The back door draft bodes ill.
Recently, I was told that a friend of my son-in-law's family was appealing her recall to active duty as one of the Individual Ready Reserve. According to the military, all soldiers have an eight-year military obligation. I thought that if, say, you had enlisted for four years, then left the service, you could be called up if necessary during the four following years, time in which you are technically still in the service. After that, I thought, you were home free. That is, after all, how it's been reported.
I was wrong.
My son-in-law's friend was in the Army for four years following her college graduation. She is now about 40 years old, so she's been out of the service for some time, probably 12-13 years. She's the single mom of two kids, ages 18 months and 3 years.
I had just heard about this when Kos posted this story of a man who's been out of the service for 13 years and has been activated as a member of the IRR. He, too, is appealing.
Another man, who spent 12 years on active duty and fought in the first Gulf War before leaving the Army Reserves in 1995, received notice last month that he was being called to serve an 18-month tour in Iraq.
Over 4,000 members of the 111,000-strong IRR have been activated, with more to come.
What is rather chilling is the following:
Reservists from throughout the armed forces began registering their civilian places of employment for the first time with the Department of Defense 31 March 2004. Called the Civilian Employment Information program, the registration is the first mandatory disclosure by the Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve of their civilian employers into a common database. Unlike previous military service efforts to voluntarily gather employer data, this new program is mandatory. Reservists and guardsmen who knowingly fail or refuse to provide their employment-related information, or provide false information, may be subject to administrative action or punishment.
So it's now mandatory for a reservist to keep the DoD informed of where, and for whom, he or she is working. The powers that be want to be able to find them in a hurry.
The administration could decide to add billions the defense budget and add a couple of active-duty divisions to the military, something John Kerry wanted to do had he been elected. Perhaps they will, especially given BushCo's desire to make war on at least two other nations (Iran and Syria). But would the Army be able to recruit enough people, given the ugly reality on the ground in Iraq?
The Army is so desperate for fresh troops that it has assigned Company B of the Third Infantry Regiment to the Middle East. The company's usual duties? Standing vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and acting as color guards for visiting dignitaries. No unit of the Old Guard has been activated since the Vietnam War.
I don't know about you, but Bush's promise that there will be no draft ring about as true as "Mission Accomplished."
Comments