Army Stops Many Soldiers From Quitting

[DOGG]

Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Eagle, an expert on enemy targeting, served 20 years in the military -- 10 years of active duty in the Air Force, another 10 in the West Virginia National Guard. Then he decided enough was enough. He owned a promising new aircraft-maintenance business, and it needed his attention. His retirement date was set for last February.

Staff Sgt. Justin Fontaine, a generator mechanic, enrolled in the Massachusetts National Guard out of high school and served nearly nine years. In preparation for his exit date last March, he turned in his field gear -- his rucksack and web belt, his uniforms and canteen.

Staff Sgt. Peter G. Costas, an interrogator in an intelligence unit, joined the Army Reserve in 1991, extended his enlistment in 1999 and then re-upped for three years in 2000. Costas, a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Texas, was due to retire from the reserves in last May.

According to their contracts, expectations and desires, all three soldiers should have been civilians by now. But Fontaine and Costas are currently serving in Iraq, and Eagle has just been deployed. On their Army paychecks, the expiration date of their military service is now listed sometime after 2030 -- the payroll computer's way of saying, "Who knows?"

The three are among thousands of soldiers forbidden to leave military service under the Army's "stop-loss" orders, intended to stanch the seepage of troops, through retirement and discharge, from a military stretched thin by its burgeoning overseas missions.

"It reflects the fact that the military is too small, which nobody wants to admit," said Charles Moskos of Northwestern University, a leading military sociologist.

continues at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A36979-2003Dec28?language=printer

Thinks back to my post about the draft hmmmm

[Enares]

I thought America had approx 6 million men under arms.

It looks like 2 of the 3 can be considered "Specialists" by the Army
and such needed.

You would also need good mechanichs in a desert.....

I think this story is a bit of a beat-up.

Is the Washington Post known for it's Republican tendencies?

[royale]

Originally posted by Enares
I thought America had approx 6 million men under arms.


Where the hell did that figure come from???

I was under the impression that the US army was around the 500,000 mark, does that mean Navy/Marines and airforce are 5.5 million???

[DOGG]

Originally posted by royale
I was under the impression that the US army was around the 500,000 mark, does that mean Navy/Marines and airforce are 5.5 million???

By prohibiting soldiers and officers from leaving the service at retirement or the expiration of their contracts, military leaders have breached the Army's manpower limit of 480,000 troops, a ceiling set by Congress. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, disclosed that the number of active-duty soldiers has crept over the congressionally authorized maximum by 20,000 and now registered 500,000 as a result of stop-loss orders. Several lawmakers questioned the legality of exceeding the limit by so much.

[Ins0mniac]

Originally posted by DOGG
By prohibiting soldiers and officers from leaving the service at retirement or the expiration of their contracts, military leaders have breached the Army's manpower limit of 480,000 troops, a ceiling set by Congress. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, disclosed that the number of active-duty soldiers has crept over the congressionally authorized maximum by 20,000 and now registered 500,000 as a result of stop-loss orders. Several lawmakers questioned the legality of exceeding the limit by so much.

So? You know the congress has no power anymore!

[DOGG]

In a surprise move, the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has bowed to calls to increase the strength of the army, the Pentagon said yesterday.

The move is intended to ease the pressure on a military force spread thin across the globe by the war on terror. Invoking emergency powers, Mr Rumsfeld has authorised the army to exceed its fixed ceiling of 482,000 by an extra 30,000 men and women. The temporary expansion could last four years.

The expansion will probably be achieved by a mixture of measures to prevent soldiers from leaving and giving more of the army's support functions to civilian contractors, freeing uniformed personnel for combat.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/30/wrums30.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/30/ixworld.html

[beowulf437]

That story seems to be singaling out specific instances to make a point but might this by apocryphal evidence? My nephew is an E5 aviation electrician in the navy, his enlistment runs out in a few months. He does not plan to re-enlist nor are they asking him to. He has already served six years so they are not even wanting him on active reserve. They have given him the option for inactive reserve for 4 years in case he should want to re-enlist he can retain his rank. He is currently going over his options.