Ms Sparky’s Response:
Congrats!! I do hope that Fluor is better than KBR.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
Nice way to repay a good employee. I am afraid his letter to Houston will fall on deaf ears. If he wants me to publish it I will be happy to.

Anyone who thinks for one second you will be taken care of if hurt, think different. That $80K+ you make better go in to a account named “When I get Fired”.

I have no problem paying taxes for not being out of the counry for more than 330 days, rememeber we are being paid with US Tax dollars and I am US Citizen. And I know where my money is being spent.

I could go on and on and mention name after name, but it would do no good. Good luck to all of you folks still there and to those of us at home cheers……..

Ms Sparky’s Response:
I would love to hear your story. You can email me if you don’t want to post it. Cheers!

So like Ms Sparky said, “every” was a really poor choice of words. Try to understand that in that environment a few moments downtime sometimes made all the difference in the world for some folks’ sanity.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
I will admit that using the word “every” was probably not a good choice. But I will concur that there was a whole lost of screwing off going on. I’m sure there are some people who did there part and never went to the PX on compant time or went any bazaars. But I will admit my fair share of going to the PX or coffee shop during work hours.

Especially when I was at Fallujah as the only KBR medic for the camp. And how many ‘vacation days’ or ‘sick days’ did you take while there Jona? I took 1 sick day my entire time and that’s because I was puking my guts up with the flu when at the Al Asad clinic. So don’t give me this shit that ‘everyone committed time sheet fraud’.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
Again…I just think it is that word “every”. Not a good choice of words. But, I will have to agree there was a large amount of what would be considered timesheet fraud. Especially among management.

You can KMA! I worked every hour I put on my timesheet.

I sat in a d*mn clinic for 12 hours every day waiting for you whiners to come in and attempt to impress me with the chronic illness you brought to the job thinking you were going to get free socialized healthcare. I don’t know how many 16-18 hour days I worked covering the company from frivolous medical complaints and malingerers.

Putting every employee in a single basket due to a personal presumption is telling of your mentality.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
Alrighty then. I know there were people who were totally committed as were you. And again I urge people not to use the all inclusive word “EVERY”!!

Ms Sparky’s Response:
I would love to talk to you more about this. I sent you an email. Please contact me.

It seems history is repeating itself. My husband let me know his camp was having to cut their scw force by 40% along with getting their expat numbers down to BOE strength. Now remember this BOE is the number of personnel allowed and approved of by the ACO/DCMA yada yada. When we asked for reasonable numbers it was slashed in half, so what do you do? Exaggerate to get what you need. I felt it to be a necessary evil. I absolutely loved being called out of bed at 0100 to answer questions about how many rolls of toilet paper I issued in a 30 day time frame, how long it took, and how many people could possible do it, when BOE time came around.

I do have to agree that things were different at each site, to me that was the major breakdown in the system. It was interpreted differently site to site, with each thinking they were doing it the right way. I got to travel to multiple sites with my job, allowing me to see the scope of this nightmare.

At one point I was asked to “observe and give feedback” on the STEAM SOR process because I was a SME. When I let them know that they were bogging down their system with unnecessary orders, I was told that it was the way it was there, and go on back to my site. They actually had one Labor Foreman spending all day creating and closing SOR’s for silly things like “sweeping off steps in front of office”. Not to mention that since the site also included that projects headquarters, everything had to be run thru headquarters because mgmt wanted their thumb on everything.

There are obvious disconnects, good ole boy tactics, and outright incompetence within the KBR infrastructure, but I am still thankful for the opportunity to meet and work with some of the best people from throughout the world. I just shudder to think how bad it could have been if we hadn’t been there to try to counteract the former.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
I agree some of my best friends still, I met there. I have always contended that the majority of the everyday working people are awesome. We were just average working Joe’s. It was the freakin’ power crazed managers that had God complexes that were the problem. Thanks for the great comment.

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The 330/365 consecutive days out of country is to qualify for the entire amount. You can also pro-rate the time spent in country when it’s less than a year. Those people who went over in August (for example), or leave early, do not qualify for the whole year, but they do qualify for the partial amount for the time they spent in-country during that tax year.

