Grandmother Ordered to Iraq 10 months before retirement

[gatorboy]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12581184/

A grandmother in eastern Iowa is getting one last call to duty.

Janet Grass, 52, had planned to retire from the military in about 10 months after spending 19 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Instead, she has been ordered to leave her job as a special-education teacher in Cascade to do security work in the Middle East.

"They're changing my career just as I'm retiring," she said. "I guess they wanted to try one more thing for me."

[Triana]

1. Leave her alone and send the bu$h twins...

...and all the kids of the rest of the rich, white Repubes. Why send a Grandmother who is nearing retirement? Nevermind. I know the answer. :mad:

[babylonsister]

2. Hold on! I thought there were more than enough new hires.

Have we been lied to? :sarcasm:

Poor Ms. Grass; holding on until retirement, and then this.:(

[gatorboy]

7. Maybe it's a new Bush plan

Send the Senior Citizens back into combat hoping they don't make it back. Think of the money saved on medical care!

[Arkansas Granny]

13. And they won't be looking for Social Security benefits either!

What a deal!

[Richard Steele]

3. Just unbelievable. Kicked and recommended.

[mom cat]

4. Send George Dick and Rummy to do "security work" over there.

God Damn! Security work in Iraq! That is a death sentence for a granny! K&R

[democrank]

5. Maybe she could stay here and keep

the bicycle oiled so George could go.

[MADem]

6. A quote from that article is VERY DISTURBING

"They're changing my career just as I'm retiring," she said. "I guess they wanted to try one more thing for me."

Maybe I am over-interpreting this remark, but it seems to me like this lady didn't do a full reserve career as a Master-at-Arms. It looks like they're hauling her away from her regular rating to shove her into security duty.

The other thing that raises my hackles is this quote: Grass will train in California and Texas before deploying to Iraq for 12 to 18 months.

The MAA school is in San Antonio, at LACKLAND AFB. They are also shoving Naval personnel, to include skivvie stackers and desk drivers, into an Army-run prison guard program at FT BLISS.

And then, there's this: “It's very clear that the ground forces have been in a very tough rotation over the last several years,” Adm. Michael Mullen, the chief of naval operations, said at a Pentagon news conference last month. “If we can pitch in and help relieve some of that, we're going to do that.”

Before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Navy's shore-based presence in the Persian Gulf numbered 1,500. Most of these sailors served with the 5th Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain.

That number has swelled to 10,000, with sailors serving from Afghanistan to the Horn of Africa. About 4,000 of them are in Iraq, the Navy said.

Next year, Mullen is planning to boost both figures by about 2,000 each. The Navy's total force worldwide is about 356,000.....Among the niches the Navy is filling in the Middle East:

* An air-ambulance detachment of six helicopters and crews operates in Iraq. It was formed last year from squadrons in Guam and Florida to relieve Army medical-evacuation units.

* A customs inspection battalion with as many as 400 sailors checks people and goods through Kuwait before they enter Iraq.

* A medical team of up to 300 sailors runs a hospital at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.

* Construction battalions – also known as Seabees – military intelligence specialists and bomb-disposal experts work throughout the Middle East.

* Civil-affairs specialists and Seabees numbering 160 sailors will join newly formed “provincial reconstruction teams” in Afghanistan.

* Hundreds of Navy corpsmen accompany Marines on their Iraq deployments.

* About 700 shore-based sailors in newly formed units will take over river and harbor patrol duties in the Persian Gulf from Marine and Coast Guard units starting next year....
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20060320-9999-1n20roles.html

Don't think, for a second, that ANY service is safe.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. This is just normal stop-loss policy

It will stop the loss in Social Security if ...... well .......

[Sparkman]

9. This is the plight of the dedicated MERCINARY U.S. army. Public beware.

[flyarm]

10. where are all the freepers kids?? why are they not signing up and

deploying..ohhh i know they are nothing but bullshit!!

come on freepers get your kids asses over to that death trap...come on..get them in line now!!

ohhh yeah i got it..your fucking kids are going on missions..they don't fight they just parrot your filthy bullshit and hide their asses behind your skirts right????????????

come on freepers..tell your kids..be all that they can be and get their asses over to the sandbox...it will be alot of fun for them with such positive things going on over there....come on freepers you hid your asses during nam...now get with the program..you know the program you fucking created!

happy now you cowards????????????

come on freepers let your kids be the cannon fodder for once!!

you little wimpy freeper cowards...what all talk no action????????

fly

[TexasLawyer]

11. "I think it's wrong,"

From the tail end of the article:

"I think it's wrong," Jolene Petesch said, noting that her sister was about to retire from the military. "The military screwed up there, and I'm angry about it.

"It's another Vietnam. We don't belong there, but I still support our troops."

[Shipwack]

12. Makes me worry about my future; I retire in 7 months from the Navy

... after 20 years of service. At 39, I'm willing to bet I'm in a bit better shape than she is, or at least no worse, since we both need to pass a physical to stay in.

Needless to say, my prayers go with her... :(

[Supersedeas]

14. Bush Family Values

[Catherine Vincent]

15. Gee..did that ever happen during the Clinton administration?

[knitter4democracy]

16. No, they want to kill you, just like in Catch-22.

They'll be shooting at you and trying to kill you. This isn't about trying one more thing. :(