U.S. military pressgangs at work

The strain imposed on U.S. military planners by the total failure to do decent follow-up (‘Phase 4’) planning for either Iraq or Afghanisatn continues to grow. Today, the NYT carried an impassioned plea from an Army captain that the soldiers about to be re-impressed into the forces to keep up the troop strength are being very harshly treated.
The program in question is called “stop-loss”. The captain is called Andrew Exum. Here’s the bottom line on what he wrote:

    for enlisted soldiers, men and women who sign on with the Army for a predetermined period of service in lieu of commissions, stop-loss is a gross breach of contract.
    These soldiers have already been asked to sacrifice much and have done so proudly. Yet the military continues to keep them overseas– because it knows that through stop-loss it can do so legally, and that it will not receive nearly as much negative publicity as it would by reinstating the draft.
    Volunteer soldiers on active duty don’t have the right to protest or speak out against the policy… For those of us who have seen these soldiers repeatedly face death, watching them march off again– after they should have already left the Army– is painful.

Exum also wrote about the high costs the activation of the Individual Ready reserve is imposing on all the families affected by that program, too.
I don’t know when he wrote that piece. But it sure is timely. Today, AP has some big stories about stop-loss being implemented for:

    several units about to go to Iraq: most of the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, from Fort Drum, N.Y.; the 265th Infantry Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard; the 116th Armored Brigade of the Idaho National Guard; the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Tennessee National Guard, and the 42nd Infantry Division’s headquarters staff, from the New York National Guard.
    The 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, a South Korea-based unit, is expected to deploy later this summer and will be subject to the expanded stop-loss program as well, officials said.

I wonder, was the whole Iraq war “adventure” a fiendish plot to try to break the back of the US Army? Can we blame Ahmad Chalabi? Can we blame the Iranians?
Nah, I think we all really know where the buck really stops. 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in Northwest DC is where the guy in question lives. (Or just possibly, the Naval Observatory up on Mass Ave… home of Unca Dickie.)
All that sorrow, all those lives ended, broken, or mangled beyond recognition. In our country and even more so in Iraq.
As Yankeedoodle would say: 86-43-04.

13 thoughts on “U.S. military pressgangs at work”

  1. They have used stop-loss since just before the war in Iraq started. It was eventually lifted on some units but on some it has been in effect since the war started. My Marine has already served an additional year + 2 months under stop-loss. According to his superiors, they can hold him as long as we are at war, since the war on terra is unending…he has no idea when he will be released to discharge. I’m thinking because he is Marine Recon, that makes a difference as it takes a long time to train those guys. If stop-loss was taken off his unit today, they would lose two right now and the whole rest of the unit once their discharge dates come up. None plan to re-enlist now, according to my Marine who did an informal survey of his guys. Prior to Iraq but shortly after their “business trip” to Afghanistan, all but one (mine)planned to re-enlist. That is the impact he’s seen just on his own unit.
    It is unfair especially when you are sent into a war zone more than once when all you wanted to do was discharge and start a civilian life. The stop-loss issue is only coming back into the light because of it being applied to more units now, for some it never ended.

  2. My husband was stuck on stop loss for over a year: he put in a request to be considered for the POW medal. Didn’t get it though.

  3. Hardly pressgangs, and certainly not a breach of contract. It’s all there in black and white, right on the enlistment papers:
    10. MILITARY SERVICE OBLIGATION FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE ACTIVE AND RESERVE COMPONENTS, INCLUDING THE NATIONAL GUARD. a. FOR ALL ENLISTEES: If this is my initial en-listment, I must serve a total of eight (8) years. Any part of that service not served on active duty must be served in a Reserve Component unless I am sooner discharged. b. If I am a member of a Reserve Component of an Armed Force at the beginning of a period of war or national emergency declared by Congress, or if I become a member during that period, my military service may be extended without my consent until six (6) months after the end of that period of war. c. As a member of a Reserve Component, in time of war or national emergency declared by the Congress, I may be required to serve on active duty (other than for training) for the entire period of the war or emergency and for six (6) months after its end. As a member of the Ready Reserve I may be required to perform active duty or active duty fortraining without my consent (other than as provided initem 8 of this document) as follows: (1) in time of national emergency declared by the President of the United States, I may be ordered toactive duty (other than for training) for not more than24 consecutive months. (2) I may be ordered to active duty for 24 months, and my enlistment may be extended so I can complete 24 months of active duty, if: (a) I am not assigned to, or participating satis-factorily in, a unit of the Ready Reserve; and (b) I have not met my Reserve obligation; and (c) I have not served on active duty for a total of 24 months.
    http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:RspTB19H6uUJ:www.dior.whs.mil/forms/DD0004.PDF+enlistment+contract&hl=en
    It’s hard to be stop-lossed. But it’s even harder on units to lose experienced, trained team members to seperation while those units are actively engaged in combat. This sort of individual rotation policy served us very poorly in Vietnam and certainly led to additional loss of life by undermining unit integrity. It’s a necessary evil.

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