National Guard, reserve soldiers denied family outings

[Judi Lynn]

Source: USA Today

National Guard, reserve soldiers denied family outings
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
Posted 9h 14m ago

The Army has tightened restrictions on National Guard and reserve soldiers preparing for war by keeping them largely confined to their bases and prohibiting leaves to visit families for up to four months, according to a new Army policy.

The new rules, combined with restrictions in place since 2009, prevent guardsmen and reservists mobilized for combat from leaving their training installations even to spend an evening out with relatives or friends.

Army officials say the rules help maximize the time citizen soldiers spend in combat by intensifying and thus shortening training. The rules do not apply to active-duty soldiers.

"You're treated like a convict," says Sgt. 1st Class Marc Seal, 39, with Texas National Guard. A veteran of three combat tours, he is a paramedic with five children, three living at home in Dallas.





Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2011-03-09-1Abaserestriction09_ST_N.htm

[Taverner]

1. When are we going to stip these useless wars?

Anybody?

[GeorgiaPeach]

3. When no more cannon fodder volunteers to fight them for the ruling class?

[Vinee]

14. a balanced budget amendment is in the works. That will put an end to war without end.

"Endless money forms the sinews of war"
Cicero

[ixion]

2. End our endless 'wars'. Problem solved.

[plumbob]

8. It IS that simple.

Let's do it today!

[Wilms]

4. Support the Troop! n/t

[KT2000]

5. Shortening training???

These soldiers have already had their training cut to the bone.
Talk to an older vet - they will tell you that we are sending troops over there with minimal training compared to the past.

[TheDebbieDee]

6. They basically want to put the soldier thru basic training again!

As active duty Army, I went through this at Ft. Jackson, SC in 1991 before being deployed to SW Asia. I resented it like hell because I already knew all the stuff they were trying to teach us. I wanted to spend time with my two daughters before I left.

But a lot of the soldiers in the detachment were Reservists and actually needed the training.........

[blackspade]

7. This says it all:

"Army officials say the rules help maximize the time citizen soldiers spend in combat by intensifying and thus shortening training. The rules do not apply to active-duty soldiers."

Maybe they should minimize the time they spend in combat. Better yet don't send them at all.

[pasto76]

9. They did this bullshit to us in 2003

Despite no stats to back it up, its because us "lowly" reservists and guard are "more likely" to go AWOL than our Adult active duty counterparts.

I love my active duty soldiers, but balancing a civilian life and career AND being a soldier is much more than a full time job. In fact, being on active duty was pretty easy compared to it. Anyway.

Oh, and these reserve and guard soldiers, **who have been activated to active duty** are being treated as second class soldiers. Nothing kills morale faster than that! Speaking from experience.

Makes this Iraq Vet wonder what dirty trick is coming next.

[AnneD]

10. ITA.....

The Army seems to forget...the Reserve are CITIZEN soldiers. The longer we are into these endless wars, the harder it is to maintain the regular army. It is too costly to have the mercenaries. The Reserves are perfect. They are cheaper and you can take out insurance policies on them to recoup some of your losses in the event of their death. It sounds cold but war is business and the Reservist is expendable. You are fighting to help the Corperate powers to be maintain their control. Reservist learn this quicker and are more likely to bolt.

What is next. We go to war with ourselves in the form of a police state I guess. It is already well in place.

[hack89]

11. It is not hard at all to maintain the regular army

judging by their recruiting numbers. The regular army are volunteer citizen soldiers too. Your use of the term mercenary is ignorant and insulting.

If it is all about money, why did the PTB allow the draft to go away? Conscripts are a hell of a lot cheaper than an all volunteer army.

You do do realize, don't you, that the government does not take out insurance on reservists? There is no money to be made on their deaths.

[AnneD]

13. I think you may have misread my statement....

I did not mean to imply that Reservist were mercenaries...I was speaking about the Army using civilian contractors like Black Rock or Wackenhut. I was a Reservist and my motivation was about giving back to my country-never the money.

You ask "If it is all about money, why did the PTB allow the draft to go away? Conscripts are a hell of a lot cheaper than an all volunteer army." It is easy to commit our troops to these endless wars when there is no sacrifice. The current troops volunteered so they in essence asked for it and have no one to blame but themselves. The problem with that policy is that the end game means the pool of volunteers will dry up and we will eventually have to pay mercenaries.

I am a person that believes we should have a draft. If anything, it makes Congress think twice before going to war and this nation can fully understand the sacrifice. The last conscription war we had was the Viet Nam War. If you don't know how that went over, check the history books.

And I do apologize. The military doesn't make a profit on dead soldiers, the insurance companies do.....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38629691/ns/business-bloomberg_businessweek/

[hack89]

15. Vietnam was the reason the Army soured on the draft

and wanted a volunteer army with a strong Reserve/National Guard component. The thought was that the country would think twice about going to war if it involved calling up the Reserve/National Guard. The military actually organized itself such that it could not fight a major war without the Reserves and National Guard - that's why they have been so active since 911.

I think you have it backwards - the Vietnam draft did not spread the sacrifice. There were so many ways to avoid the draft that large segments of America went on with their lives with no bother - especially the educated and wealthy. Calling up the Reserves and National Guard does impact every part of society - they represent every social strata and are frequently respected community or business leaders.

