

Second point - if you're wanting to do it solely for the money, you'd be in the wrong profession.

 

[Tin Gizel]

I went to college....after my first year, my parents informed me that they could no longer afford to pay my tuition.

I joined the national gaurd. Summer after freshman year I was in boot camp. Summer after sophmore year was in AIT. Combat Engineer 12B.

Junior year, 9/11.,,,,went to part time status on school and gaurded some airports with an unloaded M16 - don't ask.

Summer 2002, graduated college with a BS in Psychology. March 2005 ETS'd from the Army. Today - I'm a Senior Project Manager for an Electrical Contractor doing site development and commercial work. Less than 5 yrs out of college and last year I brough in 74k before taxes.

Oops, forgot to add, Summer 2002 went to Sapper School - the engineer's equivalent to ranger school......learned just how much of a man I am not....I completed but did NOT graduate. I would never try again.....it was the worst time of my life. But it's everyday life for guys in Iraq/Afganistan.....I thought I was a tough, mean, green killing machine.....now i know my limits.

Anyways back to the point.....you can join the Gaurd or Reserves to pay for college. You'll get a SWEET enlistment bonus, which you should invest. You'll probably get deployed somewhere doing something. In six years, you'll have 6 years experience, a college degree and some money left over. Then you can do whatever you want to do, or you could realize that PMC's are bullet magnets and that you value your life more than that. YMMV

 

[DWARREN123]

It's not what you think and the money is not so good for what you have to go thru. Get training in the Army, Marines or other branch. The companies are looking for combat vets, usually Infantry/Special Ops types.
Takes a special person to go this route.
Like the merc's of yester year.

 

[10-Ring]

With no prior experience, you would be biting off ALOT more than you could chew. Get some real world experience, if that is the line of work you are turely interested in & then go private...good luck --

 

[BADUNAME13]

Statement no longer needed.

 

[AugustusMcCrae]

Thank you all for the advice.

After carefully reading all these posts, I've decided to wait on joining a PMC.

I don't know of any reputable company in Iraq who would hire someone with no prior military/police experience. I know of a few disreputable companies who would - but their guys seem to get dead a lot.

That comment in particular really struck me for some reason. I guess I never realized that training could be so important. I always figured that the reason folks reccomend calling police to handle something like getting a trespasser of your property was for lawsuit reasons.

Ian, I just might take those bartending classes. That seems like something I could learn & like. The only problem is I called them & they won't give me a price for the classes over the phone. That's probably code for "too high".

Thanks for all your comments. And to those of you who served for around $30,000 a year, thank you. You deserve those PMC deals more than I do.

 

[ArmedBear]

OT, but one of my dogs is named Augustus McCrae.

 

[trueblue1776]

And to those of you who served for around $30,000 a year, thank you. You deserve those PMC deals more than I do.

I'm sure I speak for many of the other vets here when I say thank you for the sentiment. But I hope to Jesus I don't "deserve" a PMC deal. Those jobs take a rare breed, or a stupid one, either works.

 

[Bezoar]

all you can realy do is find an actual job as say a bank clerk or as a janitor at your local highschool. Youll get one of those jobs and actually have a chance of feeding/supporting yourself.
You wont get a job as a mercenary unless you have military experience at time of hiring. Most of the articles i have seen, youd need at least a few years in iraq to qualify for the PMC jobs.
And yes, college degrees are useless unless you have a job lined up with a company and your name on the line under the sentence "we wiil giveyou a job at such a payrate upon completion of college" otherwise id skip the college.

 

[AndyC]

Thank you all for the advice.

After carefully reading all these posts, I've decided to wait on joining a PMC.

I'm glad to hear it - I have one more titbit for you, just to hammer the point home:

Within a month, another convoy was hit. The team leader informed the ground-control center by cellphone that he was running out of ammunition. He left the cellphone on as his convoy was overrun.

"We listened to the bad guys for almost an hour after they finished everybody off," Holly said.

 

[Echo Tango]

I will tell you out right, don't even bother applying. Those 20,000.00 a month jobs you see and hear about, they are kinda specific in what they want.

They have a backlog of prior military combat arms MOS's and police/Swat guys to choose from before they will ever consider a 19 year old with no form of combat/arms training. I don't want to crush your dreams but you have about as much a chance of getting on with a company like Blackwater or Triple Canopy, as a fish does learning to ride a bicycle without some serious training.

So despite your willingness to do the work, it falls down to the fact that willingness isnt the same thing as being skilled.