By the thousands, soldiers 50 and older are being deployed

[shraby]

Charles Thomas tended to wounded soldiers on the sweltering killing fields of Vietnam, helped hurricane victims in Honduras and oversaw finances for soldiers in Bosnia.

Sometime in the next few weeks, the 58-year-old Army National Guard command sergeant major will leave his wife, Jeanette, their 11-year-old Maltese, Pebbles, walk through the door of his Old Bridge home one final time and head to Iraq.

"I don't want to leave my wife, but I have to go," Thomas said during an interview last week at his house, which the couple is selling. "I made her a deal. I promised her this is my last tour of duty, and she gets a new house."

Thomas is among a group of soldiers age 50 and over being called to active duty . Like many, he is a "citizen soldier," a member of the National Guard or Reserves, where soldiers serve part-time. They tend to be older than their active-duty counterparts and are increasingly being deployed overseas to augment active-duty troops.

(more)
<http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-18/109798906786681.xml>

[sister moon]

1. Sad.

I hope he gives her power of attorney before he leaves. he probably isn't returning. is this the kind of shape our "volunteer" army is in? that we have to call up retirees? how dare * claim he won't institute a draft? you would have to be braindead to believe that!

[mediaman007]

3. Now why are we using soldiers that are 50+ when there are

plenty of able bodied youngsters that are just "slacking." That's what's wrong with this war. No way its a national emergency. The young able-bodied are spending their weekends at the local honky-tonks, or at the club. Don't think it was this way during "The Big One."

[OneTwentyoNine]

4. Wonder when Murikans are going to figure out why Chimp says no draft?

Thats because their calling up people who were in the military or in the reserve. Hell,my brother is worried,he's 53 and was in the Navy from 1969-1975.

David

[annabanana]

9. his crowds ARE brain dead.....

They find it amusing to correct him when he mispeaks and tells the truth.

[Blue Wally]

10. Not a retiree

Lots of people in the national guard and reserves are older. The commissioned officers get moved out based on age and time in grade. if you are an enlisted man or a warrant officer, you can stay till age 62 if you want to and lots of them do because they enjoy it. The problem is that now they are calling these ARNG and USAR units up. This guy could have walked at anytime before his unit was called. He just liked what he was doing. They haven't started calling retirees yet.

[teryang]

2. In five years, he'll be sixty three

Will he still be in Iraq?

[sangh0]

5. And that's if he's lucky

.

[pfitz59]

6. He's older than Bush*! That means........

Bush* is fit to fight! Let the CINC take the field! Time for Shrub to dodge some lead! Cowboy George and his six-shooter heading to Iraq Nov 3, 2004 (to make up for missing TANG time!)

[Jacobin]

7. no draft?

would the pretzledent lie to us?

oh, nevermind

[DeepModem Mom]

8. kick

[kayell]

11. We are SO going to have a draft.

I expect it announced in the first half of November, whether * loses or not.

[RivetJoint]

13. Not a chance

in hell we'll have a draft in Nov or any other time in the next few years.

[KayLaw]

17. Elaborate, please

Why do you think there is no chance in hell of a draft?

[RivetJoint]

18. 1. Military doesn't want it

2. The public doesn't want it
3. The Congess will never approve it

[Jacobin]

19. They may not "want it", but when you are out of soldiers and

you also "want" to fight another war, guess what?

[RivetJoint]

20. Out of soldiers?

How many TOTAL US troops are deployed to Iraq? Less than 150,00K. How many do we have? 1.5 million.

Granted, we are overextended, but we are hardly "out Of troops."

[Blue Wally]

26. Ummm

Most of the 150,000 are Army. Active Army is 588,000.

[MadHound]

21. Well, two of those are irrelevant in the face of things

First, whether the military wants it or not, if Bushco wins in November, they're probably going to get it. Too few soldiers to keep Korea under control, Iraq occupied, and go on to Bush's next great crusades, Iran and Syria(per PNAC). Second, the public rarely wants a draft, but as in such cases before, our wishes are not paid any mind. Third, whether the Congress approves it or not really depends on the outcome of this year's election. If the 'Pugs have a majority in Congress, or even a close minority, they'll pass a draft. Even a few of our Democratic congressmen will jump ship and support it.

But all of this is predicated on a Bush win. If that happens, our chances for a draft grow significantly higher.

[KayLaw]

23. What you said

Also, I've heard the " eating the seed corn " issue from a couple of sources. Here's one from Krugman:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Paul Krugman, New York Times

Those who are worrying about a revived draft are in the same position as those who worried about a return to budget deficits four years ago, when President Bush began pushing through his program of tax cuts. Back then he insisted that he wouldn't drive the budget into deficit - but those who looked at the facts strongly suspected otherwise. Now he insists that he won't revive the draft. But the facts suggest that he will...........
--------------------------------------------------------
Commanders in Iraq have asked for more troops (ignore the administration's denials) - but there are no more troops to send. The manpower shortage is so severe that training units like the famous Black Horse Regiment, which specializes in teaching other units the ways of battle, are being sent into combat. As the military expert Phillip Carter says, "This is like eating your seed corn."




http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/opinion/19krugman.html

Say what you will about what the Pentagon says, but " Trust us, we're the government" just doesn't work for me.

[RivetJoint]

24. Keep Korea under control?

Is it raging out of control?

I'm certainly willing to bet you or anyone else that if * wins on 2 Nov we will NOT HAVE A DRAFT during his term. Care to take me up on it?

[KayLaw]

27. Yes

If you lived near me and were my friend I would bet money.

[pelagius]

12. Maybe the could institute an old Freepers draft...

...as so many of them seem to think being in Iraq is just peachy.

[symbolman]

14. So what's the deal?

As I understand it, once you were in the Service (and I had a low draft number so I enlisted in the USAF) then after you were discharged they STILL had some kind of hold on you for 4 to 6 more years if there was some sort of problem where they needed to call you up..

SO, since I enlisted in '71 and completed my tour of duty in '74, did/does that mean that I can be sucked up and used at the tender age of 51 in this bullshit? Am I in some kind of Reserve Status and I don't know it?

Because if it does I'm so fucking OUTTA HERE (with my baby being born this Xmas or so..)

I will NOT wear a uniform again, and certainly not for these assholes.

It's bad enough my son is turning 18 this Halloween... part of the reason I've been fighting this admin from day one.. saw my son being drafted for the fruitless war of his generation.

[MadHound]

22. Don't panic, you should be OK

Your deadline for IRR status expired long ago. Your eighteen year old son though has plenty to worry about though. Perhaps a college career abroad is a good option for him at this time.

[callous taoboy]

15. Our 54 year old disabled janitor

just got called up. He has a bad limp and is slightly retarded and a hell of a good guy. He will be going to train in artillery (he's always done clerk jobs in the gaurd) and then will be deployed.
He will be gone for up to a year, perhaps 18 months. He leaves a wife who is significantly more impaired than he is, and she is very dependent on him.

[SammyWinstonJack]

16. Unbelievable!

I don't know what else to say.

[Blue Wally]

25. Risk you take

When you join the guard or the reserves, regardless of age, you take the risk of someday being called. During vietnam, Johnson was criticized for expanding the size of the active Army instead of calling up the reserve components (remembering the uproar about JFK calling up two ARNG divisions for the Berlin Crisis). Bush/Rumsfield decided to hold the line on the active forces and use the reserve components to fill in. Why you have all of these older people wioth families getting called up. They joined the services for some reason (money, education, "joining a club") and now are paying the price.

Disclaimer: Not an endorsement of the Iraq War, just an explanation of why things are the way they are with older people (who are functioning members of units) getting called up and deployed.