Some troops in Iraq being extended past year

[tiggerlover]

I just heard on our news that some of the troops in Iraq are being extended there past their one year for up to another 60 days. This just seems so unfair, I feel so bad for them and their families. Also, I was talking to an army guy about this and he said they can extend them 60 days and then when that is almost up they can do it for another 60 days, so on and so forth. I can't even imagine the strain this is putting on some families and the emotional toll I am sure is unbelievable.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

This is very true. I know Army reservist minimum stay there is 12 months now. Usually 15 though, and can be more. I am not sure if the other branches of the military have stayed as long. It is a LONG time. 5 months was long enough when DH was away in the first Gulf war.

 

[Keli]

This is going to affect some of the 101st support battalions (Titus is in a support battalion but he is not going to be affected by this as far as we know). I really feel for those soldiers and families involved and I feel pretty aggrivated at the defense department over this. They have had redeployment plans in place for months and they should have realized long ago that they were going to be short on aviation support and did something about it then rather than waiting until the last minute and making soldiers who have already been in the sandbox for a year stay even longer.

 

[mamajoan]

Reservists are playing a MAJOR part in this Iraqi intervention. SIL is a Lt.Col in Army reserves.... they are telling their troops to prepare for 18 months or more of deployment .. that may be to anywhere in the world. They are replenishing troops and making up the difference stateside for units deployed elsewhere. WHEW! Reg. duty Soldiers, marines and sailors are spread thin all over the world. Lots of prayers for world peace.

I wonder if Mr. Bush and Congress are as concerned for our servicemembers and families as we are at this time

 

[floridaminnie]

God Bless all our Troops!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

This affects BIL as his unit's orders have already been changed to June or July. His unit is one of the top 5 over there in terms of time served in Iraq. I wrote to our senator and congressional rep. about it but heard nothing. Of course Sean himself would never complain, but he doesn't see what this is doing to his little girls.
Robin M.

 

[jsmith]

OK I'm gonna vent now-Its not just troops that have already been in Iraq for a year that are being affected. MY DH is a Wyoming guardsman who will leave shortly for the sand. There is a medical air ambulance unit from the same wyoming community that was called up for 18 months of aviation support duty-this unit had just redeployed from 10 months of active duty at Ft Rucker back filling a unit that was in Iraq. They had literally been off active duty less than 90 days when they were recalled. Even those soliders who were planning to get out were still on the stop loss order from the last deployment when the new orders came. The impact to civilian employers, especailly flight for life services out here in the west where really good hospitals are hundreds of miles apart, is huge. This same unit also did an 8 month tour in Bosina in 2001 so they have been on active duty for most of the last three years.
One of the things that the general American public is not aware of is that in addition to bearing the a huge share of the burden for this deployment, policies surrounding it have been hugely unfair to reservists-one of the reasons you are now seeing extenstions of active duty soldiers tours in Iraq and Afghanistan is congressional pressure to treat them equally. Prior to the last stop loss order active soldiers whose ETS came up while thier unit was deployed could get out on schedule. But reservists are on a stop loss (can not get out) from the day the unit is alerted until 90 days after they return to home station-not the end of the active duty period but 90 days after it. 3 people in DH's unit were to retire on 1 January-alert came 1 Dec and now they can not retire before 30 October 2005-even the unit members that staid in Cheyenne as rear detachment. Active soldiers deploying overseas spend every night before leaving the country with their families. Reserve soldiers go to a MOB station for as much as four months before deployment-most do not see their families or see them only rarely after leaving the home station to go to the MOB station-my DH's MOB station is 60 miles from where we live but it is unlikely he will be allowed to come home to visit or that we will see him again before they leave. Until the recent policy of 12 months "boots on the ground" for all troops there were many-not all but many active units that rotated in and out in a matter of months while the reservists supporting them staid-a friend in an engineering unit with orders that were orginally for 179 days last February has been in Iraq since last April and expects to be there til this coming April-the active units around them have rotated home, and then the replacement unit rotated home and the original back again since they have been there. Early on there was a huge issue of Active officers who needed their "ticket punched" for promotion rotating in for a few months, collecting credit for combat and then rotating back. Since Vietnam the longest tours for reservists have been 179 days-DH's were for 545 days with option to extend. The laws protecting the rights for reservists to be reemployed and other portections have had to be relegislated because of this.
Do I have some heart burn with Mr Rumsfeld and company-yeah you could say that
vent over-thanks for reading if you got this far!

 

[tiggerlover]

I apologize if I forgot to include the reservists, but they are equally as important, as is their families. Being an active duty military family member, I really didn't realize the plight of the reservist, thanks for opening my eyes.

Keli, I am so glad to read that as of now Titus is not effected. I hope it stays that way and he is home when he was expected.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

jsmith-I know and agree that it is very unfair. All I will say is Rumsfield is NOT an army man(he was in the Navy, I think). DH is a reserve officer now, and could very well get "pulled" to go at any moment-they say 15 month minimum as they have time here each way. He has already had one false alarm. At this point, we will be there through 2007 from what I understand so there is a good chance that call will come.
I posted a thread on the Military board awhile back and many responded that they knew of units already being given notice to go back. His Army Times has lots of "info" the general public is not aware of.
My prayers are with ALL military families during this time.

 

[Auggietina]

jsmith-
Thanks for posting that! My dh is Army National Guards and is at is MOB station where he will be until March and then he will head over to Iraq. His MOB station is 9 hours away - so it is unlikely I will see him before he leaves. His orders are also for 545 days.

The more I read about how the troops are over there the more I get frustrated with how the Guards and Reservist get treated. Not only are they forced to stay there longer, they also have second rate equipment. They are only issued items if there are any left over after AD has been issued theirs. And we are talking about safety items such as bullet proof vests. AD has them, most NG and Reservists don't. After this rotation there will be 60% AD and 40% NG and reservist serving in Iraq.

My dh's ETS was Dec 1, 2003. Guess what - they got activated on 11-22-03.

this article kinds of sums it up.

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_reserves_011204,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl

I wish your dh a safe and quick return home.

 

[jsmith]

Sorry, I did not mean to go off like that-I was having PMS and really frustrated that I can not see my DH who is an hours drive from home, because the Army doesn't think it is a good idea! Things are getting better, not just the way we might want-ie AD are getting extended tours instead of Reservists getting them shortened.-Tigger lover I did not mean it as a slam at AD-all those who serve are owned a huge thanks and families who do what yours has done and live outside the country make a great sacrifice-but the civilian leadership and senior army leadership who think they can treat the "weekend warriors" differently hack me off. Especailly the issues with equipment and length of tours.
Auggietina, I will keep your DH in my prayers. Stay strong-we can do this!

 

[tiggerlover]

Originally posted by jsmith
Sorry, I did not mean to go off like that-I was having PMS and really frustrated that I can not see my DH who is an hours drive from home, because the Army doesn't think it is a good idea! Things are getting better, not just the way we might want-ie AD are getting extended tours instead of Reservists getting them shortened.-Tigger lover I did not mean it as a slam at AD-all those who serve are owned a huge thanks and families who do what yours has done and live outside the country make a great sacrifice-but the civilian leadership and senior army leadership who think they can treat the "weekend warriors" differently hack me off. Especailly the issues with equipment and length of tours.
Auggietina, I will keep your DH in my prayers. Stay strong-we can do this!

jsmith, I was not taking it as a slam, just an eye-opener, another side of the story that I didn't know. I don't understand why the reservists would not get the same benefits when called up as active duty, it doesn't make sense to me as they are both making sacrifices for their country. {{{HUGS}}} to you, I can understand your frustration.