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Which Hellhole Should I Volunteer For?

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  • Which Hellhole Should I Volunteer For?

    A couple of State Dept communiques have come out recently, reminding us all that we're encouraged (i.e., expected) to serve at least one tour in one of our planet's more-benighted, less-American-friendly spots (and, alas, I don't mean France). Posts in these places, called "critical-to-fills" -- rather than, say, "likely-to-acquire-PTSDs" -- break down into two broad categories: ones where I can bring the wife, and ones where I can't (none of them allow kids, but my daughter will be heading to college when we leave Singapore, so that's no biggie). They also break down geographically into several varieties:

    Iraq (naturally)
    Afghanistan
    Middle Eastern hellholes (Yemen, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia)
    Saharan Hellholes (Mauritania, Chad, Sudan)
    Sub-Saharan hellholes (pretty much all of French-speaking Africa)
    Kosovo
    Haiti

    So let's get busy planning my career!
    52
    Iraq (1 year, no spouse)
    5.77%
    3
    Afghanistan (1 year, no spouse)
    3.85%
    2
    A Middle Eastern hellhole (1-2 years, spouse)
    7.69%
    4
    A Saharan hellhole (1-2 years, spouse)
    3.85%
    2
    A Sub-Saharan hellhole (2 years, spouse)
    7.69%
    4
    Kosovo (2 years, spouse)
    48.08%
    25
    Haiti (2 years, spouse)
    11.54%
    6
    Screw it! A career isn't worth doing time in any of those places.
    7.69%
    4
    Anyplace you can get bananas, no matter the risk!
    3.85%
    2
    Last edited by Rufus T. Firefly; February 15, 2007, 01:04.
    "I have as much authority as the pope. I just don't have as many people who believe it." — George Carlin

  • #2
    Try Iraq, I hear its pretty s****y inside the Green Zone
    Stop Quoting Ben

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    • #3
      Yeah, Iraq also comes with 4 R&Rs in a single year, which means 4 trips to Paris on Uncle Sam's dime. But no wife would be a bummer.

      I'm partial to Kosovo, myself, but it would probably mean learning Albanian -- which, in turn, might mean a later tour of duty in Albania.

      My wife's pushing for Haiti, on the grounds that the inevitable evacuation will at least be a short trip.
      "I have as much authority as the pope. I just don't have as many people who believe it." — George Carlin

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      • #4
        Try Afghanistan. Just war, rarh-rah, and all that. Though I imagine hellholes where you can drag the wife would have there appeal.
        I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
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        • #5
          I vote Kosovo, at least it's making progress.

          Definatly Kosovo if I had to choose. Which I don't but for what it's worth.

          Or maybe i'm just being overly optimistic about Kosovo.

          Haiti seems to be going downhill recently. But I haven't been paying attetion to Haiti since the last major peacekeeping initiative there in the late 90's. And by downhill I mean the responsible involved parties seem to be conversing with guns rather then well, words. From the BBC stories i've heard things in Haiti have gotten very ugy with no end in sight. I'm so depressed about how that has turned out I don't even bother doing follow-up reading on Haiti. By all means do some asking around and get an informed view but don't go to Haiti.

          Iraq should be off your list. Unless you like martyrdom.

          editted for clarity and paragraphs are my friends.

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          • #6
            My Grandparents were missionaries in Haiti for some time... there were lots of evacuations.

            JM
            Jon Miller-
            I AM.CANADIAN
            GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by DinoDoc
              Try Afghanistan. Just war, rarh-rah, and all that. Though I imagine hellholes where you can drag the wife would have there appeal.
              It's actually become hard to land an Afghanistan assignment; word is out that serving there is worth nearly as many brownie points as Iraq, but with a tiny fraction of the risk and much more comfort (the urban infrastructures are largely intact, for example). But no wife =
              "I have as much authority as the pope. I just don't have as many people who believe it." — George Carlin

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              • #8
                If you know anyone with the BBC talk with them before

                you make your decision. If you don't know someone then make friends. Those people have a wealth of experience in all sorts of places. There have been a lot of changes in leadership lately of dubious value, to put it mildly, but the correspondents are the best resource you'll ever have. Of course you'll find people with bad advice in any organization so know the people you take advice from.

                editted because proper spelling never goes out of style.
                Last edited by PuddlewatchHQ; February 15, 2007, 02:13.

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                • #9
                  Kosovo. You can have long weekends in Greece, Italy, Austria and Adriatic coast, all within 5 hour drive.
                  Originally posted by Serb:Please, remind me, how exactly and when exactly, Russia bullied its neighbors?
                  Originally posted by Ted Striker:Go Serb !
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                  • #10
                    Lebanon. My great-uncle got a post in Barbados after he almost got blown up there.
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                    ASHER FOR CEO!!
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                    • #11
                      Kosovo for Saras' reasoning, and the fact that it at least sort of has improved...

                      Also a certain former ambassador type wrote a pretty cool book about how the diplomacy worked in that part of the continent
                      <Reverend> IRC is just multiplayer notepad.
                      I like your SNOOPY POSTER! - While you Wait quote.

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                      • #12
                        Any African country with a Chinese presence is starting to look

                        like an interesting place to be. I assume the Chinese government will have a very long term presence in most of those countries. In terms of export markets certainly China would benefit from but perhaps for general trade some day. Though maybe that presence will only last till needed natural resources are depleted. But it looks like things might finally be looking up for some countries there.

                        Editted for spelling and content.

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                        • #13
                          Okay, I have to post it ...

                          "Edited" is spelled with one t, sir Unless that's an intentional pun ...

                          Anyway, I think the true irony is that if you look at the general world economic path, there's some reasonable likelihood that Africa will be the next Southeast Asia (or some part of Africa, anyway), in terms of becoming the world's producer of cheap goods (and cheap labor). If any given region of Africa with a modicum of resources and a decent population density were to suddenly pacify, it's not unimaginable ...especially somewhere reasonably cheap to ship from (either further north/northwest, like Liberia area, or east, ie Somalia or Eritrea)

                          Then Africa could sell things to China on the cheap
                          <Reverend> IRC is just multiplayer notepad.
                          I like your SNOOPY POSTER! - While you Wait quote.

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                          • #14
                            One of the downsides of serving in Africa (aside from all the obvious ones we can think of) is that travel within the continent is apparently prohibitively expensive. Unlike my service in Asia, which has allowed me to visit many countries, service in, say, Nigeria seems to mean sitting in Nigeria for 2 straight years. No thanks.

                            Still, I actually would like to serve in Africa at some point, but am more interested in South and East Africa, the recent murder of US personnel in Nairobi notwithstanding. Central and West Africa just aren't doing it for me.
                            "I have as much authority as the pope. I just don't have as many people who believe it." — George Carlin

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                            • #15
                              Yes I did think my spelling of edited looked

                              funny. Thanks for the heads up. I was too tired to bother to look up the spelling. And i've never had trouble spelling that particular word before.

                              edited: Yeah you guessed it, I just can't help myself.

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