Tonight I was having dinner with church friends. One of them is working in a satellite company doing business with the US Army. He didn’t went to go to Iraq to install satellite equitments, but his colleagues did and came back alive with many stories. The poor engineer has first flew to Kuwait, from there he took a US army transport into Iraq. Once he boarded the plane, he was given a bullet proof vest. He was told not to put on the vest, instead he has to sit on the vest. The crew explained it is for random gun fires from below. The flight has no air hostress too. With some luck, he touched down and arrived in the army base in one piece. Upon arrival, he is advised not to go outside the base as his safety cannot be garunteed. When he need to go from the base to another base 10 minutes driving distanace away, he has to wait for the helicopter scheduled on the next day. The street is so dangerous that it is wise to ride a Blackhawk instead. He stayed in Iraq for almost a month, got the work done then came home. It is really the kind of engineering work not for a fainted heart. I would think twice before signing up for such job, it is like signing a life waiver. On the other hand, the job should be relatively safe and it is really an once in a life time experience.