Troops long out-of-uniform sent to Iraq

[RamboLiberal]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060819/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_back_in_uniform

Spc. Chris Carlson had been out of the U.S. Army for two years and was working at Costco in California when he received notice that he was being called back into service.

The 24-year-old is one of thousands of soldiers and Marines who have been deployed to Iraq under a policy that allows military leaders to recall troops who have left the service but still have time left on their contract.

"I thought it was crazy," said Carlson, who has found himself protecting convoys on Iraq's dangerous roads as part of a New Jersey National Guard unit. "Never in a million years did I think they would call me back."

Although troops are allowed to leave active duty after a few years of service, they generally still have time left on their contract with the military that is known as "inactive ready reserve" status, or IRR. During that time, they have to let their service know their current address, but they don't train, draw a paycheck or associate in any other way with the military.

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Every reservist I have ever heard of has been called up

for a long tour in the last few years. It's almost guaranteed.

[MadMaddie]

2. The volunteer military is being destroyed by the Republican

party....this is the beginning of the end of volunteering...the draft is coming ....for men and women...

[TomInTib]

4. Or you can see #3 and take another guess

A bunch of old, creaky guys whose demise wouldn't get a lot of teary-eyed, interviews with his football coach, fiancee', left a lot of young kids interviews.

[TomInTib]

3. Get ready, the old guys are next.

I was called back in '89 for the Panama deal after being out of service since '72.

And I am eligible until 2012.

I will be 62, then.

[soothsayer]

6. 2012, the end of the Mayan calendar. What timing!

[izzie]

7. I am sorry but that is to funny. Are you pulling my leg?

I am sure men your age are not fit to fight in 100 degree temp. half way around the world even if your in great shape. At your age one has learned to pace one self. That is not the way to do it.

[TomInTib]

10. I am not pulling your leg.

Special Forces are eligible for callup until the age of 62.

[izzie]

12. My husband said he could have been called up for 10 years.

That was after 20 year and retirement. but I must say he would never have been that old. He would have been done by 47. Going in right after high school makes one very young at retirement. It seems very old for some one to be 62 and be a front line man even if you were in great shape. Years wear on every one.

[Toots]

8. How can that be if you signed a six year contract?

The way it was when I was in was different I guess. We had a six year obligation usually two year active duty and two year active reserve and two years inactive reserve. If you were an RA you usually had three years active duty and the rest active reserve. After my six years were up I received a Discharge from the Army through the mail.. Once that discharge was in my hand I doubt they could have recalled me without re-instating the draft.

[TomInTib]

11. There is a difference

I was/am Special Forces. You're in until the age of 62.

Sucks, don't it?

[Edwards_2008]

5. Why? Why? Why?

[Rhiannon12866]

9. I remember a similar "60 Minutes" story.

They recalled a 55-year-old woman who had been out for many years, a 31-year-old mother of three small children, who had been unsuccessfully fighting it, and a 47-year-old guy who was certainly disabled by injuries he received in the military, can't run nor raise his arm. This disturbed me enough that I thought of it as soon as I read your post...:-(

Old Soldiers Back On Duty
Bob Simon Reports On Former GIs Being Ordered To Suit Up For Iraq
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/30/60minutes/main705491.shtml

This bothered me enough that I sent it to a friend of mine, a West Point graduate who was career army, asking him if he could also be recalled. He's in his 40s, retired from the army. He told me that it wasn't going to happen, but that I wasn't the only one who'd sent him this story and that he expected that they'd reinstate the draft before long.;(