Army Veteran Awaits Fate After Refusing Call To Deploy To Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1590339/20080702/id_0.jhtml

Matthis Chiroux was supposed to redeploy June 15 but says he won't participate in what he calls an 'illegal war.'

Jul 7 2008 8:00 AM EDT

By Gil Kaufman

Like a lot of young people, Matthis Chiroux thought the Army was his best option after finishing high school. An admitted lackluster C student in search of some discipline, Chiroux joined the military shortly after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and served five years of his eight-year commitment before getting an honorable discharge in 2007.

Then, just days after enrolling in college in January, Chiroux was ordered to un-enroll (and swallow $7,500 in just-taken-out loans) and report for duty in Iraq in March as part of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). He decided his conscience wouldn't let him go, and now the former military journalist is waiting to see how his own story will end as he braces for the Army's response to his refusal to serve in a war he calls illegal.

"The IRR are basically civilians. It's a catch pool for guys getting out of the military with the idea that if your country needs you for a legitimate reason — a national emergency or state of war — you can be called back to active service," he said. Even if, like Chiroux, you've finished your active-duty obligation — and, in his case, voluntarily served a year longer than the typical three-to-four-year stint — the government can call up members of the IRR under certain circumstances with little notice.

When Chiroux's number came up earlier this year, he said he decided to resist the call. And though the fight against redeployment has felt like a one-man battle at times, he said he knows he's not alone.

[Greyskye]

1. I wish him luck in his new battle

It might be even harder then the previous ones that he fought. :(

[pokercat999]

2. A true WORLD CLASS HERO. It's much harder to

stand almost alone and do the right and LEGAL thing. The UCMJ demands that any member of the military must refuse to obey unlawful orders. If he believes his orders are unlawful, he has no choice he MUST refuse to obey. Good for him.