War Dangers Don't Deter U.S. Workers

Watkins said he has been lecturing his children about responsibility as they near college age. "I've been telling them about obstacles and risks to get what they want," he said. "As a parent you've got to put into action what you're saying in words."

In Iraq, Watkins said, he will earn twice what he made while working for Cysco Foods.

'It's Not Disneyland'

For many KBR recruits, the road to Iraq starts at a job fair like the one held at a Holiday Inn in Wichita Falls, near the Texas-Oklahoma border, the same Saturday Allen Petty boarded a plane for overseas.

Chris Ward delivered the reverse of the usual recruiter's pitch. He tried to persuade applicants at a job fair not to go.

"We want people to know exactly what they're getting into," he explained during a break. The company has lost 34 people in Iraq -- 13 contract employees and 21 who worked for subcontractors.

Standing before a group of 50 applicants in a beige-colored meeting room, he ticked off the reasons they should re-consider.

"It's not Disneyland," he said. "It's a war zone. This is not even the Balkans. The average temperature is 120 degrees. Last year, we had to send more people home because of dehydration and mild heat stroke. You will be in eight to 10-man tents on a cot. Plumbing is not the first thing we put in when we build a base camp. Expect to be dirty most of the time. This is a dust bowl. Dust will get in your eyes and find places you didn't know you had. There are mice, camel spiders, ticks, fleas and scorpions."

A hand shot up from the audience.

"How big are those camel spiders?"

Ward held up his hand and stretched his fingers. "They are as big as a hand," he said.

"We work. We eat. We sleep," he continued. "That's about it. You will work eight to 12 hours a day if not more. If we worked an eight-hour shift every day, you'd have 16 hours to hate us."