I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about, say, working in this field in the Middle East with the military? Do private contract firms hire CF staff to work in these sorts of places? And if so, any idea who?
I've often thought it would be an interesting bit of experience to spend a year out, but I guess citizenship would be an issue depending on who you contracted with.
So, anyone been involved in this, or have any comments?
Every one of these that I've ever seen required US security clearance, which requires you to have US citizenship, and no other citizenship, so as an Aussie, you don't have a chance to get one of these.
Greetings,
The current US term for this type of employment is "Media Exploitation Analyst". You can enter that into Google to find more information.
My impression is that most of these positions are less than interesting. I believe you're generally stationed at a camp and locked down. The media is brought to you - it isn't your job to go get it, and your skills are too valuable to put at risk. I believe that much of the work is pretty formulaic as well.
I've not worked on any of these contracts myself. If I could find one with a three month on, one month off cycle I'd be tempted but all the ones I've seen are much longer in and much shorter out for the year.
-David
To work for the US military as a contractor (such as ManTech) you need Top Secret clearance. For that you need to be a US Citizen.
The positions I have seen are 6 months or 1 year, with the 1 year assignment garnering a higher pay scale. A large portion of that pay is tax free ($80K ish US). Plus you really spend no real out of pocket for a year so it is an earnings bonanza.
Of course all that is off-set by less than ideal living conditions and a rather dangerous neighborhood where you live and work.
I would imagine that there are similar for your military. Have you looked into it?
This sounds quite interesting, does anyone know of where I can look into this further for the Uk contracts?( of course Google) but any particular forums/sites you recommend?
L
To get US secret clearance you do have to be a US citizen. You can still get work with companies like DynCorp and ManTech as a foreigner but probably not at secret level though.
I have a friend from Army days who is a recruiter/BD for US private military contractors who recruits non-US staff, and others who have worked for the US with US DoD clearance - not in digital forensics admittedly, but they have received security clearance.
ManTech were advertising recently for forensic analysts in Afghanistan but I can't remember what the security level was.
Chris
A colleague recently returned from a year in Southern Iraq and dispelled any romanticism I might have had about working in hostile environments. He spent 90% of his time in above ground concrete bunkers and the other 10% struggling with infrastructure limitations like inconsistent electricity and persistent dust. As untrained civilian personnel he was also restricted to protected areas and prohibited from carrying a weapon of any kind. He did suggest that if you enjoy spending the hottest part of the day in a shipping container covered in a combination of your own sweat and fine silt or going without a shower for a few weeks at a time you might enjoy it.
By my experience, unless there is a need for NOFORN material access, one does not need a US citizenship to get clearance.
If you have the expertise, you have a change to get clearance.
But, as fdd_dkerr said, it isn't James Bond or CSI…
Thanks for the info, everyone. I'm surprised they don't have clean power and air-con, though.
But, as fdd_dkerr said, it isn't James Bond or CSI…
No, really?
Come on - everyone who posts here knows what this job is about, surely? It was news to me, though, that the conditions are so terrible.
You have to already have clearance to even be considered for these jobs right?
7 (who has no clearance so is hoping to find something that just requires you to be clearable and not have an existing clearance.)