Staying in Iraq until it comes out!

[hftech]

Hey Greysteele, welcome to the forum and Baghdad, beautiful place huh??? :P

[Dunk31]

[EDIT] sorry hftech I have to edit your last post...(O.K. Make that the post before your last since you posted another while I was typing this...LOL) Only the Army has to do 15 month deployments. The Marines do 9 months. The Navy is still only doing 6 months and the Air Force is doing 4 or 6 months I believe. We're the only ones who like this place enough to spend over a year here. But you gotta give props to anyone who is willing to serve in a time of war. We appreciate all the support. Until I got over here I had no clue the ammount of support the American people and everyone in general has for the troops over here. You don't see it as much back at the rear, but you get letters and packages from people you've never met before. They are willing to spend their time and money in order to make our lives just a little more comfortable. It really means a lot!

[Jay]

Originally Posted by hftech

Amen brother! Don't forget to support the contractors out here too! Haha jus kidding, I'm not going to steal anyone's luster. My time has done and gone since I've been on active duty even though I've only been out for 10 months! Iraq isn't really a bad place though, just sucks being away from loved ones and it takes alot for these guys especially because they are gone for at least 15 months and then catch a break at home for 12 months and then head back for another 15, it's crazy what you all are put up to for what little you get paid.

On another note, Jay how's Vancouver man? I've only been to Canada once and that was Niagara Falls, the Canadian side. haha I heard it's a really fun city though and I have a friend out in Langley, outside of Vancouver.

Vancouver is a awesome city! Just like our license plates say... beutiful British Columbia, lol. Really vibrant and growing at a very fast pace. Its a newer city for North America alotta new construction....down-town is awesome and there is lots to do. Alotta cool bars, clubs, the usual downtown stuff and people here are really awesome, very polite. For the single guys.... the women are beutiful as well! But what really rocks about Van city is that it is beutiful, new and we have awesome amounts of things recreation-ally to do year round. Like grouse mountain is 25 mins from d.t for snowboarding, skiing ( lots of other mountains too for all that fun stuff), fishing, tons of camp sites/lakes, jet skiing etc.., tons of parks and just a whole lot of outdoor activities. The city and province is very multi-cultural (for example: one high school here had 29 diff. backgrounds/languages representative within the student population)

The weather is moderate... but we get a shit load of rains So you better get used to that if your thinking of moving here ever. In terms of economy, its booming and very high... like ive never seen before. Yes it is expensive to live here, we are the most expensive city to live in Canada now. in terms of jobs and stuff... well for us... its pretty good... but in comparison to the states for the number of jobs available its nothing, not even a dot. However, the arts industry is really expanding here and alotta opportunity if your into that.... movie industry/filming, modeling, game design (EA headquarters and games are all designed here for example), etc.

But for a lot of you folks down south of us it isn't busy enough for you guys. What I mean when I say that... I have had alotta people come up here... some people say its awesome and they would live here... some people say its awesome but they could never live here because its to slow. I guess its not metropolitan enough, which I can understand where there coming from. I mean at end of the day we only have 3 million people in BC which is the size of California state alone... and California has 33 million the equivalent of the population in all of Canada!

We also have the 2010 Olympics coming up so the province is only getting more beutiful with all the new construction and stuff.

That my friend is Van-City in a nutshell!

[Jay]

^^^wholy shit that was long post i posted.. my bad.. got a little carried away.

[hftech]

haha yeah I coulda swore I read that post from a travel magazine! Yeah I've been all over the world, used to be in the Navy, so they took me all over Europe and Asia and Australia, I love seeing new places and the sort like that. I like the cities when they have a more laid back feeling, never been to New York City or LA and never wish to go, just the traffic and people's attitudes. Who knows maybe I'm wrong, but I grew up in the country and don't really like dealing with the traffic and crime that alot of these huge "fast-paced" cities have.

[Dunk31]

Hey hftech I know you're livin in VA when not kickin' it in Iraq, but where are you originally from?

[hftech]

Originally Posted by Dunk31

Hey hftech I know you're livin in VA when not kickin' it in Iraq, but where are you originally from?

JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA BABY!!!!!!! HUGE Jags fan. :P Did some growing up in Jville and then some actually in Northern VA, although I HATE the Redskins.

[AFSNightrod]

Haha have fun out there. I will actually be over that way when the new Camaro comes out. I know of several people in my unit that plan on buying one when we get back from the next deployment. After three times over there I have figured out that the only real time you should worry about mortars is when you can hear them whistle. That means it's gonna hit really effin' close. If that happens, you drop flat on the ground, cover your ears, and open your mouth wide. It will feel like you got punched really hard in the chest, but you'll survive. In the mean time enjoy the cooler weather. When did you get over there?

[hftech]

been here since September, so not that long. I have a choice of only staying 4 months and stuff but figured I'd wing it and do 11 months so I can get my taxes refunded to me, which should be a whopping 20 grand refund check from the govt.

[hftech]

I think with the military you all get tax free the whole time, but I look at my check and see how much taxes take from me and it brings a tear to my eye. They only refund the first 80K i make here though, so the rest is fair game for Uncle Sam to make roads that lead to nowhere...or whatever uselessness they'll use it on.

[AFSNightrod]

What are you like a GS9 or 11 or something? Yeah I wish I could clear 80 grand while I am over there lol. Actually I just might now that we do 15 month deployments. I've done two twelve month tours and a seven month tour since 2003. I'll have to do the math. All those taxes you pay are going right back into the war. Now I have no problem with going to war and going my duty and all that other patriotic stuff, but pay attention to all the money that gets wasted on rediculous ideas there. From first hand experience I can tell you that there are definitely smarter ways to spend our taxpayers' dollars over there. It's becoming too much of a money pit if you ask me. I'm not saying the war needs to end right away or anything, but things definitely need to change. It's never going to end if we keep going the way we are going. Okay enough of my ranting. I just realized that I may be able to knock out all my debt on this next deployment if I do 15 months. If that's the case I'll be taking my Camaro (the absolutely loaded top model) in black.

[hftech]

nope, not a government service worker. I'm a contractor, I just get a crapload of overtime hours in and then they give me an extra 35% of my pay for hazardous duty. Definitely getting the new Camaro and using a good portion of my tax return on mods, gonna see if I can break 500HP with that baby.