I would suggest that you ask another tax accountant. Mine has pro-rated my taxes for 4 different contracts. I left in March of 2008 and did this for my recent return saving 90 days worth of income taxes. If you are in the Houston area, contact Stan Fortson.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
Are you trying to tell me I stayed over there longer than I had to? I’ll call him. Thanks

Driving the blazing white fuel trucks with red stripes was a big enough target, but by making just the expats wear the hats/lanyards you then identified which trucks had expat drivers versus which trucks had TCN drivers, so that the insurgents knew exactly what trucks to hit. The military (who was our client and ultimately our boss) told the drivers numerous times not to wear the hats/lanyards while on mission). This caused an uproar with management trying to implement the hats/lanyards rule, to the point of having Safety personnel stationed at the gates taking pictures of the departing trucks to make sure you had your hat (which is extremely hard to see under the combat helmet) and lanyard on. Then the military would stop the convoy outside the gate and tell us to take them off or conceal them.

There are many views to this issue and many diferent opinions on how is was enforced and the various comments reflect this. There is not a set policy for enforcing rules while in country . . every camp manager interpreted them to fit their own agenda/purpose, as did every contractor that the rules directly affected their job performance.

As drivers it made us targets, as electricians and plumbers, my guess is that the dangling lanyard off of the neck posed a safety hazard, while trying to work with the hat on in tight spaces was difficult to say the least.

Now as someone who spent their day inside a building, behind a desk/computer screen I don’t see any potential safety hazards for wearing the hat/lanyard.

If you had the hat/lanyard somewhere on your person, i.e. in your pocket, to provide proof of your contract company on request/demand, then why would you be terminated?? Is this not in compliance to have the hat/lanyard on??

Maybe someone in management should make an informed choice in how to apply this trivial issue. .but then again we are dealing with management that doesn’t give a damn!

Ms Sparky’s Response:
A lot of people have the misconception that how things are at there Camp is how things are theater wide. It is sooooo not that way. Each camp is like working for another company!

Ms Sparky’s Response:
I love rules. I insist on rules. But they must be consistent across the board. Not willy nilly. And I see the good. Let me tell you what the good it. The good it that KBR has some amazing employees. If they were allowed to do their jobs things would be a lot better. Management is the problem. Not the employees.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
That’s not what was put out at every site. Trust me. Don’t give them any ideas. I’m not sure the DoD would allow KBR to invoice for chips.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
We had managers that would sit at the PX and watch for the red hat and lanyard. Take names. Even when the PX closed before we got off work. Even during lunch. So…..I still think the primary reason is for tracking their own employees.

Ms Sparky’s Respnse:
Interesting spin on things. I don’t ever recall that information being relayed. Is that something they just came up with recently? Plus….you don’t ever hear much about any other contractors employees in trouble…well except Blackwater. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen but why “brand” everyone for what one person is doing? I guess if KBR were above reproach it would be a different issue. But they aren’t. I find it interesting they were able to procure hats and lanyards for everyone and yet they still couldn’t get the proper tools and material.

If you were assaulted, file a civil claim against the indiviual.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
And get what? They guy was a drug addict. If KBR had handled it appropriately it would be done and over with. But oh…no, now I have an unresolved issue that I’m still pissed about it. I don’t think I am as angry with the guy as I am with the way KBR handled it (or didn’t handle it).

WRONG! You pro-rate your taxes for the portion of the year spent in Iraq. To do that, divide $87,500 by 365. That is your pro-rate that you can deduct.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
I am having to disagree with you here. I was told clearly by my tax man who specialized in out of country income that I must stay out of the US 330/365 consecutive days to maintain my tax free status. I had to come home 13 days early to take care of some business with my daughter. Took care if and headed to Canada to finish out my 13 days. I actually had them stamp my passport. I’d check on this. I think if they get fired and sent home their screwed. Any tax people here?

You must not be in the US for more than 30 days to qualify for the entire amount.