Thursday, May 27, 2004
Re-up. . . or else
Military numbers are dwindling, so recruiters have come up with a novel plan to bolster the ranks. Inactive members of the military are being informed that if they volunteer to join a Guard unit now they can choose one with little chance of being deployed to Iraq. But if they don't and are called up involuntarily. . .they will be likely to face Iraq duty.
Although the above article was written about Florida only, similar reports are cropping up in Washington, Wisconsin and likely elsewhere.
At issue is whether there is really such an imminent threat, or if recruiters are just using this moment in history to bolster their own numbers and, like salespeople in the outside world as well, their status, rank, and income.
"It's a compete for numbers like anything else," said Master Sgt. Allen R. Swindell, 53, who supervises National Guard recruiters in the Panhandle. "It's an opportunity to put different people in different parts of the military. We're calling everyone in our area. A lot of them think it's a game. A lot of them think it's not true. But it's absolutely not a game."
Civilian military leadership utterly rejects the notion of an imminent call-up, especially during an election year with a war in Iraq that is growing increasingly unpopular across America.
Local tavern scuttlebutt holds that we need a draft to 'keep our country safe.' Of course, if our current troops hadn't been deployed in such a poorly planned operation, to quote Raging Bull, "Then you and me and everybody else wouldn't be havin' this conversation!"
But alas, that is a red vs. blue argument that'll be settled on November 2.
Military numbers are dwindling, so recruiters have come up with a novel plan to bolster the ranks. Inactive members of the military are being informed that if they volunteer to join a Guard unit now they can choose one with little chance of being deployed to Iraq. But if they don't and are called up involuntarily. . .they will be likely to face Iraq duty.
Although the above article was written about Florida only, similar reports are cropping up in Washington, Wisconsin and likely elsewhere.
At issue is whether there is really such an imminent threat, or if recruiters are just using this moment in history to bolster their own numbers and, like salespeople in the outside world as well, their status, rank, and income.
"It's a compete for numbers like anything else," said Master Sgt. Allen R. Swindell, 53, who supervises National Guard recruiters in the Panhandle. "It's an opportunity to put different people in different parts of the military. We're calling everyone in our area. A lot of them think it's a game. A lot of them think it's not true. But it's absolutely not a game."
Civilian military leadership utterly rejects the notion of an imminent call-up, especially during an election year with a war in Iraq that is growing increasingly unpopular across America.
Local tavern scuttlebutt holds that we need a draft to 'keep our country safe.' Of course, if our current troops hadn't been deployed in such a poorly planned operation, to quote Raging Bull, "Then you and me and everybody else wouldn't be havin' this conversation!"
But alas, that is a red vs. blue argument that'll be settled on November 2.
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