In the pursuit of obtaining a position on the LOGCAP project, well-informed job seekers are always on the lookout for a way to gain a strategic advantage in securing a position for which there may be thousands of applicants. For some, their job hunting strategy may include applying to and accepting a position that may not necessarily be #1 in their Top Ten Dream Jobs list, but a position that nonetheless allows them to get their foot in the door.

Through the years, I have known a large number of people to start out in entry-level positions, and move up once they got some time on the job. After you’ve successfully navigated all the prerequisites required to deploy and are actually “boots on ground”, the second phase in this strategy is to show yourself as a responsible and reliable employee who has their priorities straight, and does not only a “good” job, but rather an exceptional job in the position for which you were hired. Don’t be someone who just shows up for work and does what they have to do to get through the day.

Simultaneously, while you are in the process of proving yourself as a solid asset to the department, you should proactively take the opportunity to network and establish working relationships with cross-functional areas of support essential to success of the mission. The "powers that be", like to observe how a person handles their business before considering them for positions of increased responsibility, and if you establish yourself as someone who can consistently be counted on and as someone with a positive attitude, you will find yourself on a good path.

You should also be aware that what turns managers and line supervisors off in a New York heartbeat, is someone who is highly impressed with themselves, think they would be better suited in another position and gets off the plane with their resume in hand looking to immediately transfer into another department. The only reputation that’s going to get them is one of a slacker and a gold digger. When it comes time for a Reduction in Force, otherwise know as a RIF, these freeloading opportunists will be the first to be let go and find themselves on the next thing smokin’ – (that’s Logcap-speak meaning the next flight out).

Finally, remember that there is no such thing as a career on LOGCAP. Approach it with a realistic attitude of knowing that it’s a temporary job and a means to an end of making as much money as you can. Granted, there are people who have been working on LOGCAP projects all over the world for many years, but the vast majority of LOGCAP employees work for a substantially less amount of time.