|
Army Reserve fears troop exodus
If the United States is unable to recruit significantly more international troops or quell the violence in Iraq in the next few months, it could trigger an exodus of active and reserve forces, the head of the U.S. Army Reserve said Monday.
| Perhaps they should work on a recruiting campaign, then. I think there are probably lots of people who're patriotic enough to sign up who aren't impressed at the thought of garrison duty at Fort Riley when the shooting dies down. If I still bent in the middle, I'da done it a couple years ago... |
Lt. Gen. James Helmly, chief of the 205,000-member Army Reserve, said he and other Pentagon leaders will be monitoring retention rates closely next year, when problems could begin to become apparent for full-time and part-time soldiers coming off long tours of duty in Iraq. "Retention is what I am most worried about. It is my No. 1 concern," Helmly told USA TODAYâs editorial board. "This is the first extended-duration war the country has fought with an all-volunteer force." Helmly described the war on terrorism as an unprecedented test of the 30-year-old all-volunteer military. Historically, he said, the National Guard and Reserve were designed to mobilize for big wars and then bring soldiers home quickly. Today, he said, they have "entered a brave new world" where large numbers of troops will have to be deployed for long periods.
| Signing up for an extended stint in the regulars implies they get to keep you even when all the Bad Guys are dead. When you're no longer needed as a reservist, you get to go back to being a civilian most of the time. It has its attractions... |
Counting training time and year-long tours in Iraq, some Army Reserve soldiers could be mobilized for 15 months or more. Helmly described the situation facing soldiers in Iraq as "stressed" but said he could not characterize it as at a "breaking point." The stresses facing the nationâs reservists were demonstrated again this week when the National Guard announced it had alerted a combat brigade from Washington state that it could be sent to Iraq next year if a third block of international troops cannot be recruited to join the British and Polish-led divisions now in Iraq. Guard officials said Monday that the 5,000-member 81st Army National Guard brigade from Washington state has been notified that it could be called to active duty.
| This is the weekend warriors' opportunity to show they can pull their weight. It's also the regular army's opportunity to treat them as well as it does the regulars, which means to quite screwing around with 179-day limits... |
Helmly said a huge factor in Iraq will be the Pentagonâs ability to train an Iraqi army and security force. The Defense Department recently announced plans to accelerate the development of an Iraqi army, pushing the goal from 12,000 troops to 40,000 troops in the next year. The Army National Guard and Army Reserve have about one-fourth of their troops â nearly 129,000 soldiers â on active duty. The active-duty Army and the Army Reserve both met their recruiting goals for the fiscal year that ends today. The Army National Guard, however, is expected to fall about 15% short of its recruiting goal of 62,000 soldiers.
And Iâll wager theyâll be the ones hurt most by retention losses.
Although the Guard and Reserve say their retention rates have not suffered this year, the figures could be misleading. Under an order known as "stop loss," soldiers on active duty are prohibited from leaving the service until their tours end.
Yeah, that kind of skews the numbers.
Active-duty and Reserve commanders fear that when U.S. soldiers on yearlong rotations come home next year, many will choose to leave the service.
The Reserves will be hurt most, those folks who leave active duty will also be less likely to join the Reserves or the Guard. Expect the state governors to scream about the Guard as well. We need to bring a couple more AD light divisions on line.
Posted by: Steve 2003-09-30 |
