IRAQ Halliburton keeps workers in touch with home

Halliburton employees are paid well for dangerous duty in Iraq.
HOUSTON (AP) -- Thanks to a network of free communications, Steve Harryman never lost touch with his wife and three children in Houston during eight months as a contract worker in war-torn Iraq. Because of that and the money, he might even go back for another tour.
Harryman is one of thousands who have signed on with Halliburton Co.'s engineering and construction subsidiary KBR, formerly known as Kellogg, Brown & amp; Root, to aid the U.S.-led war effort in Iraq.
The money is attractive -- with overtime, they can earn up to $120,000 for a year's service. But they are in a war zone, and about 30 of the estimated 15,000 contract workers have been killed since the war began a year ago. Seven are missing and only one, Tommy Hamill of Macon, Miss., has been identified as having been kidnapped.
Because of the fear and uncertainty the workers and their families face, Halliburton provides direct satellite telephone service and Internet access, along with visits home.
Slow mail
"That made it a lot better," Harryman said. "The only complaint for everybody was that the mail was so slow."
Some workers don't have access to phones and Internet service, particularly if they are in transit or in locations where such services can't be provided, Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said.
For them, Halliburton added a link on its Web site last week that allows families to ask about the status of loved ones working in the Middle East.
"As we have a 24-hour operations center in Houston supporting the project's efforts overseas, we are able to respond to family members within 12 hours of the requests," Hall said.
Halliburton has seen an increase in both employees in Iraq and their families seeking counseling and support, said Jeff Christie, manager of the company's employee assistance program.
Requests for work
The company still receives numerous requests for jobs in Iraq every day, spokeswoman Cathy Gist said.
Harryman said he might return to Iraq, where he has earned about $88,000 at a rate of $400 per day.
He returned home in late February after working on electrical systems at a water plant in Basra, in southern Iraq. He said he served two 90-day tours and half of a third tour.
"It wasn't that bad. The food was decent. You didn't have your own room -- you had to share a room with another worker -- but you had a fridge in your room, and some had TVs. You had your own bathroom and there was a shower trailer with individual stalls," he said.