get a real Army
Aug. 17th, 2004 12:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
winterbadgerSomeone whose LJ I read is deployed as a reservist in Iraq. The latest scuttlebutt is that, while reservists can now only be activated for two years out of every six, DOD is thinking of making that a per theater rule. So that you can be activated for two years for Iraq, then reactivated for Afghanistan for another two years, then sent home for two years (or activated for two years for duty in Europe so a European-deployed unit can go to Iraq), then activated for Iraq again.
If the current armed forces of the United States are not sufficient for the job they're assigned to do, we need to increase the regular forces to a level where they can perform their necessary functions. We should not be treating guard and reserve forces, which have been since World War II considered to be a reinforcement for our combat forces in the event of a mjaor war of limited duration, as if they were available for unlimited duration, in effect a regular force that is not as well paid or as well provided for and whose members have jobs in the civilian economy, as well as homes and families, that need them. Som sacrifice is part of what they signed up for, but being treated this way is not. This is an attempt to evade facing the necessities of the wars that the administration has wished on the American people by invading Iraq. We're there now, we need to get the job done, and we need to do it properly. Reactivate some of the regular divisions that have been stood down in the past twenty years. But don't keep expecting the reserves and guard to shoulder an endless burden. That's not what they're there for.
If the current armed forces of the United States are not sufficient for the job they're assigned to do, we need to increase the regular forces to a level where they can perform their necessary functions. We should not be treating guard and reserve forces, which have been since World War II considered to be a reinforcement for our combat forces in the event of a mjaor war of limited duration, as if they were available for unlimited duration, in effect a regular force that is not as well paid or as well provided for and whose members have jobs in the civilian economy, as well as homes and families, that need them. Som sacrifice is part of what they signed up for, but being treated this way is not. This is an attempt to evade facing the necessities of the wars that the administration has wished on the American people by invading Iraq. We're there now, we need to get the job done, and we need to do it properly. Reactivate some of the regular divisions that have been stood down in the past twenty years. But don't keep expecting the reserves and guard to shoulder an endless burden. That's not what they're there for.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 08:54 pm (UTC)