Bush's Military Manpower Solution
Our 'war president' in action:
It looks like these troops won't be offered that '9 month early-out priviledge' that Dubya received when Dubya was in that Texas Air Guard Unit during the Nam War.
Army to Soldiers: Re-enlist Now or Face Immediate Deployment to Iraq
By Staff and Wire Reports
Sep 17, 2004, 07:48
The Army is threatening American soldiers with immediate deployment to Iraq, along with involuntary extension of their tours of duty, if they don't sign up for re-enlistment right away. Those who don't sign face reassignment to combat units headed for the war.
While the Army confirms that a "re-enlistment drive is underway," military brass claim no threats have been made.
But hundreds of soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson, Colorado, were presented with that message and a re-enlistment form in a series of assemblies last week, say two soldiers who refused to sign the form. According to emails received by Capitol Hill Blue this week, the same message was delivered to soldiers at other bases.
A Fort Carson spokesman confirmed the assemblies and the form which,if signed, would extend each soldiers tour with the 3rd Brigade until Dec. 31, 2007.
"They said if you refuse to re-enlist with the 3rd Brigade, we'll send you down to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which is going to Iraq for a year, and you can stay with them, or we'll send you to Korea, or to Fort Riley (in Kansas) where they're going to Iraq," one of the soldiers, a sergeant, told The Rocky Mountain News.
The second soldier, an enlisted man who was interviewed separately, confirmed the story.
"They told us if we don't re-enlist, then we'd have to be reassigned. And where we're most needed is in units that are going back to Iraq in the next couple of months. So if you think you're getting out, you're not," he said.
The threats outraged many soldiers who are near the end of their tours, the sergeant told the newspaper.
"We have a whole platoon who refuses to sign," he said.
A Fort Carson spokesman at first confirmed soldiers were told they "may" go to Iraq then stopped responding to inquiries.
"I can only tell you what the retention officers told us: The soldiers were not being told they will go to Iraq, but they may go to Iraq," said the spokesman, who gave that explanation before being told later to direct all inquiries to the Pentagon.
"There's probably a lot of places on post where they could put those folks (who don't re-enlist) until their time expires. But I don't want to rule out the possibility that they could go to a unit that might deploy," said Lt. Col. Gerard Healy at the Pentagon.
Members of Iraq-bound units are "stop-lossed," meaning they could be retained in the unit for an entire year in Iraq, even if their active-duty enlistment expires. Extending a soldier's active duty is within Army authority, since the enlistment contract carries an eight-year obligation, even if a soldier signs for only three or four years of active duty.
But some soldiers presented with the re-enlistment message last week believe they've already done their duty and should not be penalized for choosing to leave. They deployed to Iraq for a year with the 3rd Brigade last April.
"I don't want to go back to Iraq," said the sergeant. "I went through a lot of things for the Army that weren't necessary and were risky. Iraq has changed a lot of people.''
The enlisted soldier said the recruiters' message left him troubled, unable to sleep and "filled with dread."
"For me, it wasn't about going back to Iraq. It's just the fact that I'm ready to get out of the Army," he said.
© Copyright 2004 by Capitol Hill Blue
