First Career Job Looks Like Its Going To Be...

[TimberWolf]

I'm still alive.

Had a week with no internet as my modem got shocked by a surge in the phone line. Then another week because I found out my router took a hit in the port for the modem. Now my network is back up and running with a new router and modem.

Still working and going to sites for inspections, which I have a big week long one coming up next week. Tons of paper work to look through to double check others both in and out of the district.

[Spinning Hat]

So, is the job what you had planned on? better? Worse? I can't imagine you dedicating 4 years of education to a career and not liking it, but stranger things have happened...

[TimberWolf]

Lets just say that my idea of life in an office and how they operate and what I'm actually living don't mesh. Everything is much more laid back on the surface but very serious if you look past the jokes and pranks. The work is constantly changing. And some how most of the people there could quote you the rules and regulations out of hundreds of different regulation books and sources just because they have seen them and used them so much.

Over all its not bad but there are tons more things I need to get acquainted with before I can start really judging the job. Still going through new employee trainings even after having been here for 2 months. Also have basic and advance training being schedules over the next 2 months to bring me up to par with current then to future standards on the CAD program we use.

Next week I will be out in the field doing a Periodic Inspection (PI) at one of out Lock and Dams on the Ohio River. Going to be interesting as I spend several days exclusively crawling over, under, and through the complex. If you hear about a Corps member falling into the Ohio River, it might be me. Good chances are I will be thrown off by one of my coworkers who is an Electrical Engineer that looks down upon Mechanical. Doesn't help when we pull pranks on each other (really I try to prank him, he just takes it).

[TimberWolf]

I'm considering doing a voluntary 6 month deployment to Afghanistan. Idea behind it is to get more experience that would help me along my career and get to see the world, as well as make enough money to pay off my College loans. I will be on a TDY to the District over there in developing the infrastructure of the country. There are things, like my best friends wedding next year, that I don't want to miss. As well as the fact that I'm starting to make a big difference in my new church.

Any comments or thoughts to aid me in my decision?

[XMEN Gambit]

Without knowing more about it, it's an interesting opportunity. Not too many people get one like that, so you could stand out career-wise. Your church should be able to do without you for six months and benefit from your experience when you return, especially if you can find some church-related activities over there. Can't really help you with the friend's wedding. Don't know how much you're being paid or if it's worth however much security risk might be involved.

I won't advise you to stay or go since only you can make that judgment. I'm just pointing out that it's a good opportunity, tougher to take advantage of later in life, and you often don't realize the full benefits of these until well after you're back.

[XMEN Ashaman DTM]

A few words of wisdom...

Deployments are treated as TDYs unless you are in an emergency essential position (if you don't know what that is, you aren't in one). Which means your per diem is something like 4 dollars per day over there. In addition, it puts a limit on how long you can stay (180 days). You won't see any hazard or combat pay unless you happen to get right into the thick of something. So it's not like you'll be making a lot of money.

Having a deployment on your record is a good thing. I've heard that the rules for our pensions/retirement accounts may be changing in the near future to be more like the old system. Now, under that old system, if you were deployed a certain number of days, or had an overseas tour for a certain number of days, or a sum total of overseas deployments/tours for a cerain number of days, you were able to carry over more than 240 hours of annual leave each year. I don't recall what that number of days was, but I think it was over 500 days. I used to work with a guy that was under the old system (CSRS), and he had a carry over of 360 hours of leave. He also had 3000 hours of sick leave on the books that he could use when he retires.

You are unmarried and without kids. This is a VERY good time for a deployment. Trust me when I say that it is very hard to volunteer for deployments when you have a family. It's not like the military where you don't have a choice.

You are early enough in your career where the deployment experience will be that much more beneficial for you to understand what "supporting the warfighter" really means for DoD civilians.

Depending on where you get deployed (whether it is the district you mentioned or not), make sure you get a proper fit on any body armor they issue, and that you pay attention when they go over weapons training. You won't get any more training than that, but when things get REALLY bad, you will likely be expected to help out. I've talked to a few people that had that situation, or knew of a civilian that went through it. It's not expected of you, but be prepared for it.

The higher you go, the harder it is to do things that you really want to do. You have the freedom now, and you should take advantage of it if you really want to. There will be more opportunities, but you have freedom being so new.



And my biggest thing to say: How the HECK are you getting a deployment before you have your 3 years? You're not even a permanent civilian yet! Make sure your paperwork is correct and you're not violating any rules before you really get your hopes up.

Also, if you do decide on going, make sure you really closely read your mobility agreement before signing. Sometimes, they'll put surprises in there that you don't see until you get back home. And they're not fun surprises. I just got through with a minor argument with my branch chief about me being deployable: the job announcement didn't have it, and they never had me sign a mobility agreement as part of taking the promotion. Oh and make sure you understand what's on your SF-50 before you go.


One of those deployment surprises that nobody mentions goes like this:
1) you sign up for deployment midway through your appraisal cycle (say march)
2) you deploy in June for six months
3) you return from your deployment in January
4) you get hammered on your performance appraisal because your individual performance plan didn't say anything about how you would be evaluated while you were deployed
5) you lose out on any bonus, and potentially a step increase because of the poor rating
6) if your rating is poor enough, you go on probation (stupid, I know, but it happens)

Granted, the above seems far fetched, but I know of two civilians in different agencies that this happened to. And that's out of maybe a dozen that I can recall having deployed or returned from deployments recently.




Overall.... go for it. It's an opportunity that won't affect your family (because you don't have a wife and kids), and it's an opportunity that is easier to manage while you are young. But make absolutely certain that you know every detail of what you are getting into.

[Spinning Hat]

Wow.. LOTS of good advice there.. Personally, if I was in your position, I would go. Always double check that what you're getting into is in writing, and you're 100% sure of what's happening. Other than that, get the experience, and enjoy yourself as much as you can before you get settled and domesticated...

[TimberWolf]

I left out the info about money intentionally to hear more about other aspects that I may have not thought of. As for money, I'm told between hazard pay and various bonuses I can expect to earn 1.25 to 1.5 times what I would normally earn in a 6 month period. If I would do a full year TDY then it would be 2.5 to 3 times what I would earn annually.

From my understanding I may start at the district HQ but will probably be shipped around regularly between various field sites. It would be 12 hour work days 6 days a week with one day off. The Corps has only lost two people due to insurgents and that was earlier this year with one of them being from a neighboring district. All travel off base or between sites is done in armored vehicles, choppers, and/or planes with armed escorts. The work I would be doing over there would have no relevance to what I'm doing now, except maybe designing pump stations. Beyond that I'm under the impression I would mainly be working on the infrastructure of the country.

As for the deployment itself, it is listed as an internal job offer in the Corps. When I was going through the interview process they asked if I would consider deployment and at the time I said I would want to get a year or two under my belt before doing so. With the pulling out of troops progressing and the decommissioning of one of the Iraq districts, it looks like the incentives for deployment will be vanishing soon.

If I take the deployment now I won't be around for employee evaluations. My boss is pretty flexible and what I'm being evaluated on is pretty basic and covers learning and growing in the Corps. As for not affecting my family, it will affect my parents. My Mom, who is a worry wart when it comes to her kids going off and doing something new and different, pointed out that she doesn't think she could handle loosing me do to an attack over seas. She is also a Bipolar Manic Depressive.

I will probably be making my choice in the next week or so. Want to talk to some more people about this before making a choice.