The main argument against the draft is that it would significantly lower the effectiveness of our fighting forces. A draftee infantryman in Vietnam, for example, would get 6 months of training, do a one year combat tour and then go home. All the training and tactics had to be geared towards this rapid and constant turnover. Additionally, all the training and tactics had to be geared towards a fairly low intelligence and education level.

Now, with an all volunteer force that all changes. You have them for a longer period so there are more opportunities for training. You can also significantly raise the intelligence, aptitude and education standards so you can implement more advanced and complex weapons and tactics. And being an all volunteer for, you have many more soldiers making a career, thus significantly raising the experience level of the military. For example, we have infantry men with years of combat - and such combat experience is an invaluable and rare commodity in most armies of the world. A battle tested army has a tremendous advantage over an inexperienced enemy - they know through the harsh reality of combat what works and what doesn't. They have weeded out the incompetent leaders. Their training is much more realistic because the people doing the training understand what combat is all about.

I disagree with your suggestion that the pool of volunteers will dry up - 10 years down the road there is certainly no indication of that.

[AnneD]

16. Viet Nam did not totally spread the sacrifice ....

because there were too many loop holes and jerk offs like Cheney and Bush got out...But more people were aware of the sacrifice. My classmates and I hit the streets protesting for an end to the war, especially when our friends were drafted into service and started coming home wounded or dead. Where are the protests against the wars now? Washington was scared shitless by the sheer numbers of people on the mall.

I think we should have a draft no exclusions (with one exemption-2 years of public service via Peace Corp or some other service.) I am around young kids and there is no sense of doing for the greater good. America is so much more, and worth so much more.

I do not buy into the volunteer army. Why do you even need them for a longer time unless it is for your endless wars??? Why in the hell do we need Infantry with years of combat experience....UNLESS IT IS FOR YOUR ENDLESS WARS. Who appointed us the fucking world policemen. Maybe if we didn't have a large standing Army we would give diplomacy a chance instead of being so quick to pull the trigger. Maybe if we didn't spend so much money pissing it away on bombs, we might be able to afford health care, education, and other services.

Infantrymen with years of service....I am so disturbed by that statement. How you make that sound so effortless. Ask anyone that has fought (I am guessing you haven't-by your statement). My Dad was career military and his family suffered for it. I was one of the first volunteers in the New Reserve Army. I was in college and I had the notion that I needed to give back so I did a (I think) a 4yr hitch and then went into IRR for 2 more. We were poorly equipped, poorly trained, and poorly paid. The bulk of the Reserve gets their manpower from poor young kids with few job skills, and in this economy...they may get a bumper crop of fresh meat. And then when I found out about the de facto draft (stop loss-being prevented from leaving when your contract has expired). I couldn't leave fast enough.

Unless you have actual military experience, I would ask you respectfully to refrain from discussing something that you have no first hand experience in.

[hack89]

17. We can't afford an army that size

the army is much smaller than it was in Vietnam. If you keep it the same size it is now, the draft will be very unfair because so few soldiers would be needed. There would be an even smaller percentage of eligible people serving then back in the 60's. If you want the draft to be fair then you need to expand the army to Cold War proportions - how do you plan to buy all the new equipment and bases they will need? The defense budget would be huge - is that what you really want?

You say you do not want a large standing army yet your proposal would make the Army even bigger - I think you need to rethink your idea.

Today's reserves are trained, equipped and paid the same as the active forces. Have you really missed just how much fighting the Reserves and National Guard has done? They are fighting right now in Afghanistan.

I retired from the Navy with 20 years of service - I have seen my share of combat. My father was a 23 year Army vet with 2 tours in Viet Nam while my brother is a Gulf War Army vet. You have nothing to teach me about military service or the sacrifice it entails.

[AnneD]

18. I am opposed to the obscene amount we spend on defense....

I am opposed to relying on Reserves as a supplement for a standing Army. Yes folks that meet their time of active duty can go to IR but stop signing up folks for Reserve Army only. The military use of stop loss in the Reserves makes the Reservist's very contracts deceitful. I also dislike the way the Reservists are treated like they are disposable fodder, only eligible for some benefits while they are on active duty only, but when they are active-they have no time to use them.

Yes, I am aware of the Reserves and National Guard combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am opposed to their use. Figure how many troops we need and have them in the regular army. We never should have been in Iraq and we should not be nation building in Afghanistan (especially for a crook like Kharzi). And now they are talking about Libya. Enough is enough. The Military Industrial complex syphons off too much money.

I take you at your word of service and we will just agree to disagree. I am tired of American's fighting for Haliburton's (take your pick) right to drill. I am tired of politicians bankrupting our country on this folly, and I am tired of seeing young men and women and untold civilians killed. Brown skinned people are not my enemy, I fear my government more.

[Judi Lynn]

12. You've got it. Black Water mercenary gentlemen were used in New Orleans, after Katrina,

to safeguard against anticipated criminals.

HURRICANE KATRINA
AlterNet / By Daniela Crespo and Jeremy Scahill
Overkill in New Orleans
Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world. What are they doing prowling the streets of NOLA?
September 12, 2005

Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for its work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the U.S. occupation, L. Paul Bremer and the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.

Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as two weeks ago.

More:
http://www.alternet.org/katrina/25320/